OHIO — Judge Timothy Black sentenced former Ohio House Speaker Larry Householder to 20 years in prison on Thursday for his involvement in a pay-to-play scheme involving FirstEnergy Solutions.
He will also get one year of supervised release, the judge said.
Householder's attorneys signaled they plan to appeal the sentence.
The 64-year-old Republican appeared before U.S. District Judge Timothy Black, who meted out the punishment, about an hour after he and his wife Taundra arrived at the federal courthouse.
Householder had pleaded for mercy ahead of the sentencing — not on behalf of himself, but his wife of 40 years, sons and friends. His son Nathan and other friends and family were present in the courtroom.
Black instead accusing Householder of abusing voters' trust.
“You were a bully with a lust for power who thought he was better than everyone else,” he said.
After a six-week trial in March and into April, jurors found Householder and former Ohio GOP Chair Matt Borges guilty. They were charged with conspiracy to participate in a racketeering enterprise involving bribery and money laundering.
Prosecutors had alleged the two had a secret arrangement with FirstEnergy to pass a $1 billion bailout of Ohio's two nuclear plants, otherwise known as House Bill 6.
Borges is expected to be sentenced Friday.
They are just two of five men who were charged in the case, including Juan Cespedes, a former FirstEnergy lobbyist; Jeffrey Longstreth, a Republican strategist who worked with Householder; and Neil Clark, a lobbyist and Householder adviser, died by suicide in 2021. Longstreth and Cespedes both pleaded guilty as part of a plea deal.
Jurors were not told that FirstEnergy has signed a deal to avoid prosecution under an agreement between the parties.
The Associated Press contributed to this story.