Supreme Court denies appeal of ex-Ohio House speaker's and lobbyist's convictions in $60M scheme

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COLUMBUS, Ohio (AP) — The U.S. Supreme Court upheld the federal racketeering convictions Monday of imprisoned former Ohio House Speaker Larry Householder and ex-lobbyist Matt Borges in the state's long-running $60 million bribery scheme

With his last legal option exhausted, Householder will return to his efforts to seek a presidential pardon, his attorney said.

The high court's ruling leaves in place a unanimous decision by a three-judge panel of the 6th Circuit U.S. Court of Appeals in Cincinnati last May. Householder and Borges had appealed to justices after the lower court denied their requests for an en banc hearing before all active judges.

Householder's lawyer, 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.”

“Lower courts have asked for years for the Supreme Court to clarify its rulings and they have once again declined to do so,” Pullins said. "We will now return to our efforts to release Speaker Householder from his unjust, excessive incarnation via executive action.”

Pullins had floated the idea of Householder seeking a pardon earlier, then backed off.

The Department of Justice secured Householder's and Borges' convictions in March 2023 after a yearslong investigation and a more than six-week trial.

Householder, now 66, was sentenced to 20 years in prison for masterminding a scheme illicitly funded by Akron-based FirstEnergy Corp. to elect allies, secure power, pass a $1 billion bailout of two of its affiliated nuclear plants and then defend the bill, known as House Bill 6, from a repeal effort.

Borges, 53, got a five-year sentence for helping undermine the repeal effort. A former chair of the Ohio Republican Party, he was released to a halfway house in Cincinnati in October, from which he's to be released Nov. 12, according to the Bureau of Prisons.