Former Subway spokesman Jared Fogle was sentenced to 188 months (15 years, 8 months) in connection with child porn and sex crimes charges. He was taken into federal custody immediately after sentencing in federal court in Indianapolis Thursday.
WFIE-TV in Evansville reports Fogle will be housed at the Henderson County (Ky.) Detention Center before he is transferred to a federal prison in Littleton, Colorado. Fogle arrived in Henderson Thursday evening in a white police van with tinted windows.
For the first time since his arrest, Fogle spoke about his crimes against children and underage teenagers. Fogle pleaded guilty to receiving child pornography - some of it created by the former CEO of the Jared Foundation, Russell Taylor, who will be sentenced next month.
Trying not to cry, he read a prepared statement to the judge.
"I've been living a life of deception and lies," he said. "My life revolved around alcohol, pornography and prostitution."
The former Subway spokesman called them reprehensible acts. Fogle admitted having sex with two 16-year-olds.
"I thought since I was paying them, I thought it was okay," he said.
Read the U.S. attorney's statement on the sentence
Federal agents also found thousands of pictures depicting child pornography on his home computers. He apologized for his actions and admitted to the accusations.
"Not a day will go by that I will not think about them and what I did. I wish I recognized these problems years ago. I truly do," Fogle said. "I want to redeem my life. I want to help others."
Fogle's defense team argued for a minimum five-year prison term, pointing out to the judge the 38-year-old was being treated, having been diagnosed as suffering from alcohol abuse, hypersexuality and "mild" pedophilia.
Federal prosecutors demanded more than twice as much prison time recounting how Fogle offered young prostitutes finders' fees if they recruit teens as young as 14 and how he conspired with his business partner who was secretly taking pornographic pictures of children as young as nine years old and giving them to Fogle. Detectives found pictures from other sources as young as six."
Judge Pratt's comments
Judge Tanya Walton Pratt said Fogle was " obsessed with child pornography and having sex with minors" and "living a double life and engaged in a web of deception and depravity." She also said "mild" pedophilia is not an accepted diagnosis.
She cited Fogle's extreme level of perversion and lawlessness, justifying a prison sentence of nearly 16 years - about a year and half longer than recommended sentencing guidelines.
Reaction to Fogle sentence: 15 years not enough
"The conduct Mr. Fogle has engaged in has been taken very seriously by Congress," Judge Pratt said. She believes Jared Fogle's remorse is genuine. "He is now painfully aware of the harm he's caused his victims," she says.
Judge Pratt says Fogle's celebrity status cuts both ways. Because of his fame/notoriety, he was able to perpetrate parts of these crimes.
But the judge also said "it's very alarming" that Jared Fogle didn't realize the implications of his actions, and that he continued the victimization in his "underground world."
"Mr. Fogle used his wealth and fame to entice these victims," Judge Pratt said.
"My daughter has been impacted hard throughout all of this...she can hardly function," Pratt read a statement from a victim's mother.
In addition to serving 188 months, Fogle must also pay a fine of $175,000. He has already paid $1.4 million in restitution to his victims. The prosecution says they will ask for a "substantially higher" sentence for Russell Taylor.
The defense argued against a longer sentence, but the prosecution called those arguments "white noise, adding, "There shouldn't be any doubt there was harm here."
Fogle statement
Fogle sighed into the microphone at the start of his statement, saying, "Where do I even try to begin, Your Honor?"
Fogle called his conduct "horrible."
"At the time, I really didn't think through what I was doing," he said. "At the time I though it was okay."
"I take full and absolute responsibility for what I've done," Fogle said, trying to hold back tears.
"I absolutely devastated my wife," Fogle said. "My son and daughter will have to live with this terrible burden of my actions."
The Fogle's divorce case was finalized Monday, November 16. Kathleen Fogle filed for divorce August 19, 2015, the day the plea agreement was filed.
"You gave your wife $7 million, though, so she'll be okay," Judge Pratt said to Fogle.
Investigation
IMPD Officer Darin Odier testified that Russell Taylor gave Fogle a thumb drive with child porn on it, as well as a computer. Taylor also sent Fogle texts with child pornography.
Defense attorneys said there were flaws in the sentencing guidelines that add over five years to Fogle's possible sentence. Attorneys also argued that Fogle wasn't "warehousing massive amounts of child porn for his own use."
The defense said there was no evidence that Fogle requested the child pornography material featuring children under 12, but Judge Pratt responded, "It doesn't matter whether he requested it."
The defense used the word "pathetic" several times to refer to Fogle's conduct.
Psychologists testify
Dr. Rick May, Colorado psychologist, conducted psychotherapy on Fogle for a month. May says Fogle took responsibility for his behavior, giving him a "head start" on treatment.
May said Fogle was "very remorseful and seemed to know right away how damaging that behavior could be on children."
May said someone has to be very motivated to go through the therapy. "[Fogle] came in with willing attitude...to talk about all the issues."
Psychiatrist Dr. John Bradford evaluated Fogle in August and testified in court Thursday.
Bradford said Fogle's porn addiction began in college, and at a certain point, he was introduced to child pornography.
Bradford believes Fogle had a "compulsive drive" and pointed to Fogle's compulsive eating disorder as evidence. Bradford said that compulsive drive played a role both in Fogle's eating disorder and his hypersexuality.
According to Bradford, Fogle said he had urges to molest children.
Bradford says Fogle is at the 94th percentile in terms of sex drive for men his age. Bradford, who added that there were no risk factors in Fogle's childhood that indicate his recent behavior, diagnosed Fogle with hypersexuality, mild pedophilia and alcohol abuse and dependency. He said the treatment for hypersexuality is medication to reduce sex drive as well as drugs like Prozac.
Dr. Bradford said there was no evidence Fogle has molested a child physically - although Fogle has expressed interest in doing so.
Fogle said he'd engaged in sex acts with 16- and 17-year-olds and had solicited sex acts with younger partners. He also admitted to a number of extramarital affairs, including one-night stands.
