Former House Speaker Arrives At Federal Court To Plead Guilty

Hastert outside Dirksen Federal Building (Sun-Times Photo)

Former House Speaker Dennis Hastert arrived at the federal courthouse in Chicago this morning to plead guilty to charges he illegally paid $1.7 million to a man whom he was accused of sexually abusing when he was his high school wrestling coach four decades ago in Yorkville, Illinois. This is Hastert's first appearance since his formal charging on June 9. It is unclear which of the two federal charges he faces will be part of the plea agreement. The two charges were for evading federal cash transaction reporting requirements and lying to investigators about the purpose of the payments. It also is not known whether his accuser's identity will be protected, along with the allegations he made against Hastert, as part of the plea agreement. Federal prosecutors are asking for a sentence of anywhere from no time in prison to up to six months in prison. It makes one wonder what the purpose of the investigation was other than to embarrass the former House Speaker if it didn't involve a crime serious enough to warrant jail time.

UPDATE: Here's the U.S. Attorney's statement on today's plea agreement:

This morning, JOHN DENNIS HASTERT, 73, of Plano, pleaded guilty in federal court to one count of illegally structuring cash withdrawals in order to evade financial reporting requirements. The Honorable U.S. District Judge Thomas M. Durkin scheduled a sentencing hearing for February 29, 2016, at 10:00 a.m.

The United States Attorney’s Office for the Northern District of Illinois issued this statement following the guilty plea:

“Now that Mr. Hastert has pled guilty, and the Court has accepted his guilty plea, the case will proceed to sentencing. 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. We have no further comment about the matter at this time.”

And it looks like the public will have to look elsewhere to find out the information behind today's plea agreement since Hastert was not required to state the purpose for evading financial reporting requirements. A copy of the plea agreement can be viewed by clicking here.