Former Rep. Dennis Hastert, who served eights years as speaker of the House — longer than any Republican in U.S. history — and then spent more than a year in prison after he left Congress for scheming to cover up sexual abuse allegations, died over the weekend, according to Kendall County Coroner’s Office in Illinois.
\n\n“Kendall County Coroner Jacquie Purcell confirmed that over the weekend, former US House Speaker John Dennis Hastert passed away at his home due to natural causes,” the coroner’s office said in a Monday statement. “No further information is available for release.”
\n\nHastert, of Illinois, served in the House from 1987 to 2007 and became speaker in 1999. He relinquished the speaker's gavel in 2007 after Democrats took control of the chamber, then announced his resignation from Congress before the end of his 11th term.
\n\nNearly a decade later, Hastert faced allegations that he molested four teenagers, ages 14 to 17, in the 1970s, when he was a wrestling coach at Yorkville High School in Illinois.
\n\nIn 2015, Hastert pleaded guilty to structuring cash withdrawals to hide hush-money payments to one of his sexual-abuse accusers. The following year he was sentenced to 15 months in prison.
Original source: https://www.nbcnews.com/health