The U.S. Attorney in charge of the investigation into a $61 million bribery scandal involving former Ohio House Speaker Larry Householder, as well as several corruption cases within Cincinnati City Council, will be replaced by the new Biden administration.
Dave DeVillers was nominated by President Trump to serve as U.S. Attorney for the Southern District of Ohio in 2019. DeVillers, previously assistant U.S. Attorney, took over after the retirement of Benjamin Glassman, who was appointed by President Obama and served for several years during the Trump administration.
Sen. Sherrod Brown (D-Ohio) says U.S. Attorneys usually change with presidential administrations, so he’s issuing a call to applicants to replace DeVillers, who is currently overseeing a number of high-priority cases throughout the state. The Southern District of Ohio covers 48 Ohio counties, and includes Columbus and Cincinnati.
DeVillers is leading the investigation into Householder and four others accused of funneling millions of dollars in bribes through a dark money group in exchange for the passage of HB6, Ohio's controversial nuclear bailout law. Householder was ousted as Ohio House Speaker following his arrest, but pleaded not guilty to the charges and was re-elected to the legislature in November. Two other defendants reached plea deals with prosecutors.
DeVillers is also pursuing corruption cases against three current and former members of Cincinnati City Council accused of taking bribes in exchange for favorable votes on development projects. And in Columbus, DeVillers is coordinating the federal criminal and civil rights investigation into the killing of Casey Goodson Jr. by a Franklin County Sheriff's Deputy, and another civil rights probe of the killing of Andre Hill by a now-fired Columbus Police officer.
Brown says those ongoing cases won't be a problem.
“We don’t clean house, we just change the U.S. Attorney, the top job," Brown says. "The professional staff will continue to do its day-by-day work.”
The U.S. Attorney's Office says DeVillers hasn’t resigned yet, but will stay on until a new U.S. Attorney is appointed by President Biden.
As for the U.S. Attorney for the Northern District of Ohio, Bridget Brennan has been in that job as Acting U.S. Attorney since Justin Herdman submitted his resignation in December.
