Ray Stubblebine/Reuters
Longtime Subway spokesman Jared Fogle reached a plea agreement Wednesday on one count of “unlawful commercial sexual acts with minors” and one count of possession of child pornography, according to an agreement released by the U.S. Attorney of the Southern District of Indiana. Information released Wednesday alleges that Fogle continued to seek sex with minors after his co-conspirator was arrested.
The former Subway sandwich pitchman used escort websites to have sex with two girls under age 18, according to prosecutors. Between 2010 and 2013, Fogle traveled from Indiana to New York to have sex with the minors, one of whom was 17 years old. Fogle had sex with them as a guest of the Plaza and Ritz-Carlton hotels. Fogle told one of the victims he would pay her a fee if she could find a 16-year-old girl to have sex with, “while stating the younger the girl, the better,” prosecutors said. As part of the plea deal, Fogle will agree to pay each of the 14 victims $100,000 and will serve no less than five years in prison.
The man who ran Fogle’s charity for children, Russell Taylor, was named as a co-conspirator who allegedly filmed nude minors without their knowledge to produce child pornography. Prosecutors say Taylor gave Fogle the child porn and Fogle “made comments approving of this activity and discussed some of these minors by name.”
Fogle's wife, Katie, issued a statement Wednesday morning that she is "extremely shocked and disappointed" by the developments. "I am in the process of seeking a dissolution of the marriage," she said. "My focus is exclusively on the well-being of my children."
Correction: This post originally stated that Fogle pleaded guilty. In fact, Fogle has reached a plea agreement with prosecutors. He is expected to formally plead guilty in court.