Former House Speaker Dennis Hastert Transferred Out Of Prison

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Former House Speaker Dennis Hastert, who is serving a 15-month prison sentence for hush money payments to cover up sex abuse, has been transferred to a Chicago facility in anticipation of an Aug. 16 release.

Hastert started his sentence at a Minnesota prison hospital last June. Now, records from the Federal Bureau of Prison indicate Hastert is currently at a "residential re-entry management field office" in Chicago. Hastert's transfer was reported by The Associated Press on Tuesday.

"It's unclear if he'll serve the remainder of his term on home confinement or at a local halfway house," the Chicago Tribune reports.

Hastert, 75, was the longest-serving Republican speaker of the House. He was a powerful lobbyist after he resigned from Congress — then authorities discovered he was working to conceal decades-old allegations of sex abuse of a child.

As Chris Arnold reported for NPR last year:

"The case against Hastert involved hush money he paid to cover up his sexual abuse of teenage boys in the 1960s and 70s when he was working as a wrestling coach at a high school about 50 miles west of Chicago. "At his sentencing hearing in April, Hastert admitted molesting boys and said he was 'ashamed.' U.S. District Judge Thomas Durkin called Hastert a "serial child molester.'

Hastert could not be prosecuted for the sex abuse because the statute of limitations had run out. Instead, he was charged with financial crimes, as NPR's Dana Farrington explained: