In July 2020, former Ohio House Speaker Larry Householder, along with four others, were arrested on corruption and bribery charges. These Ohio politicians were linked to a money laundering scheme with the Ohio based company, FirstEnergy. The scheme consisted of the energy company paying off Generation Now, an organization linked to Householder, for roughly $60 million. In exchange, the Ohio House passed a $1.3 billion bailout, H.B. 6, for FirstEnergy’s two nuclear power plants located in Perry and Davis-Besse.
“Larry Householder sold the Statehouse. He ripped off the people he was elected to serve and made backroom deals to exchange his power for money,” explained Assistant U.S. Attorney Emily Glatfelter in the government’s opening statement to the jurors.
Glatfelter took a far more clever technique to cross-examining Householder than the classic way. She would ask him to recount moments of his own testimony from the day before, while picking apart his words and providing evidence along the way. Using this, she was able to renounce every part of his defense.
Householder’s defense was that his actions were strictly political gain and no sort of criminal action took place. He also went on to deny going to Washington D.C. dinners, which is where this plan sparked with FirstEnergy executives.
“The bottom line is that Larry Householder was engaged in political activity, not criminal activity,” his attorney Steven Bradley told jurors during closing statements.
Ultimately, Householder was found guilty on March 9 of this year for conspiracy to participate in a racketeering enterprise and money laundering. He was convicted alongside Matt Borges, who is the former Ohio Republican Party Chair. They can face up to 20 years in prison each.
“We don’t believe that utilities funneling millions of dollars through shell corporations to drive state policy is how our state government should work, nor do Ohio voters,” Rachel Belz, CEO of Ohio government watchdog group Ohio Citizen Action, said. She hopes this turns the tide in politics in the state.