Lawyer: Ex-Speaker Hastert won't appeal conviction, sentence

CHICAGO (AP) — Former U.S. House Speaker Dennis Hastert will not appeal his conviction or 15-month prison sentence in a hush-money case that centered on his sexual abuse of students when he was a high school wrestling coach in Illinois decades ago, his lead attorney said Thursday.

Judge Thomas M. Durkin branded Hastert "a serial child molester" at his April 27 sentencing, where Durkin imposed a punishment beyond the federal guidelines of zero to six months in prison.

Hastert could have tried to argue Durkin put too much weight on something for which the former GOP leader was not charged — the sex abuse — or that the judge shouldn't have strayed so far from the guidelines that were spelled out in the written plea agreement, said Chicago attorney Terry Sullivan, who was not part of the case.

Resentencing also would have carried the risk that prosecutors would uncover more abusive behavior — and possibly a longer sentence, said Leonard Goodman, another Chicago-based attorney.