AP Photo/Michael ConroyJared Fogle, once the famous face of the Subway franchise, was sentenced on Thursday to 15 years and 8 months (188 months total) in prison after pleading guilty to possession and distribution of child pornography and traveling across state lines to engage in commercial sex actors with a minor, E! News confirms. He won't be eligible for parole for 13 years.
According to the U.S. Attorney's Office in Indianapolis, the 38-year-old from Indiana also agreed to pay $1.4 million in restitution to the 14 victims, eight of them still minors, who were involved in the porn ring that the TV personality was involved in. He'll also forfeit assets of $50,000.
"I want to redeem my life," an emotional Fogle said in court today during the sentencing, per NBC News.
Fogle—whose claim to fame was losing weight on a diet consisting of Subway sandwiches—cut a plea deal in August. As part of the agreement, he will also have to register as a sex offender upon his release, have his digital devices monitored throughout a lifetime of supervised release, and pay a $175,000 fine.
Prosecutors recommended he serve time in a federal prison in Colorado that has a treatment program for sex offenders.
The Fogle scandal erupted when federal agents raided his Indiana home in early July following the April arrest of Russell Taylor, a former executive director of the Jared Foundation, on charges related to child pornography.
According to local reports at the time, several computers and DVDs were seized from the Fogle household.
Authorities ultimately determined that Fogle had received and viewed child pornographer, some given to him by Taylor, between March 2001 and May 2015. Fogle was also convicted of traveling to New York City in November 2012 to have sex with a 17-year-old girl for money; during the encounter he offered her money if she could find more underage girls to have sex with him, according to prosecutors.
Subway cut ties with Fogle shortly after Taylor's arrest, and said in a statement that they "mutually agreed to suspend their relationship due to the current investigation. Jared continues to cooperate with authorities and he expects no actions to be forthcoming. Both Jared and Subway agree that this was the appropriate step to take."
Wife Katie Fogle also filed for divorce in August. Married in 2010, they have two children together.
"The Jared Fogle chapter is now closed with the announcement of his sentencing and his removal from a free society," Indiana State Police Superintendent Doug Carter said in a statement today. "But, tragically, we know sexual crimes against children won't end; there are others who think they won't be caught.
"So with this announcement we also take the opportunity to encourage, in the strongest words possible, any past or current victims of unreported child sex crimes to seek help from law enforcement and bring these vile criminals to justice."
—Reporting by Baker Machado