Jared Fogle: the shocking story of the 'Subway Guy'

If you lived in North America in the early 2000s, you most likely recognize Jared Fogle's name and face. Behind the affable 'Subway Guy' was a sinister character, however. His story has been documented in the Discovery+ series 'Jared From Subway: Catching a Monster,' which premiered on March 6, 2023.

This is how we got to know 'Jared from Subway' in the beginning. The restaurant chain was being pushed as a healthy fast food option, and Jared Fogle became the face of the "Subway diet."

Subway offered Jared Fogle the role of the "Subway Guy" after he gained notoriety because he claimed that eating Subway sandwiches helped him lose a significant amount of weight.

For years, Fogle was synonymous with Subway; however, it seemed like the "Subway Guy" just disappeared one day. Click on to learn about what happened to the Subway sandwich ambassador.

When Fogle was a college student, he lost over 200 pounds (90.7 kilos) in just one year by eating Subway sandwiches daily. An article was written about Jared in the college newspaper,  and soon enough, Jared Fogle became a household name.

In 2000, Fogle told a journalist at the Herald-Times: "I was really feeling low, just feeling bad about myself across the board. And I was standing there at the Subway sandwich shop, reading a sign advertising their 'seven sandwiches with six grams of fat' menu, it just sort of dawned on me. I liked Subway. Maybe this could be a way I could lose weight."

Subway soon contacted Jared and asked him to become a spokesperson for the brand. Following the first Subway commercial featuring Fogle, sales at the sandwich chain rose by 18 percent that year and another 16 percent the following year.

In 2004 Fogle started the nonprofit organization 'The Jared Foundation' to educate people about childhood obesity.

Fogle toured the country, visiting schools and community centers, talking about his journey with weight loss, healthy eating and lifestyle choices. Jared Fogle tasked his friend Russell Taylor with running the Jared Foundation.

Jared Fogle enjoyed being in the limelight and promoting healthy eating (the Subway way, of course) from 2000 to around 2015.

Fogle also made plenty of money during this time, with a net worth of $15 million in 2013 according to New York Daily News.

However, life would soon change for Jared. In 2014 an investigation was launched after a woman notified police that Russell Taylor, Fogle's friend, and co-worker, had offered to send her explicit images of children.

During the investigation, authorities discovered Russell Taylor (pictured) had been involved in trading inappropriate photos of children, some as young as six years of age.

To make matters worse, evidence indicated that Jared Fogle was among those who exchanged these vile photos with Russell Taylor.

According to the New York Post, in July 2015, the FBI raided Jared Fogle's home in Indianapolis. The raid was the beginning of the end of Fogle's freedom and his career with Subway.

Photo: WRTV Indianapolis

The FBI confiscated Fogle's computers and electronic devices. In addition, the FBI subpoenaed texts between Jared and a Subway franchise owner named Cindy Mills. Mills had contacted the police after Fogle asked for Cindy Mills to help "hook up" with her underage cousin.

Jared Fogle was then arrested, and the Subway Guy pleaded guilty to two counts for his actions. He was sentenced to fifteen years and eight months in prison in 2015, in addition to a fine of $175,000, the forfeiture of $50,000 in assets, and $1.4 million in restitution.

Given his interest in underage children, the federal judge ruling on the case ordered Fogle to be on supervised release for the rest of his life.

According to the Herald Times, the judge said: "The level of perversion and lawlessness exhibited by Mr. Fogle is extreme."

Currently, Jared Fogle is in prison near Littleton, Colorado; the facility was chosen for Jared because it has a program for individuals who've committed similar crimes.

Photo: Chris Piner of Vernal, Utah, Public Domain

The judge's sentencing indicated that Fogle must serve a minimum of 85% of his sentence, so he will not be getting out until 2029 at the earliest. At that point, he will 51 years old.