Former U.S. House Speaker Dennis Hastert To Plead Guilty To Paying $3.5 Million In Hush Money

By Kate Shepherd in News on Oct 15, 2015 4:00PM

Former U.S. House speaker Dennis Hastert plans to plead guilty to an indictment alleging he made $3.5 million in hush payments to cover up a sexual abuse scandal, his lawyers said in federal court hearing Thursday morning.

U.S. District Judge Thomas Durkin scheduled a session for Hastert to enter the guilty plea on Oct. 28, according to the Tribune. A written plea agreement will be submitted to Durkin on Monday.

The plea agreement reportedly includes prison time—possibly over a year—for 73-year-old Hastert, according to Politico. Several legal experts were expecting Hastert to reach a plea deal to avoid the embarrassment of a public trial.

Hastert appeared in court in June to plead not guilty but it was revealed in a late September hearing that Hastert's lawyers had been negotiating a plea agreement with federal prosecutors. He was not present in court today.

Hastert was allegedly making the payments to an unnamed individual to cover up his sexual abuse of a student during his days as a wrestling coach and teacher at a high school in Yorkville. One of the reasons he's in trouble now is that authorities claim he lied to the FBI in December about why he withdrew $952,000 in cash over the previous 2 1/2 years.