Then-Ohio House Speaker Larry Householder sits at the head of a legislative session in Columbus, Ohio, on Oct. 30, 2019.
AP Photo/John Minchillo, File
COLUMBUS — Ex-Ohio House Speaker Larry Householder is once again facing charges in the ever-expanding state and federal bribery cases surrounding the passage of bailout legislation in 2019.
The newest charges, announced Monday afternoon, go beyond Householder’s acceptance of a bribe from FirstEnergy that landed him in federal prison for 20 years. They allege he unlawfully used campaign funds to pay his criminal defense fees in the federal case and lied on state ethics forms that require candidates and officeholders to disclose their earnings, assets, and liabilities.
Ohio Attorney General Dave Yost announced the new charges Monday. Beyond acting as a backstop to the federal conviction, Yost noted a state conviction would also permanently bar Householder from ever again holding public office.
In March 2023, a jury convicted Householder of accepting a multimillion bribe from the two FirstEnergy executives — CEO Chuck Jones and top company lobbyist Mike Dowling — in exchange for passing House Bill 6, a bailout worth more than $1 billion to the company. He is serving 20 years in federal prison.
Five of the 10 counts focus on Householder’s transfer of $750,000 from his campaign account to Marein & Bradley, a Cleveland law firm that assisted in his trial defense. Carol O’Brien, the Ohio deputy attorney general for law enforcement, said Householder “stole” money from his campaign to pay his attorneys. The Ohio Elections Commission has long held that candidates can not use donors’ funds to pay criminal defense attorneys.
“Mr. Householder was aware that he did not have the authority to pay for his criminal defense with his money from his supporters in his campaign account,” she said.
Householder also faces charges of tampering with records. The charges are predicated in part on information Householder himself provided as a witness in his own criminal defense that detailed his legal debts, credit card debts, a purported personal loan from his political lieutenant (that prosecutors say was part of the bribe), box seats at a World Series game, and others. Virtually none of these items, established by both sides of the case in some capacity, ever appeared in Householder’s financial disclosures.
“These omissions are much more than simple mistakes,” O’Brien said. “The sheer breadth and continuity of these omissions show a concerted effort by Mr. Householder to hide his obligations, his personal finances, and his business connections.”
Earlier this year Yost filed related charges against a top Ohio regulator and two FirstEnergy executives, accusing the three of engaging in a $4.3 million bribery scheme.
