INDIANAPOLIS — Longtime Subway pitchman Jared Fogle agreed Wednesday to plead guilty to allegations that he paid for sex acts with minors and received child pornography in a case that destroyed his career at the sandwich-shop chain and could send him to prison for more than a decade.
Prosecutors allege that Fogle knew the pornography had been produced secretly by the former director of his charitable foundation, which sought to raise awareness about childhood obesity and arranged for Fogle to visit schools and urge children to adopt healthy eating and exercise habits.
Authorities said Fogle offered to pay adult prostitutes a finder’s fee if they could connect him with minors for sex acts, including some as young as 14 or 15 years old.
“This is about using wealth, status and secrecy to illegally exploit children,” U.S. Attorney Josh Minkler said.
A tight-lipped Fogle sat in federal court with his hands clasped and quietly answered “no” when the judge asked whether he had any questions about his rights.
He is expected to enter the formal plea at a later date to one count each of traveling to engage in illicit sexual conduct with a minor and distribution and receipt of child pornography.
The agreement released by prosecutors said Fogle will pay $1.4 million restitution to 14 minor victims, who each will receive $100,000.
He will be required to register as a sex offender and undergo treatment for sexual disorders.
The government agreed not to seek a sentence of more than 12½ years in prison, and Fogle agreed not to ask for less than five years, according to court documents.
Federal judges have wide discretion in sentencing, and Fogle could get a longer sentence. The child-porn charge carries a maximum penalty of 20 years in prison. The count involving sex with a minor is punishable by up to 30 years.
Fogle “knows that restitution can’t undo the damage that he’s done, but he will do all in his power to try to make it right,” defense attorney Jeremy Margolis told reporters.
The married father of two, he added, has a “medical problem” and “expects to get well,” but he did not elaborate.
Fogle, 37, whose wife filed for divorce Wednesday, became Subway’s pitchman 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.
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.
