Former Subway spokesman Jared Fogle,37, ditched as word leaked that he would be pleading guilty to child-sex and -porn charges, will spend at least five years in prison and pay $1.4 million to his victims.
Fogle is facing one count of traveling to engage in illicit sexual conduct with a minor and one count for the distribution and receipt of child pornography and conspiracy to distribute and receive child pornography.
According to charging documents, Fogle “repeatedly engaged in Internet social networking and traveled for the purpose of engaging in commercial sexual activity” between 2007 and February 2015.
Twice he traveled to New York City to engage in commercial sexual acts with minors under the age of 18, according to the documents.
Here is Subway’s response to the news, delivered via Twitter:
Fogle first appeared in a Subway ad in 2000 after losing 245 pounds on his famous Subway diet in 1998; he created his nonprofit Jared Foundation to raise awareness about childhood obesity in 2004. And his estimated $15 million net worth accumulated since then is directly attributable to personal appearances and his more than 300 ads for the sandwich-shop franchise.
He married for the second time in 2010. His wife, Katie McLaughlin Fogle, said Wednesday that she is filing for divorce.