Larry Householder once served as speaker of the Ohio House of Representatives, until he resigned in 2021 amid racketeering charges. Since June, Householder has been serving a 20-year, maximum sentence in federal prison.
But Householder may have just earned another penalty, on top of his maximum sentence.
On Monday, Householder faced an indictment on 10 new charges, including one banning him from ever holding public office in the state again.
Ohio just law its largest corruption case grow even larger.
The 64-year-old Householder was convicted of racketeering in June for his role in a $60 million scheme to bribe lawmakers. Several lawmakers pleaded guilty to taking money from Akron-based FirstEnergy Corp. in exchange for passage of a $1 billion bailout of two nuclear plants owned by one of its subsidiaries.
funded by He was sentenced to 20 years, which he’s serving at Elkton Federal Correctional Institution near Youngstown, and has appealed.
On Monday, a Cuyahoga County grand jury indicted Householder on the additional charges, which include alleged misuse of campaign funds and ethics violations
Crucially, he’s facing a charge of theft in office. If convicted, he would be blocked from working for the state ever again — not just in an elected office, but in any state office.
“This case seeks to hold Mr. Householder accountable for his actions under state law, and I expect that the results will permanently bar him from public service in Ohio,” Ohio Attorney General Dave Yost said in announcing the indictments. “State crimes have state penalties, and a conviction will ensure that there will be no more comebacks from the ‘Comeback Kid.’”
Householder enjoyed two separate terms as speaker, in addition to holding county office. He worked in the House from 1997 to 2004 and again from 2017 to 2021.
A lawyer for the Ohio Republican told the media that they had just learned about the new indictment and had yet to speak to their client. “We hope to do that soon and will determine how to best proceed,” lawyer Steven Bradley said.
According to the indictment, Householder misused campaign funds to pay for his criminal defense in his federal case and failed to disclose fiduciary relationships, creditors and gifts on required ethics filings, including in relation to the bailout bill, known as House Bill 6.
In addition to the theft-in-office count, Householder faces nine felony charges: two counts of aggravated theft, one count of telecommunications fraud, one count of money laundering and five counts of tampering with records.
Two fired FirstEnergy executives — ex-CEO Chuck Jones and Senior Vice President Michael Dowling — and Ohio’s former top utility regulator Sam Randazzo were indicted last month on a combined 27 counts as part of the state’s investigation, led by the Ohio Organized Crime Investigations Commission. All three pleaded not guilty.
Former Ohio Republican Party chairman Matt Borges and three others were indicted on racketeering charges in July 2020. Borges was convicted alongside Householder last summer and sentenced to five years. He has also appealed.
Lobbyist Juan Cespedes and Jeffrey Longstreth, a top Householder political strategist, pleaded guilty in October 2020. The third person arrested, longtime lobbyist Neil Clark, pleaded not guilty before his death in March 2021.
In 2021, the nonprofit Generation Now pleaded guilty to racketeering, an accusation of funneling dark money to First Energy.
All were accused of using the $60 million in secretly funded FirstEnergy cash to get Householder’s chosen Republican candidates elected to the House in 2018 and then to help him get elected speaker in January 2019.
After that, bad actors used that money to win passage of the energy bill and to conduct a dirty-tricks campaign to prevent a repeal referendum from reaching the ballot.
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The Horn editorial team and the Associated Press contributed to this article.