INDIANAPOLIS >> A federal appeals court has rejected former Subway pitchman Jared Fogle’s appeal of his sentence of more than 15 years in prison for child pornography offenses and illicit sexual conduct with a child.
A three-judge panel of the 7th U.S. Circuit Court of Appeals on Thursday affirmed the 188-month sentence handed down by U.S. District Judge Tanya Walton Pratt in Indianapolis.
Fogle, 38, pleaded guilty in November to one count each of distributing and receiving child porn and traveling to engage in illicit sexual conduct with a child. That came four months after FBI agents raided his suburban Indianapolis home in an investigation that ended Fogle’s lucrative endorsement career with Subway, which started after he lost more than 200 pounds in college, partly by eating Subway sandwiches.
As part of a plea deal, prosecutors agreed not to seek more than 12-1/2 years behind bars, and Fogle’s attorney, Ron Elberger, argued Pratt abused her authority by giving him a sentence three years longer than that.
Elberger argued before the appeals court that Pratt was unduly influenced by Fogle’s relationship with Russell Taylor, the former director of Fogle’s foundation convicted of producing child pornography.
Fogle admitted that he paid for sex at New York hotels with girls who were 16 or 17 years old and that he had received some child pornography produced by Taylor. Fogle also paid a total of $1.4 million to his 14 victims, with each getting $100,000.
Fogle is serving his sentence at the low-security prison in suburban Denver. Taylor, who headed the foundation Fogle started to fight childhood obesity, was sentenced in December to 27 years in prison after pleading guilty to 12 counts of child exploitation and one count of distributing child pornography.
Tesla denies reports of car safety issues
DETROIT >> Electric car maker Tesla Motors is denying allegations that there are safety problems with its vehicle suspensions.
The Palo Alto, Calif., company says one of its cars had an abnormal amount of rust on a suspension part, a problem it hasn’t seen in any other car.
On Thursday the U.S. National Highway Traffic Safety Administration said it asked for information from owners and Tesla about Model S suspension failures. The agency has not opened a formal investigation.
Tesla said in a statement Friday that the Model S with the rust had more than 70,000 miles on it and was caked in dirt when picked up for service. The company says it has given the agency all relevant information.
NHTSA says it’s also concerned that Tesla has asked owners to sign nondisclosure agreements about safety issues. The agency says such agreements could prevent owners from reporting problems to the government.
But Tesla also denied that. The company says it has asked customers to sign a “Goodwill Agreement” when it agrees to fix a problem that wasn’t the fault of the car. Those agreements make sure that repairing the car is not used against the company in court, Tesla said.
“This agreement never comes close to mentioning NHTSA or the government and has nothing to do with trying to stop someone from communicating with NHTSA,” Tesla’s statement said.
On the Move
Goodsill Anderson Quinn & Stifell has announced that Daniel R. Lam is a new associate in the firm’s Corporate and Securities Group. He concentrates in the areas of securities regulation and corporate governance as well as finance and real estate finance. Prior to joining Goodsill, he served in a law firm in Omaha, Neb., that represented a number of Fortune 500 companies.
Island Air has hired the following employees to accommodate its new daily service to Kona International Airport starting Tuesday:
>> Shardae Kaupu Lopez, who started working for Island Air in 2012, will serve as a station manager in Kona as well as oversee the airline’s airport operations.
>> Ramp agents: Tavita Laasaga, Douglas Vallente Jr., Greg Nation, Terry Robso, RJ Sullivan, Stan Kaneo, Maile Comilla, Kelly Bennet, Chad Kalele and Garyn Akima.
