Former House Speaker Dennis Hastert was released from prison on Monday after serving 13 months for lying to federal investigators about money used to hide sexual abuse charges.
In May 2015, Hastert was charged with felony counts of illegal bank structuring and lying to the FBI. In October 2015, Hastert pleaded guilty to those charges before admitting in April 2016 he sexually molested teenage boys while coaching wrestling at Yorkville High School in Illinois.
A federal judge chastised Hastert for his behavior and sentenced him to 15 months in prison, which he did not appeal. His anticipated release date had been Aug. 16. Hastert is currently under supervised release, and is either at a halfway house or in home confinement in the Chicago area.
According to the Chicago Sun-Times, Hastert coordinated bank activity in 2010 to pay $3.5 million to an individual as hush money for prior sexual abuse. However, Hastert allegedly only paid $1.7 million, prompting a lawsuit from the victim. Hastert, who filed a countersuit, was not charged with sexual molestation due to expired statute of limitations.
Originally published by Washington Examiner.
