CINCINNATI — A top aide to former Ohio House Speaker Larry Householder testified against his former boss on Wednesday, describing him as a larger-than-life personality who demanded loyalty above all else.
Jeff Longstreth worked for Householder from 2016 until July 2020, when federal prosecutors unveiled indictments in the largest public corruption case in Ohio history.
“I pleaded guilty to racketeering,” Longstreth told jurors. “I handled the money. By doing, that I facilitated everything else that happened because of that.”
Longstreth is the second defendant to plead guilty and testify for prosecutors at trial, hoping to reduce their eventual prison sentence by cooperating. A FirstEnergy lobbyist, Juan Cespedes, also pleaded guilty and testified last week.
Householder and former Ohio GOP chair turned lobbyist Matt Borges are facing a jury together in a trial that began Jan. 23 and is in its fifth week. Both maintain their innocence.
Prosecutors accuse them of being part of a complicated scheme to funnel $61 million in dark money from Akron-based First Energy Corp. to elect Householder as speaker, solidify his power base, secure enough votes to pass a ratepayer-funded $1.3 billion bailout of two FirstEnergy nuclear plants known as House Bill 6 and ensure it survived a ballot campaign to overturn it.
When FirstEnergy funneled the money through the nonprofit Generation Now, some of it went to Longstreth’s firm, JPL Associates to pay for what Householder needed to become speaker such as staff, vendors and consultants, he testified.
But Longstreth also used hundreds of thousands to pay off Householder’s credit card bills, settle an unrelated lawsuit and repair hurricane damage to the former speaker’s home near Naples, Fl. which just sold for more than $600,000, he testified.
Longstreth wanted this money to be a loan, but said Householder would never sign loan documents, and repeatedly delayed conversations about putting half of his Florida home in Longstreth's name.
Householder also never said thank you, Longstreth said.
“I kept thinking I’ve got to solve this problem, I’ve got to get these loan documents signed or we’ve broken the law,” Longstreth testified.
The relationship between Longstreth and Householder began in late summer 2016, when the two met at a restaurant on Buckeye Lake. Householder later hired him after winning the election that fall to “quarterback the play” of getting him elected as speaker.
“He wanted to be my only client, so this operation could be my only source of income,” Longstreth said, which was a tremendous opportunity but also carried a lot of risks.
Householder wanted “casket carriers,” or a loyal team that would be with him until death and “to lower the casket into the ground,” Longstreth said.
“He made me understand about loyalty and I didn’t want to let him down,” Longstreth said, explaining why he didn’t feel as if he could say no to Householder.
Longstreth first met then First Energy president CEO Chuck Jones and senior vice president of external affairs Mike Dowling in January 2017 during a trip to former Pres. Donald Trump’s inauguration in Washington, D.C.
While Longstreth flew commercial, he said Householder flew on FirstEnergy’s private jet against Longstreth’s warnings that it looked bad and should be paid for personally. During two steakhouse restaurant dinners in Washington, FirstEnergy executives talked about their potential need for a bailout if a federal solution didn’t happen, and Householder talked about his plan to become speaker.
“They were going to be supportive financially for Mr. Householder to become speaker,” Longstreth testified, adding that Dowling wanted them to create a 501(c)4 nonprofit, which was eventually named Generation Now, so the donations could be unlimited and anonymous.
After that trip, First Energy pledged $1 million to Generation Now.
“I was surprised. I knew they wanted to be supportive. I was surprised they were that supportive that early in the process,” Longstreth said.
Then in August 2017, Longstreth met the same FirstEnergy executives over table games at the casino of The Greenbrier resort, during a West Virginia Coal Association annual meeting.
Jones told him he would need a “state solution,” or a bailout because a federal solution wasn't happening. The company’s nuclear plants were losing money and they couldn’t afford to keep them open without help, Longstreth testified.
FirstEnergy representatives signed a deferred prosecution agreement with prosecutors in July 2021 and agreed to pay a $230 million fine. The public utility holding company admitted it conspired with public officials and others to pay tens of millions in exchange for bailout legislation.
FirstEnergy vice president and treasurer Steve Staub testified three weeks ago that several executives involved in the H.B. 6 scandal, including Jones and Dowling, were fired in 2020.
Longtime Columbus lobbyist Neil Clark was also indicted in the alleged scheme. Prosecutors described him as Householder’s proxy and enforcer.
Clark took his own life a year after his arrest. He died from a gunshot wound to the head in March 2021, while wearing a blue “DeWine for Governor” T-shirt, according to his Florida autopsy report which was reported by numerous media outlets.
U.S. District Court Judge Tim Black ruled that the jury could not know about Clark's death. But they have heard his wiretapped recorded conversations with undercover FBI agents.
FBI agents testified that they opened an investigation into Householderafter listening to Clark’s calls that were obtained through an FBI wiretap as part of a different investigation.
After their success with the nuclear bailout, in February 2020 Longstreth began to work on a new plan with Householder: to extend term limits for lawmakers to 16 years. Because he would be grandfathered in as a current lawmaker, it would all but guarantee Householder an additional 16 years in office.
FirstEnergy, its subsidiary FirstEnergy Solutions and American Electric Power committed financial support to the initiative because keeping Householder in power would be good for utility companies, Longstreth said. But ultimately they never pursued it.
"COVID hit and then we were arrested in July," Longstreth said.
Longstreth spent most of Wednesday on the witness stand. Defense attorneys will cross-examine him starting Thursday morning.
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