Ex-Legislator's 20-Year Term Stands, Supreme Court Decides

The US Supreme Court has decided to let former Ohio House Speaker Larry Householder's 20-year prison term remain in place. The justices on Monday declined to review Householder's appeal of his federal corruption conviction tied to Ohio's nuclear bailout law passed in 2019. The court did not explain its decision, which leaves intact both his conviction and sentence, Cleveland.com reports. The court also turned back an appeal from Matt Borges, a co-defendant in the case and former chair of the state Republican Party who worked as a lobbyist.

Householder, a Republican, was found to have led a scheme in which utility giant FirstEnergy secretly directed about $60 million through dark-money entities to support his effort to secure the speakership and to advance the legislation, which benefited the company. With his last legal option exhausted, Householder will return to seeking a presidential pardon, his attorney said Monday. Scott Pullins said in a statement that it was "a sad day" for the Borges and Householder families and "even a sadder day for free speech and the rule of law," per the AP.