Steven Nigg is a former federal inmate who became briefly notorious in January 2016 for attacking disgraced Subway spokesman Jared Fogle in the recreation yard of a Colorado prison. Nigg, then sixty, was serving a fifteen-year mandatory minimum sentence as an Armed Career Criminal when he tackled Fogle and punched him in the face, leaving the former pitchman bloodied. His family later told reporters he had no regrets and had targeted Fogle over his child sex crimes.
The Attack at FCI Englewood
On January 29, 2016, Nigg approached Fogle in the recreation yard at the Federal Correctional Institution in Englewood, Colorado, a low-security facility where both men were housed. Fogle was serving more than fifteen years for child pornography and illicit sexual conduct with a minor.
Nigg tackled Fogle to the ground and punched him repeatedly in the face. A Federal Bureau of Prisons incident report described a bloody nose, facial bruising, and neck abrasions.1People. Jared Fogle’s Prison Attack: Constant Target While Incarcerated At least one report described the nose as broken.2Corrections1. Report: Jared Fogle Beaten, Bloodied in Colo. Prison Brawl Nigg came away with a cut hand and a scraped knee.3NBC Chicago. Ex-Subway Pitchman Jared Fogle Beaten by Inmate
He was placed in segregated housing immediately after the incident and barred from the recreation yard. Available reporting does not indicate that Nigg faced additional criminal charges or a lengthened sentence over the assault.
Why Nigg Targeted Fogle
The story became national news in mid-March 2016 when Nigg’s relatives spoke publicly. His brother, Jim Nigg, told reporters that Steven “doesn’t like child molesters” and was bothered by the sentencing disparity between his own gun charge and Fogle’s crimes against children. “It bothered him any way you look at it,” Jim Nigg said.4Denver7. Inmate’s Brother Says Prisoner Would Beat Up Ex-Subway Spokesman Jared Fogle Again
Nigg’s nephew, Jimmy Nigg Jr., told reporters his uncle was “disgusted” by Fogle’s behavior inside the facility, specifically that Fogle was allegedly paying fellow inmates for protection and “flashing his money around” instead of keeping a low profile. “Jared’s lucky he’s still alive,” the nephew said. “My uncle was in a position to kill him. No one was there.”5SFGate. Jared Fogle Prison Attack
Family members said Nigg expressed no regret, would do it again, and had clashed before with inmates convicted of sex offenses. They were reportedly raising money toward his release at the time.4Denver7. Inmate’s Brother Says Prisoner Would Beat Up Ex-Subway Spokesman Jared Fogle Again
How He Ended Up in Federal Prison
Nigg’s criminal record goes back to November 1976, when at age twenty-one he committed three armed robberies over a span of days in Maricopa County, Arizona: a motel, two convenience stores, and a gas station. On March 9, 1977, he was convicted of three counts of armed robbery with a gun and received concurrent fifteen-to-thirty-year sentences. He was released from the Arizona prison system around 1989 or 1990.6AZ Central. Jared Fogle Prison Attack: Steven Nigg’s Arizona Ties
He later moved to Wisconsin. On December 14, 2010, a federal grand jury in the Eastern District of Wisconsin indicted him for possession of a firearm by a convicted felon under 18 U.S.C. ยง 922(g)(1). Because the three 1976 armed robberies qualified as prior violent felonies, prosecutors charged him under the Armed Career Criminal Act, which carries a fifteen-year mandatory minimum. Nigg pleaded guilty on January 19, 2011, and Judge William C. Griesbach sentenced him on June 6, 2011, to the mandatory fifteen years followed by three years of supervised release.7U.S. Courts. United States v. Nigg, No. 11-2340
After the Attack
Following months of isolation at Englewood, Nigg was transferred to the Federal Transfer Center in Oklahoma City. Prison records at the time listed a release date of 2024.812 On Your Side. Prisoner Who Attacked Jared Fogle Transferred to Another Facility
After his release, Nigg appeared on the podcast Unforbidden Truth, where he claimed to have assaulted twenty-one inmates convicted of sex offenses during his federal incarceration. That number has not been independently confirmed, and the specific disciplinary consequences of the alleged assaults were not detailed in available reporting.9Amazon Music. Unforbidden Truth: Interview With Former Federal Prisoner Steven Nigg