Former Hastert Friend Hopes Saga Almost Over

CHICAGO (AP) — A former close friend of Dennis Hastert says he hopes the former U.S. House speaker's release from prison means an end to the saga is close.

Bob Evans was a coach at Yorkville High School when Hastert taught there and coached wrestling. Hastert pleaded guilty to violating federal banking law in seeking to pay $3.5 million in hush money to keep secret allegations that he sexually abused teenagers while a coach.

Evans said Tuesday that he has no interest in ever seeing Hastert again. He says he hopes that once the news stories about Hastert's release from prison run their course, "We will never have to hear about this again."

The Federal Bureau of Prisons says Hastert was released Monday from a prison in Minnesota and transferred to the jurisdiction of a Chicago re-entry facility.

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