Jared Fogle asks for 5-year prison term in court filing before sentencing
Jared Fogle's attorneys asked for a five-year prison term for the former Subway restaurant pitchman in a court filing before his sentencing Thursday.
The filing says Fogle will speak publicly during his hearing before Judge Tanya Walton Pratt in federal court in Indianapolis.
"He is painfully aware of the fact that he has impacted the lives of minor victims, hurt those closest to him and, for all practical purposes, destroyed the life he worked to build over the last 18 years," the filing says.
Fogle has agreed to plead guilty to two counts: possession of child pornography and traveling across state lines to engage in sex with a minor.
The prosecutor is asking for 12½ years in prison, followed by a lifetime of supervised probation.
That was the maximum sentence the U.S. attorney had agreed to seek in a plea bargain struck with Fogle in August. Fogle faced a maximum sentence on the two federal felony charges of 50 years.
The judge has discretion to sentence Fogle to more or less than what the prosecution has requested.
The defense filing acknowledges that the advisory sentencing guideline is 135 to 168 months, but said it is "entitled to little weight because it is the result of a flawed and widely criticized set of … provisions."
Those guidelines are flawed because they were created by politicians trying to stay in office, the filing said. That "resulted in a sentencing scheme that produces unduly harsh guideline ranges for many offenders."
The filing says Fogle spent two days with "internationally renowned forensic psychiatrist" John Bradford. Bradford sent Fogle to Robert P. Granacher, a forensic psychiatrist and "neuropsychiatric expert."
Bradford is prepared to discuss at the sentencing hearing that Fogle "suffers from hypersexuality and alcohol abuse/dependence." He also found "weak evidence" of pedophilia, and that Fogle is "very treatable."
“An unnecessarily long term of imprisonment will likely hamper or at least delay Mr. Fogle receiving the full benefit of such treatment," the attorneys argued.
Bradford is also quoted in the filing as saying Fogle is at a "low risk" to become a repeat offender.
Fogle's efforts at rehabilitation included attending weekly individual counseling sessions and Sex Addicts Anonymous meetings twice a week in Indianapolis, the filing said.
Fogle's lawyers noted he has shown remorse and has paid restitution totaling $1.4 million to the 14 victims. He also takes responsibility for not reporting Russell Taylor to law enforcement. Taylor, the former head of Fogle's foundation, used hidden cameras to record minors at his home and has agreed to plead guilty to child-porn charges. Taylor shared the images with Fogle.
The filing says Fogle's "selfish conduct has rendered him a social pariah," but asks that the judge consider the good things he did after overcoming morbid obesity and motivating people to improve their health.
Fogle's wife, who has filed for divorce, says he has been a good father to their two young children, according to the filing.
The defense notes the heavy price Fogle has, and will, pay for his crimes. It quotes the confidential presentencing report as saying Fogle is "a public figure known worldwide."
"Regardless of the Bureau of Prisons facility to which he is designated, he will be recognized, and the details of his offenses will be known," the presentencing report says. "Thus, the time served in prison may be more stressful than that of other inmates whose identities and offenses … are not known to others."
The prosecution's filing before sentencing said the judge needs to send a message to others involved in child exploitation. But the defense argues that the message has already been sent.
"The country, indeed the world, has witnessed Mr. Fogle's very public humiliation," the filing says. "Anyone with a television or access to the internet has witnessed and will continue to witness Mr. Fogle lose everything he has worked for. … Simply put, no one wants to be Mr. Fogle."
Call Star reporter Mark Alesia at (317) 444-6311. Follow him on Twitter: @markalesia.
Court documents reveal Jared Fogle's sordid secret life