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Jared Fogle, of Subway Fame, Negotiates Child-Porn Plea

INDIANAPOLIS (CN) - Jared Fogle, the former pitchman for Subway sandwiches, faces years in federal prison after telling a court Wednesday that he will plead guilty to charges of child pornography and sex with minors.

Fogle, who turned his weight loss from a Subway diet about 15 years ago into an estimated net worth of $15 million, did not actually plead guilty at his brief court appearance today.

Before he was ushered out the front of the court by attorneys and police, the 37-year-old acknowledged his plans to enter the plea at an as-yet-undetermined date. A crowd jeered at Fogle as he walked past, head down, to a waiting car. Until his next court appearence, Fogle will remain free under GPS surveillance.

Speaking to his client's plans to serve several years in federal prison, defense attorney Jeremy Margolis noted that Fogle has a "medical problem" and "expects to get well" while incarcerated.

The plea agreement filed Thursday says that, between 2011 and April 2015, Fogle received child pornography from Russell Taylor, who was the former director of Fogle's charity and who was charged in April with possession of child pornography and voyeurism.

Taylor allegedly secretly produced sexually explicit images and videos of minors, some as young as 6 years old, with multiple hidden cameras throughout his residence in Indianapolis.

The plea agreement notes that Fogle "did not obtain access to all of the material Taylor produced," but that he obtained access "to a significant amount of such material."

Fogle says Taylor also provided him with child porn obtained from the Internet.

In addition to the child-pornography charge, Fogle will plead guilty to unlawful sex acts with minors across state lines.

Between 2010 and February 2013, Fogle traveled to New York City to pay to engage in sex acts with minors, some as young as 14 years old, the plea agreement states.

One such incident took place in November 2012 at the New York City Plaza Hotel, where Fogle paid a 17-year old girl for sex. That victim told police she had sex with Fogle three times in New York City the year before when she was 16.

The government has agreed to not seek a sentence of longer than 12 1/2 years, and Fogle has agreed to not seek a sentence less than five years.

Fogle has also agreed to register as a sex offender and pay each victim $100,000 in restitution, for a total of $1.4 million.

Cellphone records show that Fogle repeatedly texted with different "prostitutes" in many states about "his interest in paying them a finder's fee to provide him with access to minors for commercial sex acts," according to the plea agreement.

Fogle allegedly would vet the "prostitutes" with whom he texted by paying them for sex to ensure they were not police officers.

A plea deal has been imminent since FBI agents raided Fogle's Zionsville, Ind., home last month. While the government refused to comment on the case, agents were seen confiscating computers, DVDs and media storage devices from the home.

Subway restaurants suspended their relationship with Fogle following the raid, and released a statement Tuesday evening on Twitter saying, "We no longer have a relationship with Jared and have no further comment."

The popular sandwich restaurant used Fogle as a pitchman for over a decade, and in 2008 celebrated 10 years of his weight loss.

Fogle's soon-to-be-ex-wife released a statement in connection to the plea deal.

"Obviously I am extremely shocked and disappointed by the recent developments involving Jared," Katie Fogle said. "I am in the process of seeking a dissolution of the marriage. My focus is exclusively on the well-being of my children. Neither I nor my family will have any further comment on the matter. I appreciate respect for my family's privacy during this difficult time."

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