CINCINNATI — A jury was sworn in Friday to hear a federal racketeering trial surrounding a $61 million bribery scandal.
In the trial, prosecutors will try to paint a picture of greed and political power conspiring to use secret cash to influence elections and buy legislation in the Ohio Statehouse.
The prosecution on Friday revealed that former House Speaker Larry Householder had declined to engage in plea negotiations, and no offer was on the table.
Lobbyist and former Ohio Republican Party chairman Matt Borges, however, was offered a six-month sentence — instead of potentially 20 years — if he pleaded guilty to the racketeering charge and cooperated with the prosecution. He declined.
Mr. Borges told The Blade before the start of jury selection that he was “extremely confident” going into the trial.
“I didn’t break the law,” he said.
Once among Ohio’s most powerful political figures, the two are accused of engaging in an elaborate scheme fueled by Akron-based FirstEnergy Corp., to launder cash through a series of nonprofit organizations to hide their source.
Two others have already pleaded guilty to their roles in the scheme to use the money to elect state representatives loyal to Mr. Householder, return him to the speaker’s podium, and then steer passage of a $1 billion consumer-paid bailout of two Lake Erie nuclear power plants then owned by a FirstEnergy subsidiary.
According to the U.S. Attorney’s office, the scheme then continued to kill a petition effort aimed at getting voters to repeal the controversial law subjecting electricity customers statewide to monthly surcharges to pay for the bailout and other subsidies contained in the legislation.
Opening statements will take place Monday. The trial could last as long as six weeks.
U.S. District Court Judge Timothy Black told potential jurors that they would hear plenty about politics but advised them to leave their personal politics at the door.
“This case is not about politics, whether you agree or disagree with anybody’s political affiliations,” he said. “This is a trial, not an election.”
Many in the jury pool indicated they were familiar with the well-publicized case.
The judge started out Friday by rejecting motions from Mr. Householder and Mr. Borges to keep from the jury the fact that two of the prosecution’s key witnesses had pleaded guilty to racketeering charges.
Political strategist and long-time Householder ally Jeff Longstreth and Columbus lobbyist Juan Cespedes are still awaiting sentencing.
Mr. Householder and Mr. Borges had argued that supplying that information to the jurors could suggest that they are guilty by association.
“Pleas and immunity deals are relevant to credibility in general...,” Judge Black said, saying he will instruct jurors on how to consider the deals in their deliberations.
There are also two other unspecified witnesses for whom the prosecution has indicated it plans to offer up immunity deals in exchange for their testimony.
The jurors are also expected to hear recordings from undercover officers and wiretaps, emails and texts obtained through search warrants, and testimony from an IRS agent about the nonprofit entity used as the conduit in this case.
Mark Marein, one of Mr. Householder’s attorneys, asked jurors specifically about their opinion of the recent election of Kevin McCarthy as speaker of the U.S. House of Representatives and his acceptance of political contributions to accomplish that.
“What do you think about that? Is that corruption?” he asked.
One juror replied, “I don’t know if it’s corruption based on the definition of corruption, but it definitely sounds like self-fulfilling.”
Mr. Householder’s attorneys have indicated that they plan to argue that the use of corporate “big money” to influence leadership contests is nothing new in politics.
Another potential juror said he believed such dark money should be traceable, leading to further exploration of their feelings on the need for campaign finance reform. They were also asked about their feelings on green energy and nuclear power plants.
The jury will not hear about the 2021 suicide of another defendant, Columbus lobbyist Neil Clark.
Generation Now, Inc., the nonprofit corporation that served as the primary pipeline for funneling FirstEnergy’s money, has also pleaded guilty to racketeering. Mr. Longstreth was its officer.
FirstEnergy has paid a $230 million fine as part of a deferred prosecution deal in which it spelled out its role in this scheme.
It also said it bribed Sam Randazzo, a former consultant, before he accepted the appointment as chairman of the Public Utilities Commission of Ohio. It said that a $4 million payoff on a consulting contract was the bribe.
Mr. Randazzo has not been charged, and he has denied wrongdoing.
Contact Jim Provance at: jprovance@theblade.com.
First Published January 20, 2023, 3:01 p.m.
