Former House Speaker Dennis Hastert is set to plead guilty to charges that he lied to federal investigators about his agreement to pay hush money to a person he had wronged, The Chicago Tribune reported Thursday.
Federal prosecutors and Hastert’s defense team have agreed to the terms of a deal and a federal judge has given them until October 28 to enter the plea, according to the Tribune, and multiple news reports.
Two sources with knowledge of the federal investigation told CNN in June that Hastert was paying a former student to stay quiet about allegations of sexual abuse from when he was a wrestling coach and teacher in Yorkville, Illinois.
The indictment details payments and a payment plan to an unidentified “Individual A,” by Hastert. But that person has never been officially identified.
Hastert initially pleaded not guilty to all charges that he lied about the hush money plan. But the plea deal would forgo a possibly damaging and drawn-out public trial.