Former House speaker sentenced to more than a year in prison

[Draz]

No thread?

Former House speaker sentenced to more than a year in prison

CHICAGO (AP) — Dennis Hastert, the Republican who for eight years presided over the House and was second in the line of succession to the presidency, was sentenced Wednesday to more than a year in prison in the hush-money case that included accusations he sexually abused teenagers while coaching high school wrestling.

Judge Thomas M. Durkin also ordered Hastert to undergo sex-offender treatment, spend two years on supervised release after 15 months behind bars and pay a $250,000 fine to a crime victims' fund.

In explaining his punishment, the judge called Hastert a "serial child molester" and described as "unconscionable" his attempt to accuse one of the victims of extortion.

Hastert becomes one of the highest-ranking politicians in American history to be sentenced to prison. He 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.

Earlier in the hearing, a former athlete who said he was molested by Hastert decades ago told the courtroom that he was "devastated" by the abuse.

The man, now in his 50s, said Hastert abused him while they were alone in a locker room. He struggled to hold back tears as he described the incident in detail. In the years since, he said, he sought professional help and had trouble sleeping. He said the memory still causes him pain.

He said he trusted and looked up to Hastert.

In his own statement, Hastert admitted that he "mistreated" some of his athletes and said he was "deeply ashamed."

"I am sorry to those I hurt and misled," he said. "What I did was wrong and I regret it."

When the judge asked whether he sexually abused one wrestler specifically, Hastert said yes.

Moments before the man took the stand, a woman who says 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, where Hastert was a history teacher and coach from 1965 to 1981.

Reinboldt died of AIDS in 1995.

His sister turned toward Hastert and said, "Don't be a coward ... tell the truth."

She also said, "I hope I have been your worst nightmare."

Authorities alleged that Hastert abused at least four students throughout his years at the school about 45 miles southwest of Chicago. He will report to prison at a later date.

The 74-year-old, who was in a wheelchair at the courthouse, agreed to a plea deal that suggested anything from probation to a maximum of six months behind bars.

But after prosecutors lifted a veil of secrecy from the case, the judge made comments suggesting he might impose a longer sentence, potentially putting Hastert behind bars for years, because of the abuse allegations.

Defense attorneys were seeking probation on the grounds that Hastert has already paid a high price in disgrace. They also cited his health, saying a blood infection nearly killed him in November and that a stroke has limited his mobility.

The lead prosecutor said he wishes Hastert could have been charged with the abuse he was trying to cover up.

Earlier this month, prosecutors went into graphic detail about the sex-abuse allegations for the first time, even describing how Hastert would sit in a recliner chair 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.

[FillJackson]

http://www.chicagotribune.com/news/l...408-story.html

[NumberSix]

1 year?

[Draz]

1 year?

I expected 2 weeks tbh

[I know you are]

Sickening.

[bdreason]

People like this should be take behind a building and shot. I know that's probably not 'fair', but at the same time, I think our society cares far too much about the 'rights' of evil men.

[FillJackson]

1 year?

The molestations were 30 years ago. This trial was not about them due to the statue of limitations.

This was a bank fraud case "illegal structuring".....money laundering basically.

[kNIOKAS]

People like this should be take behind a building and shot. I know that's probably not 'fair', but at the same time, I think our society cares far too much about the 'rights' of evil men.

You think they are voluntary evil or what?