Ex-Ohio House speaker to be arraigned from prison on state charges, as scheme’s impact persists
Columbus, Ohio — Former Republican Speaker of the Ohio House Larry Householder will be arraigned from federal prison on the 10 new charges recently filed against him by the state as revelations pile up about the scandal that got him there.
Cuyahoga County Common Pleas Court Judge Brendan Sheehan this week agreed to allow Householder to appear at the May 13 proceeding via video stream from the Elkton Federal Correctional Institution south of Youngstown, where he is serving 20 years for his role in the largest corruption case in the state’s history. The consent follows a postponement of a previous arraignment on the state’s charges at which Householder was scheduled to appear in person.
A jury convicted Householder, 64, in June on federal racketeering charges for his role in orchestrating a $60 million bribery scheme financed by Akron-based FirstEnergy Corp. in exchange for a $1 billion bailout for two nuclear power plants owned by one of its subsidiaries. .
He has appealed the conviction, arguing that federal prosecutors overstepped the bounds of their authority. His lawyers argue that the $60 million, while undisclosed, amounted to legal campaign contributions allowed under federal law.
“Unlike most other bribery prosecutions, Householder did not receive an envelope containing cash or extravagant gifts or trips. Instead, the government presented evidence that Householder helped raise money for a 501(c)(4) organization, Generation Now,” his attorneys wrote in February, asserting that “there is nothing criminal about that.”
It turns out that the dark money payments that flowed from FirstEnergy to powerful Ohio politicians as they pushed for the nuclear bailout did not stop with the payments made as part of Householders’ prosecution.
Newly released data related to the scandal revealed that the utility donated $2.5 million to State Solutions, a 501(c)4 that benefited Ohio Gov. Mike DeWine’s 2018 campaign, and $1 million dollars to a nonprofit called Freedom Frontier that Lt. Gov. Jon supported. A gubernatorial bid was made that same year. The USA TODAY Network Ohio Bureau and The Plain Dealer/cleveland.com first reported the amounts. DeWine has said he was unaware of the contributions and that his views are not influenced by political donations. Husted’s spokesperson has said he has no ties to the dark money group.
The tentacles of the scandal first hit DeWine and Husted in November, when both received subpoenas as part of a civil lawsuit filed by affected FirstEnergy investors. Neither has been accused of wrongdoing.
Householder’s federal appeal also raises a slew of other issues unrelated to dark money, including the fact that the federal government never charged — or even failed to testify — the fired FirstEnergy executives accused of paying bribes has yielded. However, prosecutors reached a sweeping $230 million non-prosecution deal with the energy giant that admitted to the crimes.
The state’s case charges two former FirstEnergy executives – ex-CEO Chuck Jones and Senior Vice President Michael Dowling – with a total of 22 counts, including engaging in a pattern of corrupt activity, bribery, telecommunications fraud and money laundering. Both have pleaded not guilty.
Another man charged alongside Jones and Dowling, former Ohio Public Utilities Commission Chairman Sam Randazzo, had pleaded not guilty in both federal and state courts before dying by suicide earlier this month at age 74.
The state indictment for which Householder will be arraigned in May alleges that he misused campaign funds to pay for his criminal defense in his federal case and failed to disclose fiduciary relationships, creditors and gifts in required ethics filings, including regarding the rescue law. known as House Bill 6. Specifically, Householder faces one count of theft in office, two counts of aggravated theft, one count of telecommunications fraud, one count of money laundering and five counts of data tampering.
Householder was one of five people arrested and charged in July 2020 in the scheme. They were all accused of using the $60 million in secretly funded FirstEnergy money to get Householder’s chosen Republican candidates elected to the House of Representatives in 2018 and then helping him get elected speaker in January 2019. The money was then used to secure the approval of the tainted energy bill. and to wage a dirty trick campaign to prevent a repeal referendum from reaching the ballot.
Lobbyist and former chairman of the Ohio Republican Party Matt Borges was sentenced last summer to five years along with Householder. He has also filed an appeal.
Lobbyist Juan Cespedes and Jeffrey Longstreth, a top Householder political strategist, pleaded guilty in October 2020 and cooperated with the government in its prosecution. The third person arrested, Neil Clark, a longtime Ohio Statehouse lobbyist, had pleaded not guilty before also dying by suicide in March 2021.
The dark money group that funneled FirstEnergy money, Generation Now, also pleaded guilty to racketeering in February 2021.