Feds recommend 16-20 years in prison for ex-Ohio House Speaker Larry Householder

Federal prosecutors are asking for a 16- to 20-year sentence for the former Ohio state Speaker of the House found guilty on corruption charges.

Larry Householder accepted a $61 million bribe from energy firm FirstEnergy in order to pass legislation friendly to the company. That legislation did pass, though much of it was repealed after the corruption was revealed.

“Householder once occupied one of the three most powerful offices in the State of Ohio. He now faces a substantial prison sentence for causing immeasurable damage to the institution of democracy in Ohio, through his direction of a criminal enterprise,” prosecutors wrote in a sentencing memo Thursday.

“He acted as the quintessential mob boss, directing the criminal enterprise from the shadows and using his casket carriers to execute the scheme,” the filing states.

Householder’s attorneys have asked for a 12- to 18-month sentence, saying that the $61 million wasn’t for Householder’s personal use.

Householder and ex-Ohio GOP Chair Matt Borges were found guilty of racketeering in March. The maximum sentence is 20 years. 

“Larry Householder illegally sold the statehouse, and thus he ultimately betrayed the great people of Ohio he was elected to serve,” federal prosecutor Kenneth Parker said in a statement at the conviction.

In a trial that took more than two months, prosecutors laid out a case that Householder accepted bribes from FirstEnergy in order to pass a $1.3 billion taxpayer-funded bailout for the company’s nuclear power plants.

FirstEnergy paid a $230 million fine for its role in the bribes and fired some of its executives.

Two Republican operatives who worked with Householder pleaded guilty to charges and testified against him at trial. Prosecutors have requested a six-month sentence for the pair.

The investigation also included Ohio Gov. Mike DeWine (R), who claimed he was not aware of the scheme. He was not charged with a crime.

Householder will be sentenced June 29.