Disgraced former Subway pitchman Jared Fogle pleaded guilty Thursday on charges of child pornography and crossing state lines to pay for sex with minors.
Federal prosecutors asked that he be sentenced to 12-1/2 years, while Fogle’s attorneys asked for a five-year sentence. He faces a maximum possible sentence of 50 years. Federal Judge Tanya Walton Pratt is due to hand down a sentence later Thursday.
Fogle’s attorneys argued that the charges were somewhat mitigated by the fact that he had only had sex with teenage girls who were 16 and 17 years old, not young children. They argued that longer sentences should be used for criminals who have sex with much younger children.
Thursday’s hearing included testimony from two defense witnesses, a forensic psychiatrist and a psychologist, who testified about their examinations of Fogle.
Fogle has also agreed to pay a total of $1.4 million in restitution to 14 different victims.
Fogle worked for Subway for 16 years. The story of how he lost 245 pounds by eating Subway twice a day was a key part of its marketing campaigns. Subway quietly became a fast food giant, with more locations than any other retailer.
The company fired Fogle once the charges surfaced earlier this year.