Former House Speaker Dennis Hastert dies

Former U.S. House Speaker Dennis Hastert, who was sentenced to 15 months in prison in a hush money case tied to sexual abuse, has died. He was 84.

Hastert, the longest-serving Republican Speaker of the House, died over the weekend at his home due to natural causes, Kendall County Coroner Jacquie Purcell said in a press release.

In 2016, Hastert admitted that he sexually abused teenage boys when he was a wrestling coach at Yorkville High School decades ago. A judge called him a ‘serial child molester while sentencing him to prison and fining him $250,000.

He represented Illinois’ 14th Congressional District from 1987 to 2007 and served as Speaker of the House from 1999 to 2007.