A LONGTIME SPOKESMAN for Subway in the US named Jared Fogle has agreed to plead guilty to allegations that he paid for sex acts with minors and received child abuse imagery that he knew had been secretly produced by the former director of his charitable foundation, prosecutors said in court documents released today.
The agreement filed ahead of an expected court appearance by Fogle said he agrees to pay $1.4 million (€1.2 million) in restitution to 14 minor victims, who will each receive $100,000 (€90,000). Fogle will also be required to register as a sex offender and undergo treatment for sexual disorders.
The US government has agreed not to seek a sentence of more than 12 years in prison, and Fogle has agreed not to ask for less than five years, according to the documents, which say Fogle will plead guilty to one count of travelling to engage in illicit sexual conduct with a minor and one count of distribution and receipt of child abuse imagery.
The Jared Diet
Fogle, 37, became Subway’s spokesman after shedding more than 200 pounds as a college student, in part by eating the chain’s sandwiches. He was the public face of the company for more than 15 years — a period in which its number of locations tripled, making Subway the world’s largest restaurant chain.
Subway suspended the partnership in July after agents raided his home in the affluent Indianapolis suburb of Zionsville, and the chain said this week that it had ended its relationship with Fogle. A game bearing his name remains on the Subway website today.
Federal prosecutors allege in the documents that the married father of two travelled to pay for sex acts, including with minors, from 2007 until as recently as June and that he repeatedly planned business trips to coincide with his sexual pursuits.
Fogle allegedly paid a 17-year-old girl who he had found online to engage in sex acts while he was staying at the Plaza Hotel in New York City, according to the papers.
Several months later, he again paid her for sex acts while staying at the Ritz Carlton Hotel, according to the document, which says the girl told Fogle her age when they first met and that he knew she was a minor.
After the first meeting, the document said, Fogle texted the girl and offered to pay her a fee if she could find him another underage girl to pay for sex acts.
During these discussions, Fogle “stated that he would accept a 16-year-old girl, while stating that the younger the girl, the better,” the document said.
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