Jared Fogle’s Charity Was A Sham



Jared Fogle may have some more explaining to do. Last week, the former Subway pitchman agreed to plead guilty to two counts of child exploitation. He not only viewed and distributed child pornography that he received from the executive director of his Jared Foundation, but also made numerous trips to have paid sex with minors. Well, USA Today reported yesterday that this may not have been Fogle’s only racket. It turns out the Jared Foundation was a charity in name only.

Jared Fogle at a 2007 event in Boston (courtesy Wikimedia Commons)
Jared Fogle at a 2007 event in Boston (courtesy Wikimedia Commons)

Fogle set up the foundation in 2004, with the stated goal of fighting childhood obesity. In 2008, he announced that he intended to distribute $2 million to schools and community organizations to help kids fight the same demons that resulted in him ballooning to over 400 pounds at one point. However, USA Today pored over the Jared Foundation’s tax documents, and found that it didn’t even begin to meet that promise. It never issued a single grant during its lifetime.

From 2009 to 2013, this charity only spent an average of $73,000 per year. Out of that total, 60 percent went to pay executive director Russell Taylor’s salary. A charity executive getting an exorbitant salary is by itself a red flag. But USA Today found that 26 percent of the money the foundation took in couldn’t be accounted for. According to the Indianapolis Business Journal, as of 2013 the Jared Foundation had revenues of $120,000 and expenses of $148,000. The charity reported that $100,000 went toward “program service expenses,” and that Taylor was paid $40,000.

In 2012, the Indiana Secretary of State administratively dissolved the charity because it hadn’t paid the annual reporting fee in over two years despite numerous delinquency notices. The fee amount? Wait for it–$5. However, it was still recognized by the IRS, and thus could still take tax-deductible donations.

When Daniel Borochoff of nonprofits watchdog CharityWatch saw these figures, he concluded that the Jared Foundation was pure vanity. Borochoff said that Fogle “could have gotten more money” if he were really interested in helping kids. To his mind, the Jared Foundation is one of a long list of charities that were “more about image enhancement than charitable deeds.”

It’s bad enough that this charity was merely a vanity act on Fogle’s part. But if it turns out that it crossed into criminal activity, though, it could jeopardize Fogle’s chances of breathing free air again. Under his plea agreement with federal prosecutors in Indianapolis, Fogle has agreed to accept a minimum sentence of five years in prison. In return, prosecutors will not recommend a sentence longer than 12.5 years. However, federal law requires anyone cooperating with prosecutors to disclose all criminal activity in which they’re involved. If it turns out that there was criminal activity at the Jared Foundation and Fogle didn’t reveal this to prosecutors, it could be grounds to tear up the plea agreement. If that were to happen, Fogle could be staring down the barrel of 50 years in prison–at his age, effectively a life sentence.

Fogle is due to be sentenced on November 19. It can safely be assumed that between now and then, prosecutors will lean pretty heavily on Fogle and Taylor to come clean about the Jared Foundation’s activities. I’d wager that they’d be particularly interested in how more than a quarter of the foundation’s money seemed to have gone down the rabbit hole. It’s not known yet whether this charity was simply vanity, or whether there was something more sinister at play. Even if it was merely vanity, though, it would still be more proof that Fogle pulled the wool over our eyes for 15 years.

Darrell is a 30-something graduate of the University of North Carolina who considers himself a journalist of the old school. An attempt to turn him into a member of the religious right in college only succeeded in turning him into the religious right's worst nightmare--a charismatic Christian who is an unapologetic liberal. His desire to stand up for those who have been scared into silence only increased when he survived an abusive three-year marriage. You may know him on Daily Kos as Christian Dem in NC. Follow him on Twitter @DarrellLucus or connect with him on Facebook. Click here to buy Darrell a Mello Yello.