COLUMBUS, Ohio (WCMH) — Federal prosecutors for the Southern District of Ohio have requested a 16- to 20-year prison term for former House speaker Larry Householder, one week before his sentencing.

In March, Householder and former state Republican Party Chairman Matt Borges were found guilty of racketeering in Ohio’s largest corruption case.

Householder and Borges were both accused of taking a $60 million bribe from FirstEnergy to pass a bailout bill for the company’s nuclear plants. 

In a memo dated Thursday, Kenneth Parker, the U.S. Attorney for the Southern District of Ohio, said Householder’s offense warrants life imprisonment, but statutory limits establish 20 years as the maximum sentence.

Householder also took the stand and testified in his defense during the trial. He denied dining with FirstEnergy executives during a 2017 trip to Washington, D.C., where many of the pay-to-play talks allegedly happened. Prosecutors hit back with a compilation of calls, emails and text messages between himself, FirstEnergy representatives and other politicians, which included alleged pressure on getting the bailout passed, and thanks after it did.

Since January, the trial has navigated a complex paper trail that documented the relationships Householder and Borges established with FirstEnergy executives, and a pattern of contributions through Generation Now to the former speaker. The court proceedings also saw delays when a juror tested positive for COVID-19.

Before Householder and Borges’ trial, two other Ohio political operatives — Jeffrey Longstreth and Juan Cespedes — took plea deals in 2020 for their involvement in the case. Longstreth was a longtime political adviser to ex-Ohio House Speaker Larry Householder. Cespedes was a lobbyist who investigators described as a “key middleman.”