CINCINNATI (CN) — Despite attempts to portray himself as a public servant dedicated to the ordinary Ohio citizen, former Republican lawmaker Larry Householder could not pry a lenient sentence out of U.S. District Judge Timothy Black, who called him a "bully with a lust for power" before handing down a two-decade sentence Thursday.
Householder, arrested in July 2020 and charged with racketeering alongside several of his political operatives, remained stone-faced and did not react when he was read the sentence in federal court.
His attorneys immediately requested an appellate stay and, in the alternative, that he be allowed to self-surrender later, but Black denied both requests.
"Self-surrender is an earned privilege not warranted here," Black said. "The court and the community's patience with Larry Householder is finished."
Householder looked back at his wife, Taundra, as he was led out of court in handcuffs by several U.S. Marshals. Neither was visibly upset by the circumstances.
The former speaker from rural Ohio maintained his innocence throughout his trial and was one of only two of the original five defendants not to plead guilty.
Lobbyists Jeff Longstreth and Juan Cespedes testified against their former boss at trial, but defendant Neil Clark died by suicide in March 2020.
Householder testified on his own behalf, and federal prosecutors eviscerated him for holes and contradictions in his defense.
The government's theory of the case focused on the creation of Generation Now, a nonprofit "dark money" organization that could accept political donations without revealing their sources and which was used by Householder and his "casket carriers" to accept bribes from FirstEnergy Corporation, the owner of two failing Ohio nuclear plants.
Householder used the $60 million raised by Generation Now to ensure his political allies were elected to office and voted in favor of House Bill 6, a now-repealed legislation that bailed out the nuclear plants at taxpayer expense.
Prosecutors claimed Householder received over $500,000 personally from the scheme and used the money to pay off a mortgage on a Florida property and legal expenses related to a failed business venture.
They detailed dinners at lavish steakhouses in Washington, D.C., on the weekend of President Donald Trump's inauguration, flights on the FirstEnergy private jet and tickets to at least two World Series games in Cleveland in 2016, which also involved visits to a corporate box.
Householder refuted that he ever went to dinner with FirstEnergy executives in D.C. and claimed he paid the company back for the use of its private jet, but the jury deliberated for less than 10 hours before it found the former speaker guilty.
Matt Borges, who bribed a worker involved with the House Bill 6 repeal campaign, was tried and found guilty alongside Householder and will be sentenced Friday.
Counsel for Householder and the federal government submitted sentencing memos to Black one week before today's hearing and had vastly different opinions on the appropriate sentence.
The government argued the former speaker deserved to spend the rest of his life in prison and that "no mitigating factor tempers the seriousness of [his] criminal conduct."
Householder and his co-conspirators intended to continue their scheme before being arrested and affected all utility ratepayers in Ohio through their brazen criminal conduct, according to prosecutors, who also attacked the family-friendly image put forth by the politician's defense counsel.
"He acted as the quintessential mob boss," the government claimed, "directing the criminal enterprise from the shadows and using his casket carriers to execute the scheme. This allowed him what he thought was plausible deniability for the crimes committed at his direction."
Householder's legal team suggested a sentence of just 12-18 months in prison in their memo to Black and asked the judge to look past the "public perception and media accounts" that portrayed their client in a vindictive manner throughout the case.
In much the same way they did at trial, Householder's attorneys expounded upon their client's upbringing in rural Ohio, his nearly 40-year marriage to schoolteacher Taundra and his public service work before the bribery scandal.
Householder disputed the value of the $60 million bribe used to establish his sentencing guidelines, emphasized the lack of previous criminal investigations, and told Black he "has, in many ways, led an exemplary life."
A footnote on the same page of the memo indicated Householder previously committed two drunk driving offenses, one nearly four decades ago and the other 25 years ago.
Black was particularly ruthless in his assessment of Householder's character when he spoke for over 10 minutes before handing down the two-decade sentence.
"When an individual supported you for office," he said, "and I mean real people who showed up on Election Day ... they were saying, 'I'm choosing to trust you.' And you betrayed that trust."
"The number that really bothers me is the $1.3 billion [in subsidies]," Black added. "How many scholarships could that have funded? How many small business loans? How many lives could it have improved? But you handed it over to a bunch of corporate suits with private jets."
The Obama appointee admitted Householder didn't pocket much from the bribery scheme but hazarded a guess as to why that didn't matter.
"I think you just wanted power," he said. "You liked being the puppetmaster. It wasn't just to line your pockets; it was to inflate your ego. ... Bottom line: you were a bully with a lust for power who thought he was above everyone else."
Attorney Steven Bradley, founding partner of the Cleveland firm Marein and Bradley, spoke on behalf of his client Thursday, while Assistant U.S. Attorney Emily Glatfelter argued on behalf of the government.
Householder also spoke briefly on his own behalf and told the court his three greatest commitments in life are "faith, family and friends."
"My only concern in this sentencing is what it means to my wife, my children and my grandchildren," he said.
He and his attorneys went over his history of public service, but it did little to affect Black.
"I cannot credit you for your time in public service because you weren't serving others; you were serving yourself," he told Householder.
Throughout the trial, Householder's attorneys complained of judicial bias against their client. They plan to appeal his conviction to the Sixth Circuit.
Over 50 people sat in the courtroom gallery during Thursday's proceedings, and at least a dozen family members and friends attended to support the former speaker.
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