Timeline of events in Dennis Hastert’s life and career

The Associated Press

CHICAGO (AP) — Former U.S. House Speaker Dennis Hastert was for years known primarily for rising from political obscurity in rural Illinois to spending eight years in the nation’s third-highest office. Then came a federal indictment in a hush-money case centered on sex abuse allegations. Hastert, then 74, pleaded guilty and was sentenced to 15 months in prison. On Wednesday, lawyers say Hastert and a man who accused him of child sexual abuse reached a tentative out-of-court settlement over Hastert’s refusal to pay the remaining $1.8 million of a verbal agreement to pay $3.5 million in hush money in exchange for the man’s silence.