Former Ohio House Speaker Larry Householder has been indicted on several state felony charges for his role in the nuclear bailout bribery scandal.
A grand jury indictment, filed Monday in Cuyahoga County, charged Householder with 10 felonies, including five counts of tampering with records, two counts of aggravated theft and one count each of theft in office, telecommunications fraud and money laundering.
If convicted on the theft in office count, Householder would be permanently disqualified from holding an elected position or serving in a position of public employment.
Householder is currently serving a 20-year prison sentence after being convicted on federal bribery charges last June. The conviction found he engineered a $61 million scheme to become Ohio's House Speaker with a series of bribes and dark money from FirstEnergy to pass a nuclear plant bailout for the utility company. Householder is currently appealing his sentence.
Related: The Power Grab Podcast
Ohio Attorney General Dave Yost issued an announcement Monday about the charges.
“This case seeks to hold Mr. Householder accountable for his actions under state law, and I expect that the results will permanently bar him from public service in Ohio,” Yost said. “State crimes have state penalties, and a conviction will ensure that there will be no more comebacks from the ‘Comeback Kid.’"
Householder was elected to the Ohio House in 2016. He was later elected as Ohio House Speaker in 2019. He served as speaker until he was removed from the position in July 2020 after his indictment on federal charges. He was expelled from the Ohio House in June 2021.
The indictment on the state charges came after an investigation by a Ohio Organized Crime Investigations Commission task force organized.
The investigation has also led to charges filed against former Public Utilities Commission of Ohio Chairman Sam Randazzo, former FirstEnergy CEO Chuck Jones and Michael Dowling, former FirstEnergy senior vice president of external affairs.
