Hastert judge delivered verbal equivalent of public flogging

CHICAGO (AP) — When he sentenced Dennis Hastert to more than a year in prison, the judge in the former House speaker's hush-money case delivered the verbal equivalent of a public flogging. Before imposing the 15-month sentence, a far stiffer sentence than federal guidelines suggested, U.S. District Judge Thomas M. Durkin spent nearly an hour Wednesday rebuking the 74-year-old Republican for sexually abusing high school athletes decades ago, when he was a wrestling coach.

CHICAGO (AP) — When he sentenced Dennis Hastert to more than a year in prison, the judge in the former House speaker's hush-money case delivered the verbal equivalent of a public flogging. Before imposing the 15-month sentence, a far stiffer sentence than federal guidelines suggested, U.S. District Judge Thomas M. Durkin spent nearly an hour Wednesday rebuking the 74-year-old Republican for sexually abusing high school athletes decades ago, when he was a wrestling coach.…