OOF!
Well, that's better than being called a "serial child molestor" when your previous title was Speaker of the House:
An Illinois federal judge on Wednesday sentenced former U.S. House Speaker Dennis Hastert, once second in line to the President of the United States, to 15 months in prison and two years of supervised release after Hastert admitted hiding hush money he paid to cover up his sexual abuse of teenage boys on the Yorkville high school wrestling team.Mistreated? Mistreated?! That doesn't sound like acceptance of responsibility...
U.S. District Judge Thomas Durkin called Hastert a "serial child molester" as he imposed the sentence for dodging federal banking laws following a wrenching hearing in Illinois federal court. Hastert also must undergo treatment as a sex offender and pay a $250,000 fine to go toward a criminal victims' fund.
"Some actions can obliterate a lifetime of good works," Durkin said.
Hastert. the former high school teacher and wrestling coach who was elected to Congress in 1986, said Wednesday he was "deeply ashamed" for having "mistreated" some athletes he coached. "For 11 months, I have been struggling to come to terms with events that occurred almost 40 years ago," Hastert said.
5 comments:
15 months?!?!? Wow! I guess being rich, white and politically well-connected are all factors under 3553(a).
A disgraceful sentence. You are a serial child molester for 40 years and you've only started trying to come to grips with it 11 months ago? Didn't one of his victims commit suicide?
The lawyer's mistake not as bad as Ted Cruz' "basketball ring" gaffe.
Also Tom Delay's letter that the Defendant "didn't deserve what he's going through" needed some serious editing too. Mr. Delay is right though, I can't imagine how the defendant is suffering now that everyone knows he's a child molester who was willing to pay hush money, who then tried to blame the victim by claiming that he himself was the victim of extortion. Oh, the humanity!
Sure seems like the judge was hoping people would think he treated Hastert harshly due to his comments, but he only gave him a fourth of the prison time that he might have. If structuring your transactions to avoid anyone figuring out that you're paying hush money to victims you molested doesn't merit a max sentence under the anti-structuring statute, what does? Maybe if you did all of the above, then tried to frame one of your victims as an extortionist when the FBI came knocking, prompting a full blown investigation of your victim?
I know the guideline range was zero to six months, but, if ever there has been cause to do so, this is the scenario in which a judge should max out the defendant on a structuring charge.
I'd bet Durkin has tapped drug dealers with the full five-year sentence in the past (or he would, if given the opportunity).
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