CHICAGO, May 21 (UPI) — Attorneys for Jared Fogle, the fallen former pitchman for Subway restaurants, on Friday asked an Illinois appeals court to reduce his sentence related to his sex crimes conviction.
Fogle’s defense argued that the 15-year prison sentence, issued last year, should be cut because it was based partly on fantasies that were never actually fulfilled.
“The mere fact that someone’s fantasizing about a crime or committing a crime, even a crime of violence, is not itself a crime,” defense attorney Ron Elberger said during Friday’s hearing.
Fogle’s defense has argued that the judge in the case abused her authority by imposing the term — 15 years and eight months — particularly because prosecutors had only recommended 12 1/2 years.
Assistant U.S. Attorney Steve DeBrota said during the hearing that the sentence is just, and disputed the claim that Fogle didn’t act on his fantasies involving minors.
“None of that was fantasy,” he said.
Last year, Fogle was convicted of possession or distribution of child pornography and traveling across state lines to have sex with a minor.
The the 7th U.S. Circuit Court of Appeals in Chicago will issue a ruling on Fogle’s request for a reduced sentence at a later date.
