‘FINANCIAL GREED’

Ex-Ohio House Speaker Gets 20 Years in Prison for Huge Bribery Scheme

Householder funneled millions of dollars from the state’s electric utility to his political allies to effectively seize control of the legislature.

Former Ohio House Speaker Larry Householder was hit Thursday with a maximum prison sentence of 20 years for a $60-million bribery scheme that is believed to be the largest corruption case in the state’s history. In March, Householder was found guilty of racketeering conspiracy and breaking the public’s trust for funneling millions of dollars from the state’s electric utility to his political allies to effectively seize the legislature. After winning control in the House of Representatives, Householder helped pass a $1.5 billion bailout for the utility’s nuclear power plants and block an opposing ballot initiative. He also collected “dark money” checks to pay for an effort that could’ve extended his stay in the House’s top post by 16 years, according to The Columbus Dispatch. “Beyond financial greed, I think you just liked power,” U.S. District Judge Timothy Black said at the sentencing hearing. “You weren’t serving the people. You were serving yourself.” While Householder’s attorneys aimed for a prison sentence of about a year, federal prosecutors requested Black come down hard on Householder with somewhere between 16 and 20 years.