Former Ohio House Speaker Larry Householder was sent to a different federal prison about 150 miles from his Perry County home.
As of Friday, Householder was listed as an inmate at Elkton, a low-security federal correctional institution east of Lisbon, Ohio. The 64-year-old former Republican legislative leader was sentenced to 20 years in prison for leading a pay-to-play scheme at the Ohio Statehouse.
U.S. District Judge Timothy Black sentenced Householder to the maximum penalty for racketeering conspiracy on June 29; Householder was immediately taken into custody. The former House speaker spent several weeks at the Butler County Jail before he was sent to the federal transfer center in Oklahoma City, which is run by the Federal Bureau of Prisons.
Householder was convicted of trading about $60 million from Akron-based FirstEnergy and its energy allies for control of the Ohio House of Representatives. Once there, he championed a $1.3 billion bailout for two nuclear plants then owned by FirstEnergy Solutions and defended House Bill 6 against a well-funded ballot campaign to block it.
Householder maintained that he was innocent throughout the trial, including during his two days on the witness stand. He is appealing his conviction now.
Ultimately, a jury found Householder and former Ohio Republican Party Chairman Matt Borges guilty of racketeering conspiracy following a seven-week trial. Two others involved in the scheme − former FirstEnergy Solutions lobbyist Juan Cespedes and Householder’s political strategist Jeff Longstreth − pleaded guilty and testified against their conspirators in court. A fifth man who was charged, lobbyist Neil Clark, died by suicide in March 2021.
Borges is incarcerated at a federal prison near Milan, Mich., according to the Federal Bureau of Prisons. Borges has appealed his conviction.
Jessie Balmert is a reporter for the USA TODAY Network Ohio Bureau, which serves the Columbus Dispatch, Cincinnati Enquirer, Akron Beacon Journal and 18 other affiliated news organizations across Ohio.
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