Dennis Hastert dies at 84: How former House Speaker's career ended in scandal

Former US House Speaker Dennis Hastert has died at the age of 84. A coroner in Illinois confirmed that Hastert died at his home over the weekend from natural causes. Kendall County Coroner Jacquie Purcell confirmed his death on Monday and gave no further details.

Hastert represented Illinois in the US Congress for about two decades. He served in the US House from 1987 to 2007, representing Illinois' 14th congressional district, according to CBS News.

Hastert became the highest-ranking former US elected official to serve a prison sentence, after he was convicted of violating federal banking laws. The scandal involved hush-money payments linked to sexual abuse allegations.

Prosecutors said Hastert had made large cash payments to cover up his sexual abuse of teenage boys when he was a high school wrestling coach.

Decades later, Hastert admitted that he had sexually abused boys while working as a wrestling coach. The abuse later became central to the scandal that destroyed his political career. Hastert later ran for Congress and was elected to the US House in 1986, beginning his congressional service in 1987, according to CBS News.

Hastert was then chosen as the next House Speaker. Because he had not been the obvious choice for the position, he became known as the "accidental speaker." He became the longest-serving Republican Speaker in US history.

Hastert was charged in 2015. Prosecutors accused him of making large cash withdrawals to avoid reporting them to the government. They also accused him of lying to the FBI.

The investigation found that Hastert had repeatedly taken out large amounts of cash from banks. The money was later found to have been paid to one of the people he had sexually abused.

Hastert pleaded guilty in 2015 to breaking banking laws. He admitted making repeated large cash withdrawals. However, he was not charged with sexual abuse because the legal time limit to bring those charges had already expired.

Hastert was also ordered to pay a $250,000 fine. The judge also ordered him to take part in a sex offender treatment program. Hastert ultimately spent 13 months in federal prison. He was released in 2017, after serving most of his 15-month sentence.

The prison sentence marked a dramatic fall for a former House Speaker. Hastert had once been one of the most powerful Republicans in Washington, but the revelations about his past and his criminal conviction ended his political legacy, according to CBS News.

Hastert died years after leaving prison and nearly two decades after leaving Congress. His death closes the life of a former teacher and longtime Republican lawmaker whose career rose to the top of the US House before ending in a major criminal scandal.