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Last updated on Thursday, April 21, 2016
(INDIANAPOLIS) - Prosecutors have replied to former Subway pitchman Jared Fogle’s appeal of his more than 15-year sentence with a filing that includes text messages illustrating his efforts to find teenagers for sex.
The texts were part of Fogle's November's sentencing hearing. He had pleaded guilty to distributing and receiving child pornography and traveling out of state to engage in illicit sexual conduct with a minor.
n a brief filed Tuesday with the Seventh Circuit Court of Appeals, federal prosecutors argued that Fogle's attempts to appeal his prison sentence should be rejected.
Fogle, who was sentenced in November 2015 to more than 15 years in prison on child pornography charges, claims a federal judge erred in his sentencing by relying too heavily on "fantasies" rather that what he actually did, and leaning on accusations that he received images of a six-year old that borrowed heavily from a separate case involving Fogle's friend and former colleague Russell Taylor.
Taylor, the former head of the Jared Foundation, was convicted of producing and distributing images of children and sharing them with Fogle over a period of years. Prosecutors argued Fogle failed to report Taylor and subsequently benefited from the conspiracy be interacting in social settings with children with whom Taylor had secretly videotaped.
In making their argument, prosecutors wrote:
"Fogle contends that the district court made three sorts of "factual" errors: (1) the court was unduly influenced by Russell Taylor's conduct, which Fogle says the court unfairly applied to him; (2) the court based its sentence on "fantasies," i.e., what Fogle thought rather than what he did; and (3) the court erroneously concluded that Fogle received pornography involving a six-year-old victim. (A. Br. 15.) Although Fogle calls these factual errors, his primary complaint is that the judge considered facts he believes were out-ofbounds. Contrary to Fogle's argument, the facts the judge considered were the facts the judge considered were accurate and appropriate, and the judge's explanation of its sentence was more than adequate," the brief read.*
Prosecutors argued that Fogle's sentencing was not based solely on "fantasies" because Fogle paid to have sex with underage prostitutes and repeatedly proposititioned sex workers to finding him children.''
In another one of the text messages including in this week's court filings, one series of texts read: \
Fogle: "I just landed in Vegas."
Alleged Unidentified Adult Escort:"How was your flight, honey?"
Fogle: "It was good. Did you find me some young girls or boys?
Escort: "No. I've been looking, too!"
Fogle: "Can you find me some?
Fogle's stunning fall from being a household name to becoming the ire of the American public underscores what prosecutors say was occurring - Fogle was leading a double life.
Publicly, Fogle was the face of Subway's brand, encouraging millions of Americans to eat well and get healthy after he lost weight eating Subway sandwiches.
But prosecutors argue that fame, fortune and notoriety allowed Fogle to live another private life - one filled with illicit behavior, spending nearly $12,000 a year on prostitutes and on several occasions, prosecutors say, offering to pay them a "finder's fee" if they could supply him with underage girls or boys to engage in sexual acts.
Fogle was placed at a federal prison in Littleton, Colorado.
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