Story highlights Hastert pleaded guilty last fall to structuring bank transactions to avoid requirements on reporting where money was going

His attorneys had filed a number of letters on his behalf, including from former congressmen

(CNN) Former House Speaker Dennis Hastert on Wednesday was sentenced to 15 months in prison and ordered to pay $250,000 to a victims' fund in a hush money case that revealed he was being accused of sexually abusing young boys as a teacher in Illinois.

He was also sentenced to two years of supervised release once he finishes his prison term.

For the first time, Hastert, 74, admitted to Judge Thomas M. Durkin in open court that he abused an unspecified number of boys.

One of the survivors of Hastert's abuse, Scott Cross, described the fallout from his actions in court.

"As a 17-year-old boy I was devastated," said Cross, who was previously identified as individual D and is the brother of a Hastert political supporter. "I tried to figure out why Coach Hastert had singled me out. I felt terribly alone. Today I understand I did nothing to bring this on, but at age 17, I could not understand what happened or why."

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