Former Subway pitchman Jared Fogle has been sentenced to more than 15 years in prison for trading in child pornography and having sex with underage prostitutes, with the judge describing his "perversion and lawlessness" as "extreme."
Judge Tanya Walton Pratt on Thursday disregarded prosecutors' recommendation that Fogle get 12 years behind bars, opting for a stiffer term of 15 years and eight months in prison. She could have sentenced him to up to 50 years.
In explaining her sentence, the federal judge noted how fortunate Fogle was to land his lucrative deal to be the face of Subway after he lost more than 200 pounds in college, partly by eating the chain's sandwiches.
"What a gift, to have such a professional windfall fall in your lap," she said.
But Pratt said Fogle blew the chance he'd been given by living a double life and pointed out that the crimes he committed weren't victimless.
"The level of perversion and lawlessness exhibited by Mr Fogle is extreme," Pratt said, who also ordered Fogle to submit to a lifetime of post-prison supervision and pay a $US175,000 ($A246,809.11) fine.
She recommended that Fogle receive sex offender treatment in prison and said she'll recommend he serve his time at a federal lockup in Littleton, Colorado, that specialises in such treatment.
Fogle didn't show any visible reaction when he heard his sentence, but some family members who were in the courtroom began crying and hugging each other after judge ordered Fogle taken into custody.
Before he was sentenced, the 38-year-old father of two addressed the court, apologising to his victims and his family and vowing to be a better person.
"I so regret that I let so many of you down," he told the court.
"I want to redeem my life. I want to become a good, decent person. I want to rebuild my life," he said.
Fogle pleaded guilty to one count each of travelling to engage in illicit sexual conduct with a minor and distribution and receipt of child pornography, as per a deal he struck with prosecutors in August, a month after his suburban Indianapolis home was raided.
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