Former House Speaker Dennis Hastert was sentenced to 15 months in federal prison on Wednesday for violating federal bank laws, after the judge in the case accused him of molesting children during his years as a high school wrestling coach.
Judge Thomas M. Durkin of the Northern District of Illinois announced the sentence after roughly 45 minutes of discussion, and at one point called Hastert a “serial child molester.”
Last year, Hastert admitted his guilt in violating bank laws by making a series of withdrawals to pay off one of the people who was victimized by Hastert. He also admitted that he had lied to FBI agents investigating the case.
Judge Durkin gave Hastert 15 months in jail for those crimes, and while the banking violations led to the jail time, he also assigned Hastert with treatment for being a sex offender, and two years of supervised release once he serves his time.
Hastert will also have to pay a $250,000 fine.
The 74-year-old Illinois Republican, who served as speaker from 1999 to 2006, admitted that he sexually abused students while he worked at a Yorkville High School in Illinois as a teach and wrestling coach some 50 years ago.
In court Wednesday in Chicago, Hastert said he had “mistreated athletes” and students and replied “yes,” when asked by Durkin asked Hastert if he had committed sexual abuse.
“What I did was wrong and I regret it,” said Hastert, who arrived to the court in a wheelchair. “They looked to me and I took advantage of them.”
At one point, Hastert — the nation’s longest-serving GOP speaker — was second in the line of succession to the presidency.
