Aamer Madhani

USA TODAY

CHICAGO — Attorneys for ex-speaker Dennis Hastert on Friday filed dozens of letters of support from former colleagues, constituents and friends, asking a federal judge to consider the former lawmaker's decades of service when he is sentenced next week on bank fraud charge.

Hastert, 74, pleaded guilty in October to one count of illegally structuring bank withdrawals, as part of an effort to payoff one of his former student-athletes from his days as a high school teacher and wrestling coach in a small town outside of Chicago decades ago, according to prosecutors.

Ahead of Hastert's sentencing scheduled for Wednesday, ex-CIA director Porter Goss, former House Majority Leader Tom DeLay and the ex-speaker's wife of 43 years were among those who appealed to Judge Thomas Durkin on behalf of the speaker. Prosecutors have asked that Hastert be sentenced to a maximum of six months in prison, while his defense team is asking for probation.

DeLay, a Texas Republican, recalled in his letter that Hastert started a Wednesday Bible study that the two men took part in.

"So I know his heart and have seen it up close and personal," DeLay wrote. "We all have our flaws, but Dennis Hastert has very few. He is a good man that loves the lord. He gets his integrity and values from Him. He doesn't deserve what he is going through. I ask that you consider the man that is before you and give him leniency where you can."

DeLay has had his own legal troubles. He was convicted in 2011 on charges of conspiracy to violate election law, but it was later overturned by a Texas appeals court.

Porter Goss, who served as CIA director for part of the George W. Bush administration, said he got to know Hastert when they served together in the House. Goss, who was by Hastert's side during the 9/11 terrorists attacks, recalled in his letter that that the former speaker showed calm and leadership during one of the most difficult moments in American history.

Hastert, the longest serving Republican speaker of the U.S. House, held the speakership from January 1999 until Republicans lost the House in the 2006 elections.

Goss, in the letter, wrote about Hastert's "steady confidence and quick comprehension" as he ordered the evacuation of the U.S. Capitol.

"Standing in his office looking down the Mall at the smoke and flame coming from the Pentagon, the Speaker quietly replied to me, 'yes, we'll leave at once, but I am going to open the House Session so the chaplain can say a prayer,'" Goss wrote. "The Record will show that happened even while the hijacked aircraft targeting the Capitol was still in the air."

Voices: Kid-glove treatment for former House speaker?

Prosecutors say Hastert molested 14-year-old boy

Prosecutors allege that Hastert abused or had inappropriate contact with at least five minor boys during his time at Yorkville High School, touching them in the "groin area and genitals" or having oral sex with them. The statutes of limitations have long passed on the alleged sexual misconduct. He taught and coached at Yorkville for about 16 years before launching his political career in the early 1980s.

The man, who is known in court papers as "Individual A" who Hastert agreed to pay $3.5 million, said he was molested at a motel during an out of town trip with the wrestling team. Prosecutors say another former wrestler as well as the sister of one of Hastert's student managers will testify at the sentencing hearing about alleged sexual abuse by the ex-speaker when he taught and coached at Yorkville.

The ex-speaker's wife, Jean Hastert, asked the judge to consider both Hastert's public service and his poor health when sentencing him. Hastert's attorneys say their client spent two months in the hospital shortly after he pleaded guilty in October. He suffered a small stroke and was debilitated by blood and spinal infections.

"Now, with his failing health, I worry about how much time we will ever get together," Jean Hastert wrote. "I am particularly worried that if he is taken from his home and the care he needs, his health will continue to deteriorate. "

Follow USA TODAY Chicago correspondent Aamer Madhani on Twitter: @AamerISmad