Larry Householder is hoping the incoming Trump administration will release him from prison.
The former Ohio House Speaker will seek a presidential pardon for his role in the largest public corruption scandal in Ohio’s history.
“We are in the process of preparing the documents,” said Scott Pullins, an attorney for Householder. “Frankly, we’re pursuing every avenue possible to bring Speaker Householder home to his family.”
Householder is serving 20 years in federal prison for orchestrating a $61 million bribery scheme that launched his return to political power in exchange for bailing out two nuclear power plants owned by FirstEnergy.
The former speaker has maintained his innocence, but a jury convicted him on one count of racketeering in March 2023.
U.S. District Judge Timothy Black called Householder “a bully with a lust for power” when he sentenced him and characterized his legislation to give a $1 billion bailout to FirstEnergy an “assault on democracy, the betrayal of everyone in Ohio.”
Firt Energy admitted to the bribe in a deferred prosecution agreement.
Why now?
Householder was arrested in the summer of 2020 and convicted three years later.
He’s seeking a pardon now because of his longstanding relationship with President-Elect Donald Trump and his team.
Householder was one of the first Ohio Republicans to endorse Trump in his first bid for the White House.
“If you remember, he was the only Ohioan to speak at the 2016 Republican National Convention (in Cleveland),” Pullins said. "He’s been very close to the president and the president’s people. I’ve made some initial calls, but as I have said, this is early on.”
For now, Pullins is asking Housholder’s friends and family to also reach out and make the case “that Speaker Householder deserves to come home.”
Presidents have a lot of latitude when it comes to pardons for federal crimes. Trump could commute his sentence, which wouldn’t dismiss the charges, but it would end Householder’s time in prison.
“A pardon is preferred, because it wipes the charges clean,” Pullins said. “We will accept or do whatever we need to do to get him home to his family.”
Former Ohio Republican Party Chair Matt Borges was also convicted in March. There's no word on whether Borges is seeking a pardon for himself.
