Over 40 years after he reportedly sexually abused young athletes he coached, former Republican House Speaker Dennis Hastert reported to prison in a wheelchair. He wasn’t convicted on charges of abuse, but rather his recent violation of banking laws when he payed a victim to keep quiet.

Hastert is one of the most recognizable politicians in U.S. history to serve jail time. And he might never have been caught, had the FBI not noticed how he withdrew large amounts of money from several different banks three years ago. According to the Washington Post, he initially claimed he was being blackmailed, but officials soon realized he was lying.

Read Law Street’s previous take about the charges against Hastert here.

Former House Speaker Dennis Hastert to report to prison today https://t.co/NVGLCLKV9n pic.twitter.com/iiwqiTOobi

— Talking Points Memo (@TPM) June 22, 2016

The Background

Dennis Hastert was a wrestling coach and high school teacher in the 1970s and molested five teenagers that he coached. In court in April he stood face to face with his victims and admitted that he “mistreated some of my athletes that I coached.” The judge called him a “serial child molester.”

Jolene Reinboldt testified about Hastert’s four year sexual abuse of her brother Steve when he was in high school. She told ABC:

He took his belief in himself and his kind of right to be a normal person. Here was the mentor, the man who was, you know, basically his friend and stepped into that parental role, who was the one who was abusing him… He damaged Steve I think more than any of us will ever know.

Steve Reinbolt told his sister about Hastert in 1979. He died from AIDS eleven years ago.

John Lewis holds a congressional sit-in for gun control while Dennis Hastert reports to prison for serial child molestation. #ProudToBeADem

— Dusty Huskey (@huskydusty) June 22, 2016

The sentence

The court couldn’t charge Hastert with sexual abuse since the statute of limitations had run out. He was instead charged with breaking federal banking laws by withdrawing money from several different banks in amounts small enough to not have to report them. He also lied to the FBI about his banking activity.

Hastert was sentenced to 15 months in a medical federal prison in Minnesota. But since he is now old and in poor health he is likely to get out after 12.5 months. He will not stay in a locked cell, his guards are not armed, and he will have access to recreational activities. It seems like a lenient sentence for someone who allegedly destroyed the lives of at least five young boys. But a man who was once so well-respected in U.S. politics will never be looked at in the same light again.

Emma Von Zeipel

Emma Von Zeipel is a staff writer at Law Street Media. She is originally from one of the islands of Stockholm, Sweden. After working for Democratic Voice of Burma in Thailand, she ended up in New York City. She has a BA in journalism from Stockholm University and is passionate about human rights, good books, horses, and European chocolate. Contact Emma at EVonZeipel@LawStreetMedia.com.

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A mysterious “past misconduct” forces one powerful politician down a dark road to keep his secret hidden with an illegal cover up costing millions. It sounds like the kind of synopsis you’d find on the back of a thrilling conspiracy novel, but it actually summarizes the contents of a federal grand jury’s seven page indictment served to former Republican House Speaker Dennis Hastert on Thursday .

According to the Washington Post, Hastert, 73, is charged with scheming to conceal $950,000 in withdrawals from various accounts, which violates federal banking laws requiring the disclosure of any large cash transactions. These withdrawals were part of the reported $1.7 million in cash paid by Hastert over five years to an undisclosed person referred to only as “Individual A,” whom he’d wronged in the past. Sources are now claiming that he’d committed sexual misconduct against the individual.

In 2010, Hastert met with Individual A and was confronted with his “past misconduct,” which he allegedly agreed to pay $3.5 million in order to conceal. At one point he was reportedly paying $100,000 every three months to this person, according to the indictment.

The indictment did made a point to mention Hastert’s 26 year stint as a high school teacher and coach in Yorkville, Illinois, that this individual has been a resident of Yorkville, and has known Hastert for most of their life.

Hastert was a well regarded politician and tobacco and energy lobbyist who is best known for being the longest running Republican speaker in the history of the U.S. House, but in 2013 the FBI and the Internal Revenue Service began investigating him for “possible structuring of currency transactions to avoid the reporting requirements.”

According to the Post,

In addition to the banking charges, Hastert faces a count for making ‘false, fictitious and fraudulent statements’ to federal investigators during an interview last December in which he was questioned about the many cash withdrawals for less than $10,000, just under the amounts that would have triggered disclosure requirements.

When asked about these withdrawals Hastert told investigators he made them “because he did not feel safe with the banking system,” saying,

Yeah…I kept the cash. That’s what I’m doing.

We’ll have to wait for the arraignment to see how he will plea, but the U.S. Attorney Office in Chicago said that if convicted  on both counts he could face a maximum penalty of 10 years in prison and a $500,000 fine.

Alexis Evans

Alexis Evans is an Assistant Editor at Law Street and a Buckeye State native. She has a Bachelor’s Degree in Journalism and a minor in Business from Ohio University. Contact Alexis at aevans@LawStreetMedia.com.

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