In a final blow to their legal fight, the U.S. Supreme Court denied the last appeal of Larry Householder and Matt Borges. The two men were key figures in Ohio’s biggest corruption case ever. The decision means their convictions stand, and there’s no path left to challenge them.
Householder was Ohio’s House Speaker. Borges was his associate. A federal court convicted both men on racketeering and bribery charges tied to a $60 million scheme involving energy company FirstEnergy. Householder was sentenced to 20 years in prison.
A federal court convicted both men on racketeering and bribery charges. Householder received a 20-year prison sentence.
The scheme centered on House Bill 6, a law that gave FirstEnergy a $1.3 billion nuclear plant bailout. Ratepayers funded that bailout. FirstEnergy funneled roughly $60 million through a dark money group called Generation Now to support Householder’s campaigns and push the bill through.
The bribery didn’t stop there. Sam Randazzo, who once chaired Ohio’s utility regulator PUCO, received a $4.3 million bribe. Former FirstEnergy CEO Chuck Jones and former VP Mike Dowling were also charged in connection with the bribery scheme. The scheme also secretly paid $13 million to industrial firms to drop their opposition to the bill.
Jones and Dowling’s cases are still active. Ohio’s attorney general plans to retry both men. Prosecutors alleged the $4.3 million payment to Randazzo was a bribe. Per defense claims, it was a legitimate 2015 settlement that Randazzo stole.
FirstEnergy’s admitted role in the scheme has led to major financial consequences. The company paid a $100 million SEC fine in September 2024. In January 2026, Ohio’s PUCO approved roughly $249 million in customer restitution from FirstEnergy subsidiaries, plus $20 million for low-income programs, as part of ongoing PUCO-mandated refunds. A separate November 2025 order required hundreds of millions in PUCO-ordered restitution and forfeitures. Nearly $276 million more in additional proposed customer refunds was also announced in December 2025, pending PUCO approval.
The Supreme Court’s denial closes the book on Householder and Borges. But the legal fallout from Ohio’s largest corruption scandal isn’t over yet. Matt Borges was reportedly released from prison in October 2025 after serving less than half of his sentence for his role in the HB 6 referendum. Critics argue HB 6 delayed Ohio’s energy transition by gutting clean energy standards and subsidizing two aging coal plants built in the 1950s.
References
- https://www.canarymedia.com/articles/utilities/supreme-court-utility-bribery-case
- https://www.commoncause.org/ohio/resources/a-cycle-of-corruption-a-timeline-of-the-householder-hb6-scandal/
- https://signalohio.org/ex-firstenergy-executives-bribery-case-ends-in-mistrial-chuck-jones-mike-dowling-ohio/
- https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=1FsqNdxZEoU
- https://www.winston.com/en/insights-news/winston-represents-former-firstenergy-executive-in-ohio-bribery-trial
- https://ohiocapitaljournal.com/2026/01/08/firstenergy-bribery-scheme-sank-lake-erie-offshore-wind-lawsuit-says/
