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Hastert Sentenced to 15 Months in Prison

Hastert Sentenced to 15 Months in Prison
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By The Associated Press
Apr. 27, 2016 | CHICAGO, IL
By The Associated Press Apr. 27, 2016 | 12:59 PM | CHICAGO, IL
A federal judge has sentenced Dennis Hastert to 15 months in prison in a hush-money case that centered on accusations that the former U.S. House speaker sexually abused at least four students when he was a high school wrestling coach.

Judge Thomas M. Durkin announced the sentence Wednesday. Hastert also must undergo sex offender treatment, two years of supervised release after his time behind bars and a $250,000 fine to go to a crime victims fund.  

He pleaded guilty last fall to violating banking law as he sought to pay someone referred to as Individual A $3.5 million to keep sex abuse secret.   

Before he sentenced Hastert, Durkin described the 74-year-old Illinois Republican as a "serial child molester,'' and that "accusing Individual A of  extorting you was unconscionable.''  

He was the nation's longest-serving GOP speaker and was second in the line of succession to the presidency. 

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