Federal grand jury indicts ex-Ohio House Speaker Householder, 4 others on charges stemming from bribery probe

COLUMBUS — A federal grand jury indicted former Ohio House Speaker Larry Householder and four other people accused in a corruption and bribery investigation centered around Ohio House Bill 6.

>>PREVIOUS REPORT: Ohio House Speaker Larry Householder, 4 others arrested in $60 million federal racketeering conspiracy

Householder, along with former Ohio Republican Party chair and consultant Matthew Borges, Neil Clark, founder of Grant Street Consultants, Juan Cespedes, co-founder of The Oxley Group in Columbus, and Jeffrey Longstreth, adviser to Householder, were indicted on racketeering charges stemming from the federal probe into the alleged $60 million bribery scheme, according to court documents made available Thursday.

“Dark money is a breeding ground for corruption. This investigation continues,” David DeVillers, U.S. Attorney for the Southern District of Ohio said in a statement posted on social media.

All five accused in the scheme are scheduled to make their next court appearances Aug. 6 at 1:30 p.m. in Columbus.

>> HB6: The bill at the center of Larry Householder’s arrest

The federal investigators accuse Householder of directing a $60 million scheme to build his own power base and, in return, bail out the donors to a dark money campaign fund who run an energy company in northeast Ohio.

>>RELATED: Ohio House votes to remove scandal plagued Householder as speaker

The Ohio House voted unanimously Thursday to remove Householder from his position of speaker.

>>RELATED: Householder bribery case: Cupp appears top choice as House Republicans meet to remove Speaker

This is a developing story and we’ll continue to update this story as we learn more.

Cox Media Group