Jared Fogle's Life In Prison Is Worse Than Anyone Suspected

Jared Fogle's fall from grace came hard and fast when he was implicated in one of 2015's biggest scandals. One day, he was the cherished "Subway Guy" people looked up to as inspiration in their weight-loss journeys, and the next, he was a sex offender. In August 2015, he pleaded guilty to child pornography and soliciting sex with minors after striking a deal with the FBI. Subway swiftly removed all images and mentions of Fogle from their ad campaigns and he was permanently added to the list of TV pitchmen shamed by scandal.

In November 2015, he was sentenced to more than 15 years behind bars, a sentence he has been serving at the Federal Correctional Institution, Englewood, in Colorado. Fogle's life in prison has been no picnic in the park. While the reality of incarceration is rarely positive, it can be particularly harsh for sex offenders. With that in mind, his lawyers requested that he be sent to the Colorado facility since it has a program for sex offenders. 

However, being housed in a facility that specializes in sex crimes did little to make his daily life easier. "When you're in custody, there are two kinds of people who are hated more than anything else; informants — you know, rats — and child molesters," former federal prisoner Larry Levine told InTouch in 2016. "It's a violent place and he's going to have a rough go of it for a long time. Fogle don't have a chance." Levine wasn't too far off in his predictions.

Not all crimes are created equal in the eyes of prisoners, and sex crimes — especially those committed against children — are at the very bottom of the rank. Since he arrived at Englewood, Jared Fogle has been persona non grata. His fellow inmates never miss an opportunity to taunt him, which became very easy after he was assigned kitchen duty. "It was sort of a joke," former inmate Pat Gannon, who was released in 2021, told the New York Post in 2024. "The Subway guy handing out grilled cheeses. We used to laugh about it."

That was the milder form of attacks he has suffered. In January 2016, a little more than a month after arriving at the prison, Fogle was physically assaulted by fellow inmate Steven Nigg, who said he had no regrets. "He said, 'I couldn't help it Jim.' He couldn't help it," his brother, James Nigg, told NBC Chicago, adding that his brother "doesn't like child molesters." Steven did what he wished someone would have done if one of his loved ones had been among Fogle's victims.

"Basically, he said, you know, 'I hope it makes the family happy,'" James explained. An unnamed prisoner described how the attacker — without naming Steven — was egged on by other inmates who booed Fogle while calling him "Chomo," short for child molester. "He never ratted out the inmates who did it, though, because he was threatened that if he did, they would get him," the source said in the InTouch exclusive.