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Family of inmate who beat up Jared Fogle speaks

Posted at 11:14 PM, Mar 17, 2016
and last updated 2016-03-18 12:01:25-04

The inmate who beat up former Subway spokesperson Jared Fogle told his family he has no regrets and would do it again.

"He just couldn’t help himself. He had to stop and take him out," said Jim Nigg, the inmate's brother.

The prison yard scuffle goes beyond Fogle's conviction for having sex with minors and possessing child pornography. Steve Nigg's family tells Denver7 the convict was upset by Fogle's 15-year sentence. 

Nigg, 60, sought publicity to draw attention to his sentence. He is currently serving 15 years for a federal gun crime and his family said he found it appalling that Fogle would be sentenced to the same amount of time for what he believes is a much more heinous crime.

“It bothered him any way you look at it, but yea I’m sure it’s not, it’s not fair, it’s not equal," said Jim Nigg.

He says his brother, Steve, has had run-ins with child molesters in prison before.

Steve Nigg's criminal past dates back to his early 20s, but family members say he turned his life around. Court documents show he was involved in 1976 in an armed robbery spree in Arizona when he was 21 years old. He was released from prison in 1990.

In 2009, Steve Nigg's life took a sharp turn for the worse when his father passed away. He became the executor of the estate which included 120 firearms. His stepmother became suspicious that Nigg was selling the guns and hired a private investigator. The investigator was able to purchase two rifles from Nigg for $1,600.

The Armed Career Criminal Act requires a 15-year mandatory minimum sentence for anyone who possesses a gun or ammunition. Steve Nigg also has three prior convictions for drug trafficking or violent felonies.

"Fogle, I think had no criminal history; this guy spent a bunch of his life in prison, so this kind of general equivalence is an interesting argument but it’s really not how the system works," said Rick Kornfeld, a former federal prosecutor. 

Steve Nigg's family is raising funds in an attempt to get him out of prison.

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