Former Ohio House Speaker Larry Householder sentenced to 20 years in prison for bribery

Former Ohio House Speaker Larry Householder was sentenced to spend 20 years in prison on Thursday for bribery.

The judge gave Householder, 64, the maximum sentence based on his conviction.

The sentence was handed down after Householder and former Ohio Republican Party chair Matt Borges were found guilty in a corruption trial back in March.

Householder and Borges were accused in a $61 million pay-to-play scheme to legislation that benefited FirstEnergy. The incident has been called the largest corruption case in Ohio's history. The prosecutor argued that while Householder initiated the deal, he did not act by himself, and Borges entered into the deal late with full knowledge of the details.

Federal prosecutors had recommended Householder receive 16 to 20 years, holding in a sentencing memo that he “acted as the quintessential mob boss, directing the criminal enterprise from the shadows and using his casket carriers to execute the scheme.” That strategy, they said, gave Householder ”plausible deniability.”