WHAT A RACKET

Ex-Ohio House Speaker Convicted in Sprawling $60M Bribery Scheme

The corruption case involving Larry Householder and former Ohio Republican Party Chair Matt Borges is the largest in state history.

Former Ohio House Speaker Larry Householder and former state Republican Party Chair Matt Borges were found guilty Thursday in a $60-million bribery scheme that constitutes the largest corruption case in state history, federal prosecutors said. After a seven-week trial, a Cincinnati jury returned its verdict after just nine and a half hours. Neither man showed any emotion as their convictions were read aloud, according to The Columbus Dispatch. Both now face up to 20 years in prison for their participation in a sprawling criminal enterprise, which prosecutors said the 63-year-old Householder first hatched alongside a electricity utility company’s executives in 2017. Aided by $61 million in bribe money from FirstEnergy Corp., Householder seized and secured power in the Ohio Legislature, and then passed a $1-billion bailout benefitting FirstEnergy. Borges lobbied for the bill and paid a $15,000 bribe to get insider information on a referendum that would have overturned the bailout.