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Prosecutors seek another extension in case tied to former Jared Foundation exec

Tim Evans
tim.evans@indystar.com

Prosecutors have asked for another extension to present evidence to a federal grand jury in a case against Russell Taylor, who headed The Jared Foundation until his arrest in April on preliminary child pornography charges.

Russell Taylor, 43, faces federal charges.

In a motion filed today in U.S. District Court for the Southern District of Indiana, U.S. Attorney Josh Minkler asked that the deadline be pushed back from Aug. 3 to Sept. 3. The prosecutor also submitted a request to withdraw a petition filed in error on Thursday that sought an extension until Aug.19.

The new motion said Taylor’s attorney does not oppose the delay. It also said “the parties are engaged in discussing several issues regarding this case and the government believes both parties would benefit from additional time to continue these discussions prior to indictment.”

Taylor, 43, has been held on the preliminary charges since his arrest, but federal prosecutors typically take cases to a grand jury to determine whether formal charges should be filed.

The court approved a similar request — also based on the ongoing discussions with Taylor — in June. The judge had not ruled on the new request as of 3 p.m.

A month later, law enforcement officers from the FBI and other agencies served a search warrant at the home of Jared Fogle, the Subway spokesman who also founded The Jared Foundation. Fogle has not been charged with any crime, and federal officials have declined to comment on the nature of that search, including what they were looking for and what they found.

Fogle’s attorney said the Subway pitchman was cooperating. Fogle was suspended from his role with Subway after the search of his home.

At the time of his arrest, detectives said Taylor had produced and possessed child pornography involving children — both boys and girls — as young as 9 years old, court documents said. The pornography he is accused of producing was made during the time he was employed by the foundation.

Two thumb drives found in Taylor's home office appeared to have a link to Fogle or his foundation, according to court records.

One drive, police said, contained "commercially made child pornography from Eastern Europe similar to that seized on other investigations" and "revealed a document file with Taylor's employer listed in the file name."

In the documents, the investigating detective described another drive in which "videos of child pornography and child erotica were recovered as were documents related to his employment as director of a foundation."

Fogle, who founded The Jared Foundation in 2004, fired Taylor soon after his arrest. Fogle issued a statement at that time saying that he was "shocked" and that his foundation was "severing all ties" with Taylor.

Taylor while in custody at the Marion County Jail on May 6 attempted suicide. He survived and was put on life support but later recovered. A spokesman for the U.S. attorney's office said he was in the custody of the U.S. Marshals Service.

A tip from a woman who reached out to Indiana State Police prompted the investigation into Taylor, court records said. The woman said Taylor offered to send her images and videos of young girls by text message, and she also raised concerns about bestiality and other sexual matters.

Call Tim Evans at (317) 444-6204 and follow him Twitter: @starwatchtim.