Former Ohio House Speaker Convicted in $60 Million Bribery Scheme

According to the U.S. Department of Justice, a federal jury convicted Larry Householder, ex-Speaker of Ohio House of Representatives and Mathew Boges, former Ohio Republican Party Chair, of participating in a scheme for $60 million in bribery. Thursday.

Borges, 50, and Householder (63), were each indicted in 2020 in an alleged bribery case relating to a bill that was passed to bail out nuclear plants in 2019. In 2021, the legislature repealed the bill.

Prosecutors claimed that FirstEnergy Corp, an energy distributor, gave $60 million to Generation Now (a political non-profit run by Householder). Prosecutors allege that those funds were used by Householder to lobby for the passage of the $1.5B bill in 2019.

They claimed that Borges, a lobbyist at the time, tried to bribe Tyler Fehrman (an FBI operative) for insider information about the referendum to repeal the bailout law.

The Justice Department stated in a Thursday statement that Householder and Borges were convicted for participating in the racketeering scheme. In this case, the racketeering conspiracy offense can result in up to 20 years imprisonment.

Fehrman posted the following tweets after the verdicts were announced.

Fehrman stated that the FBI’s investigation proved to be worth the risk of wearing a wire as part of his investigation.

“For them to come back and find both of them guilty, and after not too long, is just such a relief,” He said. “It is a good day for Ohioans. This stuff just can’t continue to happen.”

FirstEnergy agreed in 2021 to pay $230 millions to settle U.S. government allegations in the case. It admitted that it paid millions of dollars in state officials to help it pursue legislation on nuclear subsidies, and other policies that would profit it.

“Larry Householder illegally sold the statehouse, and thus he ultimately betrayed the great people of Ohio he was elected to serve,” On Thursday, U.S. Attorney Kenneth Parker stated. “Matt Borges was a willing co-conspirator, who paid bribe money for insider information to assist Householder.”

Parker’s predecessor, David DeVillers wrote this tweet: “The line between influence peddling and bribery will now be drawn by the rule of law and not by politicians, lobbyists, and corporations.”

“We are incredibly disappointed in the verdict,” Steven Bradley, Householder’s lawyer, stated. “We will take some time to evaluate all of our legal options and will most certainly pursue an appeal. Our client is looking forward to going home to be with his wife and family during this very difficult time.”

Borges was not present at the trial, but he insists that his innocence is confirmed. His lawyers argued that Borges was not involved in the pay-to play scheme. Householder’s team, however, portrayed his actions only as hardball politics.

FirstEnergy agreed to cooperate with the prosecution and admit to funding the bribery plan through a network made up of dark money organizations. They also admitted to bribing Sam Randazzo (the state’s top utility regulator), in order to avoid being prosecuted.

Randazzo, who was the chair of Ohio’s Public Utilities Commission of Ohio, resigned after an FBI search of Randazzo’s home. However, he hasn’t been charged and denies any wrongdoing. The government has requested that the Public Utilities Commission delay its internal investigation into FirstEnergy.

This report was contributed by Reuters and The Associated Press.