An attorney representing former House Speaker Dennis Hastert told a federal judge on Thursday that the former Speaker of the house plans to plead guilty to silencing sources – who alleged they had been sexually abused by him – with financial payments, according to the Associated Press.
Attorneys for Hastert, the former speaker of the House, told a federal judge in September that their client was considering taking a plea deal in the criminal case against him, a spokesperson for the U.S Attorney for the Northern District of Illinois confirmed to BuzzFeed News.
The 73-year old former politician, who served as speaker from 1999 to 2006, was indicted in May on charges of "structuring financial payments" of $3.5 million to conceal "prior bad acts."
The indictment did not specify the nature of those acts, but sources with knowledge of the investigation told BuzzFeed News that Hastert, a former wrestling coach from a small town outside Chicago, was allegedly paying hush money to one of his former wrestlers, whom he sexually abused decades ago.
At the time, Hastert pleaded not guilty to all charges. But in September John Gallo, one of his attorneys, told U.S District Court Judge Thomas Durkin that his discussions with Assistant U.S. Attorney Steven Block about a potential plea deal were "linear and productive."
A plea deal allows the former Republican speaker to avoid a potentially embarrassing trial, where details of his "bad acts" would likely be discussed in open court.
Gallo's office did not immediately respond to a request for comment by BuzzFeed News.
He said in court that he expects to have a written plea agreement by Monday.
Gallo also asked the judge to set a date for a change of plea. The judge scheduled a hearing for Oct. 28.