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Attorney: Hastert hospitalized after stroke

Former House Speaker Dennis Hastert, who pleaded guilty in late October to violating federal banking laws, has been hospitalized since early November and suffered a stroke, his attorney said.

"I am confirming that during the first week of November, our client Dennis Hastert was admitted to the hospital," attorney Tom Green said in a statement. "Mr. Hastert has suffered a stroke and has been treated for sepsis. While in the hospital, two back surgeries were performed. We are very hopeful that Mr. Hastert will be released from the hospital in the early part of the new year."

Sepsis is a serious response to an infection. Asked where Hastert is hospitalized, Green emphasized his statement's request for privacy.

Hastert, a longtime suburban member of Congress and the longest-serving Republican speaker in history, pleaded guilty this year to charges he tried to skirt federal banking laws in order to pay hush money to an associate regarding misdeeds dating to his time as a wrestling coach at Yorkville High School.

Federal prosecutors had suggested a prison sentence of up to six months, and sentencing has been set for the end of February. It's unclear whether Hastert's health will affect his case.

Dallas Ingemunson, a former Kendall County Republican chairman and friend of Hastert's, said he talked to the former speaker last week and got the impression he was "doing OK."

"It was just a small stroke a while back," Ingemunson said.

A letter dated Dec. 11 and addressed to the presiding federal judge asks for leniency and briefly mentions a hospital stay.

"In light of his recent hospital stay, I would hope that probation in lieu of confinement would be considered in determining his sentence," C. William Pollard, who describes himself as a longtime friend of Hastert, wrote in the letter.

Posted on the court docket Wednesday, it adds Hastert's current legal plight "may reflect mistakes in how he structured withdrawals" but that as speaker, Hastert "was known as a man of integrity."

Hastert has stayed out of the public eye since he was charged except for brief court appearances this year and hasn't made public statements.

Hastert's political career took the former high school teacher and wrestling coach first to the Illinois Capitol, then in 1987 to Congress, where he stayed until he left the speakership after the 2006 election.

He rose to U.S. House speaker in 1999 following Newt Gingrich and served in the post during the Sept. 11 attacks. Democrats regained control of the House in the 2006 election. In that year, Republicans and Hastert had to respond to the scandal created by former Rep. Mark Foley sending sexually suggestive messages to congressional pages.

Hastert turned the speaker's gavel over to Nancy Pelosi and worked as a Washington, D.C., lobbyist after leaving Congress.

In May, federal prosecutors charged him with lying to the FBI about paying $1.7 million to an individual to stay quiet about past misconduct. The Associated Press and other outlets reported the misconduct was sexual in nature.

As the case played out, Hastert lost several honors granted the former speaker, including Wheaton College taking his name off a public policy center.

He pleaded guilty in October and is scheduled to be sentenced Feb. 29.

"The final decision rests with me," Judge Thomas Durkin said at that time. "I may sentence you to a longer or shorter sentence than you expect."

• The Associated Press contributed to this story.

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The teacher-profile section of the 1969 Yorkville High School yearbooknoted that while working with the "international YMCA" in 1967, teacher and coach Dennis Hastert had traveled to Japan. He also was an adviser to Yorkville Explorers Post 540, which visited the Bahamas.
FHouse Speaker Dennis Hastert sits for a portrait in his Capitol Hill office in 2007. Associated Press Photo
  Former U.S. Speaker of the House Dennis Hastert leaves the Dirksen Federal Building in Chicago following his indictment on hush money charges in June. Daily Herald File Photo/Laura Stoecker lstoecker@dailyherald.com
Former House Speaker Dennis Hastert, center, at the federal courthouse Oct. 28 in Chicago, where he pleaded guilty in a hush-money case. Associated Press File Photo
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