Ex-Speaker Hastert to be sentenced Feb. 29

October 28, 2015 at 10:13a.m.

CHICAGO (AP) — Former U.S. House Speaker Dennis Hastert will be sentenced Feb. 29 in a $3.5 million hush-money case.

Judge Thomas M. Durkin scheduled the sentencing today after the 73-year-old Republican pleaded guilty to lying to the FBI.

The plea marks the fall from grace of a politician who rose from obscurity in rural Illinois to become second in the line of succession to the presidency.

Attorneys for both sides have recommended in a plea deal that Hastert serve up to six months in prison.

A May indictment says Hastert agreed to pay $3.5 million to someone referred to only as "Individual A" to hide past misconduct. The Associated Press and other media have cited anonymous sources in reporting the payments were to conceal claims of sexual misconduct.