Fogle was in prison at the time of the film's release in 1989.[2] A career criminal with a sixth-grade education,[3] Fogle had been in trouble with the law many times starting in his teens and throughout the rest of his life. On May 27, 2010, Fogle was arrested with another man for robbing a drugstore in
Redmond, Washington. He was held on $500,000 bail as he awaited trial.
Fogle was arrested again for robbing a Seattle pharmacy in 2011. On Friday, March 4, 2011, he was sentenced to 15 years and nine months in prison.[4] On August 23, 2012, Fogle died of
mesothelioma at the age of 75 in the state
Monroe Correctional Complex in
Monroe, Washington.[5] Though Fogle wrote many short stories and novels, the only one that has been published is Drugstore Cowboy with the rest in the possession of
Daniel Yost, a screenwriter and Fogle's friend.[6]