“I kind of felt bad for him, and I wrote him to see how he was doing,” Brenda Firkins said. “And he wrote me back and sent this letter that was kind of horrifying.”
As a former girlfriend of convicted sex offender Jared Fogle, Firkin decided to reach out to him at the Englewood federal correctional institution in Littleton, Colorado, where he’s serving his 15-and-a-half year sentence because she apparently felt sorry for him. In return, Fogle sent back a short one-page letter marked with his prison number 12919-028. It gives the world a small peek into life behind bars for Fogle and how he views his situation.
In the letter he writes, “I made a couple of mistakes but nothing like the media reports have said. They are making me into some sort of monster which is absolutely not true. “I’m currently appealing my prison sentence and am hoping for the best with it. Bottom line, my director of my foundation and friend did some bad stuff and tried to throw me under the bus with him.”
Fogle’s former foundation director and friend Russell Taylor was sentenced to 27 years in prison in December, pleading guilty to 12 counts of producing child pornography and a count of distributing child pornography.
He also requests pictures from Firkins and asks if she’s single, a clear indication he hasn’t fully grasped the severity of his plight nor accepted responsibility for the horrendous things he’s done. Firkins says she met Fogle on a dating site around eight years ago and admits to having a sexual relationship for about a month before losing contact.
Fogle is appealing his sentence. Oral arguments for Fogle’s appeal are scheduled for next month in Chicago.
