An attorney for former Ohio House Speaker Larry Householder said his team is using the power of a convicted felon – and his connection to President-elect Donald Trump – to get out of prison.
The foreman of the jury in the speaker’s case is furious, claiming that this is exactly the type of corruption Householder was convicted of.
In 2019, Householder took a $61 million bribe in exchange for legislation giving FirstEnergy $1 billion in aid called HB 6, all at taxpayer expense.
In March 2023 the jury found this Homeowner and former Republican Party leader Matt Borges participated in a racketeering scheme that resulted in four men being convicted and one dying by suicide.
In tardy June of this year, federal judge Timothy Black sentenced Householder to 20 years in prison. Borges got five years. The two surviving defendants, Jeff Longstreth and Juan Cespedes, are awaiting sentencing after previously accepting a plea deal and receiving support from the FBI. The feds are asking for zero to six months for them.
In tardy 2023, former Ohio Public Service Commission Chairman Sam Randazzo pleaded not guilty after being charged with more than a dozen bribery and embezzlement crimes. He allegedly received more than $4.3 million from FirstEnergy. The energy company has already admitted that it bribed everyone.
Then 2024 hit.
Former FirstEnergy CEO Chuck Jones, former FirstEnergy senior vice president Michael Dowling and Randazzo were charged with state bribery. Both pleaded not guilty at their joint arraignment in Akron in mid-February. They are accused of masterminding the corruption scheme.
Randazzo committed suicide in April. He is the second of eight men to take their own lives after being linked to the scandal. Neil Clark, a lobbyist accused of bribery, died in 2021 without pleading guilty.
Over the summer, OCJ/WEWS uncovered text messages showing that Gov. Mike DeWine and Lt. Gov. Jon Husted had close ties to FirstEnergy executives, and Husted helped lead the charge to pass HB 6.
The homeowner is still going through the appeals process. He and his lawyers defended his innocence throughout.
New beginnings
The up-to-date administration means a up-to-date beginning, but not only for Trump.
Larry Householder is looking for an escape – literally.
“This is a humiliating experience,” said Scott Pullins, a lawyer for Householder’s campaign.
In 2023, the former speaker was sentenced to 20 years in federal prison for racketeering.
“That’s not true [an] an experience I recommend to everyone,” he added. “At the same time, he did some exercise. He lost a lot of weight.”
Pullins told me that after a year and a half of sitting, or rather exercising, in a cell, Householder was going to ask for a favor.
“Larry has a long history with Donald Trump,” Pullins said. “I think he will be particularly receptive to this clemency request.”
Pullins is working with Householder to begin filing a clemency request, first with a reduced sentence and then a full pardon – meaning the end of a criminal record.
“The justice system can be used as a weapon against people for political purposes,” the lawyer said.
Householder’s team believes the former speaker’s arrest was politically motivated.
The president may like that argument, explained Mike Benza, a criminal justice professor at Case Western Reserve University.
“One of the things we know President-elect Trump is interested in is what he sees as political forces operating within the Department of Justice, particularly targeting Republicans,” Benza said.
Householder knows Trump well and spoke at the Republican National Convention in 2016. Pullins said they have kept in touch over the years.
FirstEnergy, which has already pleaded guilty to bribery against Householder, also admitted in subpoena papers that it paid millions to try to influence Trump while he was president in 2017, according to Institute of Energy and Policy.
Republican Attorney General Dave Yost is not impressed with this pardon attempt. He said it’s not a get-out-of-jail-free card for Householder.
“He is also charged with state and criminal charges,” Yost said. “A federal pardon will not cover these charges if he is convicted of them.”
The former announcer pleaded not guilty 10 criminal charges in Cuyahoga County.
Pullins believes Yost also has political motives and is jealous of Householder for being able to speak at the RNC. The AG continues to deny any personal baggage in the cases he investigates and asserts that the Host has just committed a crime.
“We believe that if his federal conviction is overturned or pardoned, it would send a strong message to Dave Yost that these allegations are false,” Pullins said.
Pullins said he did not plan to contact other Statehouse directors, such as DeWine or Husted, because they helped “scapegoat” Householder so that he would be the only one to suffer the consequences of the situation.
DeWine’s team has not commented on the start of the clemency application process.
Same things, different day?
The jury foreman in the Householder federal trial did: exclusive, in-depth interview in 2023and had more to say regarding up-to-date developments.
“I immediately thought he hadn’t learned his lesson,” foreman Jarrod Haines said Friday. “The owner of the house used his position and power to better himself, ruining many lives in the process. I don’t recall seeing his apology to the people of Ohio. Instead, he would rather undermine old Bob and Betty Buckeye to shorten his sentence.”
He added that the Host had once again used power to get what he wanted.
“I definitely feel like she’s using her connections to get the sentence out,” he said. “I feel like the justice system would have failed if he had been pardoned. I would feel that my time as a juror was wasted. Even though I think it was a very valuable experience for me, my life was interrupted for seven weeks.”
Benza understood this reaction.
“For many people, this would be an interpretation that this is just another example of bankruptcy and corruption of the entire system, because having political power, one does not face any consequences for violating the law,” the professor said.
Pullins was asked about suspicions that Householder may have used his contacts to get out of prison.
“Well, yes. “It is,” he replied. “I hope he has some friends left who can help him.”
This article was originally published on News5Cleveland.com and are published in the Ohio Capital Journal under a content sharing agreement. Unlike other OCJ articles, it is not available for free republication on other news outlets because it is owned by WEWS in Cleveland.
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