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Ohio House Speaker Larry Householder, aides in company of mobsters as they face racketeering charge

4 hours ago

By Eric Heisig, cleveland.com

CLEVELAND, Ohio — Prosecutors going after Ohio House Speaker Larry Householder and his aides are using one of the mightiest federal laws to do so, one the government previously used to take down the Mafia.

By using the Racketeer Influenced and Corrupt Organizations Act of 1970, the U.S. Attorney’s Office in southern Ohio signaled that it believes it can show that Householder, aide Jeff Longstreth and lobbyists Neil Clark, Matt Borges and Juan Cespedes committed crime after crime over time with money from FirstEnergy Corp

That, generally, is all the government needs to prove, though carrying out such a prosecution is more complicated. Still, people in the legal community have acknowledged that the case appears strong based on what the government has released so far. Beneath all the colorful quotes and salacious details of political bullying contained in an FBI agent’s affidavit lay the references to what could be the actual crimes.

“The affidavit sets out a compelling case for proving that Householder sold his political power to FirstEnergy,” Ann Rowland, a former federal prosecutor in Cleveland, said in a statement.