When Dennis Hastert served as the nation’s longest-reigning Republican U.S. House speaker, he had a secure phone to the White House and could look upon the Washington Monument and Lincoln Memorial from the balcony of his posh Capitol office.
But, when the disgraced Illinois politician surrenders this week at a federal prison hospital in Minnesota, a life that began from humble beginnings while working on the back of a feed truck amid Midwestern farmland will once again take a dramatic, unexpected turn.
Hastert must surrender by Wednesday afternoon to begin serving a 15-month sentence at the Federal Medical Center in Rochester, a 64-acre secured facility that was once home to former U.S. Rep. Dan Rostenkowski, television evangelist Jim Bakker and perennial fringe presidential candidate Lyndon LaRouche.
Hastert, 74, pleaded guilty last year to federal bank violations stemming from an explosive hush-money indictment that unearthed sexual misconduct against underage boys decades ago when he was a Yorkville High School wrestling coach. In late April, U.S. District Judge Thomas Durkin rejected his plea for probation but recommended the hospital setting given Hastert’s poor health.
With credit for good behavior, Hastert is expected to serve about 12 1/2 months.
The prison hospital is affiliated with the nearby Mayo Clinic, with doctors and nurses on site, and is known for providing high-level services to the 700-plus male inmates who require long-term physical and mental health care. Additionally, the medical center provides educational, recreation, religious, psychiatric and psychology services.
Once second in line to the presidency, Hastert will be known in confinement as federal inmate No. 47991-424. Although he won’t be kept in a locked cell and rarely — if ever — handcuffed or shackled, Hastert will have to trade in his expensive suits for prison-issued khakis and adjust to regulations that dictate everything down to when he eats, sleeps and showers.
His sharp fall from grace left even his most-outspoken critics bewildered.
“This is so surreal,” said Jolene Burdge, a Montana woman who testified at Hastert’s April sentencing hearing that he had molested her now-deceased brother in high school. “To think about where he was as far as his prominence to this. It’s sad all around.”
It’s unknown how Hastert has prepared himself for prison or chosen to spend his final hours of freedom. He has rarely been seen in public since the indictment was unsealed more than one year ago and while recovering from a stroke and blood infection.
Hastert, who is free on bond, may choose to report early to avoid a crush of TV cameras and reporters.
With media watching, former Illinois Gov. Rod Blagojevich stopped for a patty melt in 2012 before reporting to federal prison in Littleton, Colo. But former Gov. George Ryan was able to avoid scrutiny in 2007 when he slipped through a back gate when he reported for prison in Oxford, Wis.
Scott Fawell, who served time in federal prison in South Dakota for his role in the Ryan corruption scandal, once compared prison life to “Groundhog Day,” the Bill Murray movie in which a single day is endlessly repeated.
For Betty Loren-Maltese, the former Cicero town president who spent more than six years in federal prison before being freed in 2010, the hardest part was being away from family, especially her young daughter. Loren-Maltese said the “fear of the unknown” is likely what’s weighing on Hastert.
“The days go by quickly when you’re getting ready to go in, but they creep by when you’re there,” said Loren-Maltese, who maintains her innocence on corruption-related charges.
Of Hastert, she added: “To think he could have been in the presidency.”
Although Hastert will not exactly be doing hard time, experts say the popular myth that such facilities are akin to country clubs is false. The Rochester facility is designated an “administrative security level” but, because it is one of only six such prison hospitals, inmates at all security levels are housed on the grounds.
A former Minnesota state mental hospital, the property now houses 11 brick-and-concrete hospital-style buildings and welcomed its first inmate in late 1984, according to the Federal Bureau of Prisons website.
When Hastert enters the premises, he’ll pass razor-wire fences and leave nearly all personal possessions but for family photos, which he will be allowed to affix to a bulletin board in his room. It’s unknown if he’ll have his own room or share one with a roommate.
He is allowed to continue to wear his wedding ring, but his personal clothing and shoes will be replaced with prison-issued garb. In his first hours and days, a team of professionals will acquaint Hastert with the prison and its rules and assess his medical and psychological needs and work suitability through a detailed social screening. He will be required to undergo a quick strip search upon entry, experts said. Inmates also must provide a DNA sample and at random times submit to shakedown searches and urine testing for drugs.
Inmates at the Rochester facility are allowed to speak on the phone for up to 300 minutes per month, and may share an embrace with loved ones on designated visiting days each week. They are barred from using cellphones or the internet but have access to a shared television room, newspapers, a law library, and indoor and outdoor fitness and recreation that includes shooting pool, pingpong and other sports.
His daily life will be regimented. Inmates are required to rise by 7 a.m. and be counted several times throughout the day. Because of Hastert’s medical restrictions, it’s unlikely he’ll be required like most other inmates to work, but he may choose to teach one of the many educational courses offered to inmates preparing for their GED or higher education, experts said.
“It’s a very safe, humane environment, but it’s still a prison and not a day goes by that you don’t know you are in prison,” said John Webster, a former attorney who served a stint in federal prison after lying for a client and later started the Nashville, Tenn.-based National Prison and Sentencing Consultants in 2002.
Currently, Jared Loughner, the perpetrator of the 2011 Tucson, Ariz., shooting that killed six people and severely injured then-U.S. Rep. Gabrielle Giffords, is assigned to Rochester.
Webster and other prison consultants said Hastert’s high-profile status won’t help or hurt him as long as he doesn’t expect special treatment. The staff is well equipped to handle inmates of diverse backgrounds. The experts said it’s best to learn the rules, stay under the radar, not complain and set goals.
“The thing for him is to be humble, and I’m sure he’s already been humbled by this situation,” said Patrick Boyce, a former New York stockbroker who founded Federal Prison Alternatives in Columbus, Ohio, after serving a 27-month prison term for conspiracy to commit fraud. “I always tell my clients there’s a reason why you’re going through this, so make the most of it and just try to use your time wisely, whether it’s to read more books, write love letters to your wife or to get an education.
“When you’re young, 15 months may not seem like much, but when you’re 74, it’s a good chunk of your (remaining) life,” Boyce added. “It could potentially be a death sentence. I’m sure that’s the last place he wants to be. Hopefully, he’s healthy and able to live a long enough life to put this behind him.”
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Boo-hoo-hoo! Ole’ blubber butt will be the new meat (or should I say fat) in cell block C. I wish I could be there just to hear him cry for his mommy!
Good to be in the good ole boy club in Washington DC. This must be the punishment for his banking crimes. What about the minors he molested, is he going to be punished for those crimes? Being sent to a federal prison is like staying at a hotel.