The Ohio House Speaker Larry Householder got arrested on 21 July 2020 in a $60 million bribe scandal and racketing scheme along with four others by FBI agents. The Perry County Sheriff's Department assisted the FBI agents and was deployed to Householder's house, Perry County farm in Glenford.
Prosecutors have described the case as one of the largest public corruption in Ohio history. As per the reports, all charges are tied to the 2019's passage and defense of a law bailing out nuclear power plants in northern Ohio, which is owned by FirstEnergy Solutions of Akron and has the $1 billion-plus ratepayer bailout.
Larry Householder (©: heavy.com)
During the conference in Columbus, U.S. Attorney David DeVillers described Householder as the ring leader.
Besides, the pressure for resignation is another vicious thing going around with Householder. Gov. Mike DeWine, Senate President Larry Obhof (R., Medina), Lt. Gov. John Husted (a former House speaker), Ohio Attorney General Dave Yost, and Ohio Republican Party Chairman Jane Timken called for the immediate resignation from Larry Householder.
Governor DeWine mentioned:
"I am deeply concerned about the allegations of wrongdoing in the criminal complaint issued today by the U.S. Attorney’s Office. Every American has the presumption of innocence until proven guilty. Because of the nature of these charges, it will be impossible for Speaker Householder to effectively lead the Ohio House of Representatives; therefore, I am calling on Speaker Householder to resign immediately."
Along with Larry Householder, four other felonies who are charged with the same $60 million bribery and racketing scheme are:
·Matt Borges (a former Ohio Republican Party chairman)
·Neil Clark (a high-profile Columbus lobbyist)
·Jeff Longstreth (a political consultant and key Householder adviser)
·Juan Cespedes (a Columbus lobbyist)
All four charged individuals are accused of diverting some portion of the money to their benefit. Reports claim that they are accused of racketeering conspiracy, which is punishable by up to 20 years in prison and a $250,000 fine as well.
Besides that, the501(c)4 organization called Generation Now is implicated by the authorities and also all the supporters of Larry Householder in his 2019 election as the Ohio House speaker.
Who Is Larry Householder?
Larry Householder is an American politician serving as the representative for Ohio's 72nd District and the Speaker of the Ohio House of Representatives. Also, he is a member of the Republican Party. He was first elected to the Member House back in 1996 and served until 2004. During the time, he got re-elected three times. In 1998 elected, he won and served as assistant majority whip.
Similarly, he won the 2001 election to serve as the Speaker of Ohio. Back in time, he resigned from the position as the reports of corruption started flaunting around.
Later, in 2016, Householder won his seat back in the House and got re-elected as a Speaker of Ohio in 2019. The same case continued as his previous tenure. Currently, he is in the custody of the $60 million corruption case and racketing scheme.