Sentencing Day Thursday for Householder

Former Ohio House Speaker Larry Householder, center, walks into Potter Stewart U.S. Courthouse with his attorneys, Mark Marein, left, and Steven Bradley, right, before jury selection in his federal trial, Friday, Jan. 20, 2023, in Cincinnati. Householder and former Ohio Republican Party chair Matt Borges are charged with racketeering in an alleged $60 million scheme to pass state legislation to secure a $1 billion bailout for two nuclear power plantsformerlyowned by Akron, Ohio-based FirstEnergy. Householder and Borges have both pleaded not guilty. (AP Photo/Joshua A. Bickel)

CINCINNATI, Ohio (News Talk 1480 WHBC) – He continues to maintain his innocence, but we may not hear from him again for quite a while after he reports to prison.

Former Ohio House Speaker Larry Householder is being sentenced on a racketeering and conspiracy conviction in a federal courthouse in Cincinnati on Thursday.

He was found guilty following a lengthy trial in March.

Householder was accused of being the mastermind behind a $61 million scheme to keep the state’s two nuclear power plants and a couple of coal-fired plants in operation.

The U.S. Attorney for the Southern District of Ohio is asking the judge for a 16 to 20 year sentence, saying they want the message sent that the law applies to everyone.

His attorneys are asking for a 12 to 18 month sentence, saying Householder is “humiliated and disgraced”.

Co-defendant Matt Borges is sentenced tomorrow.