Former House Speaker Dennis Hastert pleaded guilty Wednesday to lying to federal investigators in a hush money scandal.
Hastert is charged with lying to federal investigators about plans to pay $3.5 million in hush money prevent information from coming out that he had an inappropriate sexual relationship with a student during his time as a high school teacher and wrestling coach.
The 73-year-old, who served in House leadership for more than a decade, entered the plea in front of a federal judge in Chicago.
As part of the plea deal, Hastert could be sentenced up to five years in prison and pay a $250,000 fine. But because of the crime he committed and lack of previous criminal history, both sides in the case told U.S. District Court Judge Thomas Durkin to follow federal sentencing guidelines that call for a sentence of zero-six months in prison.
Also under the plea deal, a separate felony charge Hastert faced of lying to the FBI will be dropped.
“As part of the sentencing process in this case, as in all cases, we will provide the court with relevant information about the defendant’s background and the charged offenses, and the defendant will have an opportunity to do the same, so that the court can impose an appropriate sentence taking into account all relevant factors in the case,” the U.S. attorney’s office for northern Illinois said in a statement.
Hastert’s plea is to one count of “structuring,” or withdrawing money out of banks in amounts less than $10,000 in order to avoid federal reporting rules.
Hastert said he knew what he was doing was wrong, but said, “I didn’t want them to know how I intended to spend the money.” Judge Durkin set sentencing for Feb. 29.
The charges stem from a May indictment that alleged Hastert agreed to pay “Individual A” $3.5 million in an attempt to cover up and compensate for allegations of sexual conduct with a former student during his time working at a high school in Yorkville, Ill., sometime between 1965-81.
