'Subway Jared': A look at Jared Fogle's time in Bloomington and his criminal case

Before Jared Fogle was arrested in 2015, he was known as "Subway Jared." The Subway sandwich shop he frequented in Bloomington was known as where he ate his daily meals before becoming the national chain's spokesman.

Here's a look at Fogle's rise to fame and his eventual fall due to the investigation.

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When did Jared live in Bloomington?

Jared Fogle was a business major at Indiana University in spring 1998. During spring break, he stayed in Bloomington in his apartment off campus, at the intersection of Woodlawn and Atwater avenues, where there also was a Subway sandwich shop. Fogle weighed 425 pounds.

“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,” Fogle told former Herald-Times columnist Mike Leonard in 2000.

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In spring 1999, Indiana Daily Student reporter Ryan Coleman, who had been Fogle's freshman year dorm-mate, saw Fogle on campus and didn't recognize him. He wrote a story headlined "From Thick to Thin" about his dramatic weight loss.

In just a year, Fogle had lost 245 pounds on his strict diet of Subway sandwiches. Lunch consisted of a 6-inch turkey sub, a bag of baked potato chips and a Diet Coke. Dinner was a foot-long veggie sub and a Diet Coke. Sandwiches were not dressed with extras, like cheese, mayonnaise or oil.

Fogle first appeared in The Herald-Times in January, 2000, in a column about his road to weight loss and becoming a national spokesman for Subway. His first commercial for the food chain had debuted on Jan. 1.  Subway’s sales rose by 18 percent that year and by another 16 percent the following year.

What is The Jared Foundation?

Fogle established a nonprofit organization called The Jared Foundation in 2004. Its goal was to provide education about childhood obesity. He visited schools and community groups, giving talks about eating and lifestyle choices.

Russell Taylor ran Fogle's foundation, and both men were charged by federal authorities in 2015 in a child pornography investigation.

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What happened in the investigation?

An investigation launched in 2014 after a woman notified police that Taylor had offered to send her images of child pornography.

In July 2015, Fogle's Zionsville home was searched by state and federal authorities. Taylor and Fogle were arrested.

Fogle pleaded guilty to possession or distribution of child pornography and traveling across state lines to have commercial sex with a minor. He is serving a 15-year sentence at a prison facility in Colorado.

When she sentenced Fogle, a federal judge ordered him to submit to a lifetime of post-prison supervision. "The level of perversion and lawlessness exhibited by Mr. Fogle is extreme," she said.

Taylor pleaded guilty to 12 counts of producing child pornography and one count of distributing it. Lawyers said Fogle psychologically abused Taylor.

A psychological assessment of Taylor included in court records contained allegations that Fogle wanted Taylor to get him date-rape drugs to use on "kids" and that Fogle would say to Taylor, "Daddy needs some pictures."

Taylor was sentenced to 27 years in federal prison.

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Taylor's ex-wife, Angela Baldwin (formerly Angela Taylor) was indicted in 2020 on two counts of sexual exploitation of a minor, one count of conspiracy to produce visual depictions of minors engaging in sexually explicit conduct, and one count of possession of visual depictions of minors engaging in sexually explicit conduct.

Charges against Baldwin involved secret video recordings of children made with hidden cameras inside bedrooms and bathrooms in the Indianapolis home she shared with Taylor. Court records say some of the underage victims were related to Baldwin and Taylor, either by blood or marriage, and others were friends of those children.

Angela (Taylor) Baldwin case:Russell Taylor's ex-wife convicted of child exploitation, pornography charges in Jared Fogle probe

Is Jared Fogle still in prison?

Although the prosecution's sentence recommendation was 12 and a half years, the judge in Fogle's case opted to sentence him to 15 years and 8 months in prison. The judge accepted the defense’s request that she recommend that Fogle be sent to prison in Littleton, Colo., because it has a program for sex offenders.

Fogle must serve at least 85 percent of the sentence, meaning he will be at least 51 years old when he's released.

His projected release date is March 24, 2029, according to Federal Bureau of Prisons online records.

What happened to Jared's Subway?

After the Atwater and South Woodlawn Subway shop closed, The Inkwell announced it would open a new location there. The local cafe and bakery announced in late October on its Facebook page that it was open for business.

In early November, 2021, Inkwell's website had a photo of the former Subway location with the message, "Goodbye Jared, you are a loser!"

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Where can you watch the docuseries on disgraced Subway spokesperson Jared Fogel?

A new three-part series titled "Jared from Subway: Catching a Monster" premiered March 6 on Investigation Discovery. It's also streaming on Discovery+.

Jared Fogle:Disgraced Subway spokesperson is the subject of upcoming docuseries

The Associated Press, USA TODAY and former and current reporters at The Herald-Times and IndyStar contributed to this report, including: Abby Tonsing, Mark Alesia, Tim Evans and Kristine Guerra.

This article originally appeared on The Herald-Times: Bloomington Subway's Jared Fogle: Timeline of career and downfall