>>25107263
>Dennis Hastert
Judge sentences 'serial child molester' Hastert to 15 months
LINK - https://www.usatoday.com/story/news/2016/04/27/ex-speaker-dennis-hastert-faces-sentencing-chicago/83584440/
ARCHIVE - https://archive.ph/XD1rA
CHICAGO — Former House speaker Dennis Hastert, who less than a decade ago stood second in line to the presidency, was sentenced to 15 months in federal prison Wednesday for a bank fraud case linked to allegations he sexually abused teen boys more than 30 years ago.
Federal Judge Thomas Durkin called Hastert, 74, a "serial child molester" and rejected a prosecutor's recommendation of six months in prison on a banking charge that carries a maximum five-year sentence. The court also fined Hastert $250,000 and sentenced him to two years of supervised release after leaving prison. Hastert must register as a sex offender.
"Nothing is more disturbing than having 'serial child molester' and 'Speaker of the House' in the same sentence," Durkin said.
Hastert, who entered court in a wheelchair and needed help standing to address the judge, admitted for the first time mistreating some athletes when he was a high school wrestling coach in Illinois before he began a political career that saw him become the top Republican in Congress.
“I want to apologize to the boys I mistreated,” Hastert said. “They looked (up) at me and I took advantage of them.”
Zachary Fardon, the U.S. Attorney for Northern Illinois, said federal guidelines for the charge of illegal structuring of bank withdrawals dictated his office's recommendation for up to a six-month prison term. Hastert pleaded guilty to the charge in October. Fardon noted that Hastert would have faced more serious charges for sex abuse had the statutes of limitation for the criminal sexual misconduct not expired years ago.
The federal guidelines set a maximum sentence for illegal structuring at five years in prison. Prosecutors say Hastert knowingly tried to evade triggering a rule that requires banks to report withdrawals over $10,000 to the IRS, but the money was legally obtained and he paid all appropriate taxes on the funds. Those details direct prosecutors to seek a relatively short sentence under the guidelines.
"We followed the case where it led, we brought the charges we could bring, and through that Mr. Hastert's legacy and legend are gone," Fardon said. "In its place are a broken, humiliated man."
Durkin acknowledged he could not sentence Hastert "for being a child molester" and that his sentence would "pale in comparison" to what the former lawmaker would have faced had he been convicted of state charges for sexual abuse of a child.
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