Former US lawmaker sentence to 20 years in prison for $60 Million bribery scheme

Larry Householder, former Ohio House of Representatives Speaker, has been sentenced to 20 years in prison for his involvement in a $60 million bribery scheme, according to prosecutors. Householder and former Ohio Republican Party chair Mathew Borges were convicted by a federal jury in March.

The bribery case originated from a bill passed in 2019 aimed at bailing out Ohio’s nuclear power plants. Householder and Borges were accused of receiving industry funds to lobby for the legislation.

Federal prosecutors deemed it the largest corruption case in Ohio’s history, although the bill was later revoked by the legislature in 2021.

Following his arrest in 2020, Householder was removed from his position as Speaker by the Ohio House of Representatives.

Prosecutors alleged that energy distributor FirstEnergy provided $60 million to Generation Now, a political nonprofit controlled by Householder, which was used for lobbying efforts to secure the passage of the $1.5 billion bill in 2019.

Householder and Borges were both found guilty of participating in a racketeering conspiracy. Borges is scheduled to be sentenced on Friday.

In 2021, FirstEnergy agreed to pay $230 million to settle charges brought by the U.S. government in connection with the case. The company admitted to making payments to state officials to advance legislation on nuclear subsidies and other policies that would benefit the company.