Reports that a plea deal was in the works emerged in late September.
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Hastert was the longest-serving Republican speaker leading the House for eight years before leaving Congress in 2007 and becoming a powerful lobbyist. Apparently Hastert lied to the agency about agreeing to pay someone $3.5 million to hide claims of unspecified past misconduct. A deal would avoid a trial and could potentially keep details of the case secret.
The individual who was allegedly receiving hush money from Mr Hastert has not surfaced publicly.
Though the indictment only hints at the alleged wrongdoing, federal law enforcement sources have told the Tribune that Hastert was paying to cover up sexual abuse of a Yorkville High School student years ago.
The next court date is October 28, at which point Hastert may enter a guilty plea.
“Hastert may have no problem saying, ‘I restructured withdrawals to avoid detection, ‘” Cramer said.
The indictment said the withdrawals were used to “compensate for and conceal” earlier “misconduct” against a person identified only as “Individual A”. Joseph Fitzpatrick, a spokesman for the U.S Attorney for the Northern District of Illinois, said “principles of an agreement” have been reached, but did not reveal which charges Hastert would admit to or whether the agreement includes prison time for the former speaker. He then lied to the Federal Bureau of Investigation about it. On Thursday, Hastert’s lawyers said he would plead guilty on those charges.
Each count carries a maximum sentence of five years, most likely to be spent in a minimum security prison meant for people who have committed political or financial crimes.
Helene McNeive, whose husband taught at Yorkville High School with Hastert and now lives in Arizona, said Thursday’s word about the plea left her feeling “very sad” for the whole Hastert family. Hastert is accused of withdrawing nearly $1 million from various bank accounts, in increments below a $10,000 threshold that triggers reporting requirements, to pay off an unidentified individual to buy their silence about previous “misconduct”.
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Hastert lawyer Thomas Green has said those leaks were “unconscionable”.
