OHIO — Former GOP Chair Matt Borges has been sentenced to five years in prison for his part in a $60 billion bribery scheme involving FirstEnergy Solutions.
Borges had asked to be sentenced to 12 months, while prosecutors recommended five to eight years.
Following sentencing, Borges was immediately taken into custody and escorted from the courtroom in handcuffs.
Former Ohio House Speaker Larry Householder was sentenced to 20 years in prison on Thursday for his involvement, which his attorneys say they plan to appeal.
Jurors found Householder and Borges guilty after a six-week trial in the spring. The two were charged with conspiracy to participate in a racketeering enterprise involving bribery and money laundering. Prosecutors alleged the two had a secret arrangement with FirstEnergy to pass House Bill 6 — a $1 billion bailout of the states' two nuclear plants.
During the trial, Borges sought to distance himself from Householder — once one of Ohio’s most powerful Republican politicians — with his defense team highlighting his absence from meetings held by Householder’s allies and Borges quipping audibly in the courtroom that he didn’t even like the man.
After Householder confirmed on the stand during their trial that Borges was not among his confidantes, the younger Republican opted against testifying on his own behalf.
But it mattered during sentencing that Borges was convicted years before in an earlier state government pay-to-play scandal. Borges, who served as a campaign staffer and chief of staff to then-Republican State Treasurer Joe Deters, pleaded guilty in 2004 to one count of improper use of a public office. He was fined $1,000, but avoided jail time of up to six months.
Borges was charged with giving 10 brokers who had contributed to Deters’ campaign fund an advantage in getting contracts with the office of the treasurer — Ohio’s chief investment officer. A Deters fundraiser and a lobbyist who served as a go-between to the preferential treatment also were convicted.
Borges and Householder are two of five men who were charged in the case: Juan Cespedes, a former FirstEnergy lobbyist; Jeffrey Longstreth, a Republican strategist who worked with Householder; and Neil Clark, a lobbyist and Householder adviser, who died by suicide in 2021. Longstreth and Cespedes both pleaded guilty as part of a plea deal.
FirstEnergy also has admitted to its role, admitting in an agreement with the government to using dark money groups to fund the effort and agreeing to pay a $230 million fine and meet other conditions in order to avoid prosecution.
The Associated Press contributed to this article.