One of the more influential Republicans in Ohio politics will be spending the next two decades in a jail cell.
Former GOP House Speaker Larry Householder is headed to the pokey.
The sentence was handed down in a major corruption scandal.
Above the Law
Dirty politicians are nothing new in this country.
For some reason, these people get elected to office and they suddenly think the laws no longer apply to them.
During the sentencing, US District Judge Timothy Black referred to Householder as “a bully with a lust for power.”
The scandal is considered the biggest corruption scandal in the history of the state.
Householder tried to play himself off as a family man.
He even went so far as to say it was his family being punished by the lengthy sentence, not him.
The judge was having none of it.
Black quoted Householder in his rebuke of the image that Householder was trying to present, stating, “If you’re going to f—- with me, I’m going to f—- with your kids,” “we can f— with him later” and “f—- him ’til he’s dead.”
He accused Householder of betraying everyone in Ohio that campaigned and voted for him when he ran for office.
Judge Black stated, “That wasn’t their way of just saying I like you or I support you.
“What they were saying is I’m choosing to trust you.
“They trusted you to do right by them, and you betrayed their trust.”
Fox News reported, “Jurors found that Householder orchestrated and Borges participated in a $60 million bribery scheme secretly funded by Akron-based FirstEnergy Corp. to secure Householder’s power, elect his allies, pass legislation containing a $1 billion bailout for two aging nuclear power plants owned by a FirstEnergy affiliate and then to use a dirty tricks campaign to stifle a ballot effort to overturn the bill.”
Householder’s attorneys were hoping for a slap on the wrist, looking for a sentence no longer than 18 months, but Judge Black took the prosecutors recommendation of 16 to 20 years instead.
In the recommendation memo, prosecutors stated that Household “acted as the quintessential mob boss, directing the criminal enterprise from the shadows and using his casket carriers to execute the scheme.”
Left or right, these corrupt officials need to be held accountable and made an example of to ensure this corruption ends.
I have always stated that political officials should receive maximum penalties allowed for just that reason.
It is nice to finally see that happen rather than the pass they get most of the time.
Source: Fox News
