CHICAGO -- Dennis Hastert, the former Republican speaker of the House, was sentenced Wednesday to 15 months in prison in the hush-money case that revealed accusations he sexually abused teenagers while coaching high school wrestling.
U.S. District Judge Thomas Durkin repeatedly rebuked the 74-year-old before issuing the sentence, telling Hastert that his abuse devastated the lives of victims and would probably make it harder than ever for parents to trust other adults with their children.
"If Denny Hastert could do it, anyone could do it," Durkin said. "Nothing is more stunning than to have the words 'serial child molester' and 'speaker of the House' in the same sentence."
Hastert sat in a wheelchair, peering over the top of his eyeglasses, his hands folded before him.
Earlier this month, prosecutors went into detail about the sex-abuse allegations, describing how Hastert would sit in a recliner in the locker room with a direct view of the showers. The victims, prosecutors said, were boys between 14 and 17. Hastert was in his 20s and 30s.
When the judge asked whether Hastert wanted to make a statement, Hastert pushed himself up, grabbed a walker and moved slowly to a lectern.
"I am deeply ashamed to be standing here," he said, reading from a statement. "I know why I am here. ... I mistreated some of the athletes that I coached."
He added: "They looked up to me, and I took advantage of them."
Hastert pleaded guilty last fall to violating banking law as he sought to pay $3.5 million to someone, referred to in court papers only as Individual A, to keep the sex abuse secret.
Durkin, an appointee of President Barack Obama, devoted many of his remarks to describing how Hastert lied to FBI agents when they first approached him about the large cash withdrawals. Hastert told investigators that Individual A was making a bogus claim of sex abuse to extort him for money.
"Accusing Individual A of extortion was unconscionable," Durkin said. "He was a victim [of abuse] decades ago, and you tried to make him a victim again."
Prosecutors have described the payments as something akin to an out-of-court settlement. Individual A wanted to bring in lawyers and put the agreement in writing, but it was Hastert, authorities said, who refused to involve anyone else.
Hastert, the judge said, thought he could use his elevated status to make federal investigators believe his lie.
"If he had told the truth, I'm not sure we would be here today," Durkin said about Hastert. "Instead, you lied and here we are."
Although the maximum sentence available for the banking violation was five years in prison, federal guidelines recommended probation to six months in prison.
In addition to the prison term, the judge also ordered Hastert to undergo sex-offender treatment, spend two years on supervised release from prison and pay a $250,000 fine to a crime-victims fund. Hastert will report to prison at a later date.
Authorities say Hastert abused at least four students throughout his years at Yorkville High School, about 45 miles southwest of Chicago, where he was a history teacher and coach from 1965 to 1981.
Before Hastert spoke, a former student delivered a statement. Describing what he called his "dark secret," Scott Cross, 53, frequently stopped and struggled to regain his composure.
"I looked up to coach Hastert," he said. After Hastert abused him in the locker room, he said: "I was devastated. I felt very alone."
Cross said he sought professional help and had trouble sleeping as a result of the abuse.
In Hastert's remarks, the former congressman never referred to sexual abuse. When he stopped reading, the judge asked him directly: Did Hastert, in fact, abuse Cross?
"I don't remember that," Hastert responded. "I accept his statement."
Before Cross spoke, a woman who said her brother was sexually abused by Hastert told the courtroom that her sibling felt "betrayed, ashamed and embarrassed."
Jolene Burdge said Hastert abused her brother, Stephen Reinboldt, throughout his years at Yorkville High School. Reinboldt died of AIDS in 1995.
"When a man is sexually assaulted, it means they weren't strong enough to fight back," she said. "He wasn't strong enough." She added, "You took his innocence and turned it against him."
She turned toward Hastert and said: "Don't be a coward, Mr. Hastert. Tell the truth."
By helping to reveal the sex abuse, she added, "I hope I have been your worst nightmare."
The judge also asked Hastert directly whether he had abused Reinboldt. Hastert first answered: "That was different situation, sir." After Hastert consulted his lawyer, the judge repeated the question. Hastert paused and said, "Yes."
Assistant U.S. Attorney Steven Block called Hastert's conduct "horrendous." But because of the statute of limitations, he could only be charged with a financial crime related to the payments he was making.
Although the banking charge was comparatively minor, Block said, society is better off now that Hastert has been unmasked.
"The defendant has been exposed for who he is," Block told the court.
Defense attorneys were seeking probation on the grounds that Hastert has already paid a high price in disgrace. Defense attorney Thomas Green alluded several times to Hastert's mental state, saying he was not sure whether Hastert fully comprehended what he had done.
He urged the judge to take into consideration the "entire arc" of Hastert's life, including his efforts to seek tougher drug laws. Hastert, he said, "is the single most important leader in the fight against drugs."
The attorney noted that 41 letters of support were forwarded to the judge, but dozens of letters were withdrawn after old friends and acquaintances learned they would be put on the public record.
"The withdrawn letters exemplify ... the abandonment" of Hastert, Green said.
At the end of the hearing, Durkin said the case had been "horrible" for the victims, their families and the nation as a whole.
"I never want to see a case like this again," he said.
A Section on 04/28/2016