Tag Archives: plea

Judge to Receive Hastert Plea Today

By Nick Gale, WLS News

(CHICAGO) The judge in former U.S. House Speaker Dennis Hastert’s bank fraud case is expected to receive a copy of a plea agreement that the prosecution and defense have agreed to.

Judge Thomas Durkin is expected to see the plea deal for the first time today with Hastert expected to plead guilty on October 28 to charges that he paid $3.5 million in hush-money to cover up alleged wrongdoing from his years as a high school teacher.

According to the charges, Hastert lied about the reasons he withdrew the cash when he was questioned by the FBI in December. Prosecutors say he violated banking laws when he split up the withdrawals to evade the bank’s reporting requirements.

Listen to Nick Gale’s report for WLS News radio:

The plea agreement avoids a trial in which potentially embarrassing details could spill out to the public.  A person who was interviewed by the FBI raised allegations that the wrongdoing was sexual in nature.

Hastert does not have to appear today and hasn’t been in court since his initial hearing.

@ 2015 WLS News 

Breaking: Hastert Reaches Plea Deal

By Bill Cameron and Nick Gale, WLS News

(CHICAGO) Former Speaker of the House Dennis Hastert has reached a plea deal with federal prosecutors over bank fraud charges.

Listen to Bill Cameron’s report for WLS radio here:

Attorney’s for Hastert say they reached the deal with prosecutors and the Republican will plead guilty to charges that he paid $3.5 million in hush-money to cover up alleged wrongdoing from his years as a high school teacher, long before he became second in line to the presidency.

A person who was interviewed by the FBI raised allegations that the wrongdoing was sexual in nature. Hastert’s attorneys have blamed the government for improperly leaking details of alleged sexual abuse.

A written plea agreement has been worked out and both sides say it will be handed over to the judge on Monday.

According to the charges, Hastert lied about the reasons he withdrew $952,000 in cash over the previous 2 &1/2 years when he was questioned by the FBI in December.

The judge has set October 28th for Hastert to enter the guilty plea. There is a report that the government insists Hastert serve at least a year in prison.

@ 2015 WLS News