DawgTalkers.net Forums DawgTalk Palus Politicus Ohio House Leader Householder and Repub Strategists Arrested on Bribery Charges

https://www.wkbn.com/news/ohio/u-s-attor...sday-afternoon/

Ohio House Speaker Larry Householder arrested; U.S. Attorney, FBI to announce charges related to $60 million bribe
OHIO
by: NBC4 Staff and The Associated Press

Posted: Jul 21, 2020 / 09:53 AM EDT / Updated: Jul 21, 2020 / 11:36 AM EDT

COLUMBUS, OH (WCMH)- Federal Officials have planned a Tuesday press conference to announce charges that stem from a public corruption racketeering conspiracy.

Southern District of Ohio U.S. Attorney David DeVillers will hold a news conference with the FBI at 2:30 p.m. Tuesday, his office stated in a press release.

In the release, officials say they will announce charges related to $60 million in bribes to a state official and associates.

A federal source confirms the arrest of House Speaker Larry Householder, republican strategist Matt Borges, Jeff Longstreth, Juan Cespedes and Neil Clark in a multi-million dollar bribery scheme apparently involving House Bill 6. A sealed indictment was requested by federal authorities.

2019’s House Bill 6 was a “Clean Air Act” that contained a bailout for two nuclear power plants managed by FirstEnergy. There was a controversial effort to block it from going into effect that included accusations of assault on petitioners, bribery, and scare ads involving China. The bill eventually passed through the statehouse and was signed by Gov. Mike DeWine last summer.

FBI agents were carrying out “law enforcement activity” on Householder’s property in Glenford in southeastern Ohio, FBI spokesman Todd Lindgren said, without providing details. The Perry County Sheriff’s Office also confirmed it was assisting the FBI at Householder’s farm.

A Perry County Sheriff’s Office cruiser sits at the end of the driveway at a Larry Householder property in Perry County.
PHOTO: NBC4 Photographer Gregory O’LearyRead More »
A Perry County Sheriff’s Office cruiser sits at the end of the driveway at a Larry Householder property in Perry County.
PHOTO: NBC4 Photographer Gregory O’LearyRead More »

NBC4 will stream the 2:30 p.m. press conference live.

Well this doesn't sound good.

the others arrested were according to Columbus Dispatch:

Former Ohio GOP Chairman Matt Borges, longtime Householder adviser Jeff Longstreth, and lobbyists Neil Clark and Juan Cespedes also were arrested, the sources confirmed.

Lock him up.

I'm all for due process first. But with as many names that are involved I would have to venture a guess there's at least something to this story.

Yeah, I agree. too much smoke for there not to be a fire..

Our highly religious state legislature? Noooooo way.

Can somebody point me to a chapter in the Bible that covers bribes?

j/c

Ohio House Speaker Larry Householder, 4 others arrested in $60 million bribery case

Speaker Larry Householder was one of the driving forces behind a roughly $1 billion financial rescue for Ohio’s two nuclear power plants.

COLUMBUS, Ohio — The powerful Republican speaker of the Ohio House and four other people were arrested Tuesday in a $60 million federal bribery investigation, a person briefed on the matter said, as the FBI raided the legislative leader’s rural farm.

Speaker Larry Householder was one of the driving forces behind a roughly $1 billion financial rescue for Ohio’s two nuclear power plants, which appeared to be tied to several targets of the investigation. The legislation added a new fee to every electricity bill in the state and directed over $150 million a year through 2026 to the plants near Cleveland and Toledo.

Prosecutors would not discuss details of the case. U.S. Attorney David DeVillers’ office planned to hold a news conference later in the day.

Also arrested were Householder adviser Jeffrey Longstreth, longtime Statehouse lobbyist Neil Clark, former Ohio Republican Party Chairman Matthew Borges and Juan Cespedes, co-founder of The Oxley Group, a Columbus-based consulting firm, the person told The Associated Press. The person spoke on the condition of anonymity because they were not authorized to discuss the case.

Authorities were also seeking a sixth suspect, the person said.

Previous attempts to bail out the nuclear plants had stalled in the Legislature before Householder became speaker. Months after taking over, he rolled out a new plan to subsidize the plants and eliminate renewable energy incentives. The proposal was approved a year ago despite opposition from many business leaders and the manufacturing industry.

FirstEnergy Corp., whose former subsidiaries owned the plants, donated heavily to Householder’s campaigns and his backers in the Ohio House. The utility’s political action committee contributed $25,000 to Householder’s campaign in 2018, according to an analysis by Common Cause Ohio, a government watchdog.

Hours ahead of the news conference, FBI agents were at Householder’s farm in Glenford in rural Perry County. FBI spokesman Todd Lindgren said only that they were carrying out “law enforcement activity.” The Perry County Sheriff’s Office confirmed that it was assisting.

Borges has increasingly been on the outs with the Ohio Republican Party establishment since it was taken over by devotees of President Donald Trump. He was recently censured by the party’s central committee, including for helping launch a PAC in June to turn out GOP voters for Democratic presidential candidate Joe Biden. The PAC is backed by a group of prominent Republican operatives that include a former White House communications director, Anthony Scaramucci.

Clark is one of Ohio’s best connected lobbyists, representing a high-powered stable of clients from the pharmaceutical, gambling and alcoholic beverage industries, among others.

Cespedes is a former investment officer with the Ohio Treasurer’s Office who was appointed by then-Gov. John Kasich as commissioner for the Ohio Civil Rights Commission, where he oversees a team effort to stop discrimination in the state. His term ends on July 29.

Attempts to reach Householder, Borges and Clark were unsuccessful. A message seeking comment was also left with the House communications office.

Householder is a veteran state lawmaker who’s in his second stint as speaker. He held the same position from 2001 to 2004. He left state politics more than a decade ago because of term limits and returned in 2016 and took up a contentious fight to win back the chamber’s top job.

At the time he left office, he and several top advisers were under federal investigation for alleged money laundering and irregular campaign practices. The government closed the case without filing charges.

Householder is the second Ohio House speaker to come under investigation in just over two years.

Former Republican Speaker Cliff Rosenberger was investigated in 2018 amid an FBI inquiry into his travel, lavish lifestyle and a condo he rented from a wealthy GOP donor. Rosenberger, who has maintained he broke no laws, has not been charged, but the investigation remains open.

https://www.10tv.com/article/news/local/...R7LMzOEuPHGK03Q

Deuteronomy 27:25:”Cursed is the man who accepts a bribe to kill an innocent person.”

Proverbs 15:27: Whoever is greedy for unjust gain troubles his own household, but he who hates bribes will live.

Psalm 26:10: In whose hands are evil devices, and whose right hands are full of bribes

I listened to the press conference. There are lots of busy feds in the southern half of Ohiotoday and the near future. And there seems like there will be more dominoes to fall

I think it's in the book of Numbers.

https://www.cleveland.com/open/2020/07/o...feds-claim.html

Ohio House Speaker Larry Householder, allies got more than $60 million in FirstEnergy bribes to pass HB6, feds claim
Updated 5:08 PM; Today 2:37 PM
Larry Householder


By Jeremy Pelzer, cleveland.com
COLUMBUS, Ohio—Ohio House Speaker Larry Householder’s political operation accepted more than $60 million in bribe money from FirstEnergy Corp. to secure the company a $1.3 billion public bailout, according to a federal complaint filed Thursday.


Householder, chief political aide Jeff Longstreth, and lobbyists Matt Borges, Neil Clark, and Juan Cespedes used the bribe money to expand the speaker’s political power and enrich themselves by millions of dollars through a “web” of dark-money groups and bank accounts, including the 501(c)(4) Generation Now, according to the complaint.

Householder and the four others were charged with conspiracy to commit racketeering. Each could face up to 20 years in prison and a maximum $250,000 fine, court officials said Tuesday.

“(It) is likely the largest bribery, money-laundering scheme ever perpetrated against the people in the state of Ohio,” said David DeVillers, the U.S. attorney for the Southern District of Ohio, during a news conference Tuesday.


In all, Householder received more than $500,000 for his personal benefit, according to DeVillers.




More than $100,000 of the bribe money from FirstEnergy Corp. was used to pay costs associated with Householder’s Florida home, and at least $97,000 was used to pay expenses for Householder’s 2018 House campaign, the complaint stated.

The complaint does not mention FirstEnergy Corp. by name. Nor does it name FirstEnergy Solutions -- FirstEnergy Corp.‘s then-subsidiary which operated the Perry and Davis-Besse nuclear power plants (and continues to operate them under the name Energy Harbor after splitting from FirstEnergy earlier this year.

Instead, the complaint refers to them both under the collective name “Company A.” There are numerous giveaways that FirstEnergy is “Company A,” including that the complaint quotes public comments from former FirstEnergy Corp. President/CEO Charles Jones, labeling him “Company A Corp. president and CEO.”


DeVillers said there’s a “strong inference” in the complaint that Householder and his allies approached FirstEnergy, rather than the other way around.

“This enterprise went looking for someone to bribe them,” DeVillers said.

Borges, a former Ohio Republican Party chair, had $1.62 million transferred to his lobbying firm’s account, and he paid himself about $350,000, the complaint stated. Borges also allegedly offered someone on the pro-referendum side $15,000 to become a mole within the pro-referendum campaign and hired a private investigator, which the complaint states is consistent with efforts to investigate petition collectors.

Longstreth, Householder’s chief political strategist, transferred more than $10.5 million in bribe payments to his firm, JPL & Associates, as well as another $4.4 million through indirect means, according to the complaint. Longstreth also allegedly benefitted personally, receiving more than $5 million in bribe money, including at least $1 million transferred to his brokerage account in January 2020.

Cespedes, FirstEnergy’s main lobbyist for HB6, served as a “key middleman” for the operation, according to the complaint. He allegedly received about $600,000 from Team Householder and $227,000 from FirstEnergy.


Clark, a prominent Capitol Square lobbyist who described himself as Householder’s “hit man,” got $290,000, according to the complaint.

In 2018, Team Householder spent FirstEnergy money, routed through Generation Now, on 21 different legislative candidates backed by Householder, the complaint stated.

Other money went to fight an (ultimately unsuccessfully) attempt by HB6 opponents last summer to organize a statewide referendum to repeal HB6, which Gov. Mike DeWine signed in late July 2019.

Between July and October of last year, FirstEnergy Solutions wired more than $38 million to Generation Now to help defeat the referendum effort, which the group did through a barrage of TV ads and schemes to prevent opponents from collecting the necessary signatures, including hiring people to intimidate petition canvassers.

No one from FirstEnergy Corp., nor Energy Harbor, was charged in the complaint.

A FirstEnergy Corp. statement released late Tuesday afternoon stated that the company received subpoenas in connection with the investigation. “We are reviewing the details of the investigation and we intend to fully cooperate,” the company stated.


A FirstEnergy Corp. spokeswoman declined to comment beyond the statement.

Phone calls to spokespeople at Energy Harbor on Tuesday morning were not returned as of Tuesday afternoon.

The IRS gets in my [censored] if I deposit 3k in cash or more in a month.......60 million dollars is hard to hide.

No doubt. The Feds already have the answers. Now it will be a race to see who turns first to miss out on jail time.

The FBI isn't reckless about bringing charges like this, if anything, they are overly cautious. By the time they get to this point, they usually have all that they need and they are just trying to figure out how far and wide it goes..

Drain the swamp of these people, get them out, lock them up, and punish the crap out of First Energy.

**I saw something on Twitter yesterday about should the Browns change the name of the stadium because of the First Energy scandal... but didn't know the origin of the story.. I guess this is it.

I hate the law they jammed us on. Lock him up and claw back this money. Seems corrupt enough for me. Governor DeWine seemed to favor this very clearly. Is he part of this or involved in it or informed of the dirty little arrangement?

I have come to believe in my very heart of hearts that what I can't afford are politicians in my life. This stinx. Lock them all up.

To this point DeWine has not been implicated. I have no way of knowing where this will all lead.

Our leadership has let us down on all levels. This isn’t even the tip of the iceberg here.

wow... i dont know what else to say about this.... i know it's not possible but maybe the feds can recoup some of the bribe money and put it to something good...

The story below provides some background to an Ohio bribery story that first appeared in July, 2020.

Ohio arrests bribery case: Who are Larry Householder, Matt Borges, Generation Now, others charged

LINK

Federal officials arrested Ohio House Speaker Larry Householder and four others on Tuesday morning in connection with a $60 million bribery case.

Who's who in the case:

Larry Householder, 61 of Glenford

The Republican House Speaker, Householder is one of the biggest names in Ohio politics and has been a major player for years in the state's Republican Party. He's known as an aggressive fundraiser who doesn't shy away from hardball tactics on the campaign trail or in the statehouse.

He first served as Ohio's House speaker from 2001 to 2004. The FBI launched an investigation in 2004 into allegations that Householder and his aides took kickbacks from vendors and traded legislation for campaign contributions. The investigation ended in 2006 with no charges filed.

A term-limited Householder left Columbus in 2004 during the investigation.

After returning to the House a few years ago, Householder staged a comeback, with help from Democrats, when he took advantage of GOP infighting and returned to the speaker's post.

"When everyone else is in complete disarray is usually when I'm at my best," Householder told The Enquirer in 2019.


Jeff Longstreth, 44 of Columbus

The longtime Householder adviser helped form Generation Now, a dark money group that fought to defeat a challenge to Ohio’s nuclear energy bailout. He works with JPL & Associates, a Columbus-based political consulting firm. 


Matthew Borges, 48, of Bexley

A former Ohio Republican Party chairman, Borges lobbied for that nuclear energy bailout, representing the company that owns the two power plants – called FirstEnergy Solutions at the time and now named Energy Harbor.

He made headlines just last month for announcing he would be voting for Democratic presidential candidate Joe Biden and creating a PAC to help defeat President Trump. 

Borges was ensnared in a bribery scandal in 2004, when he was working with then-Ohio Treasurer Joe Deters, now Hamilton County's prosecutor. He admitted funneling contributions to Deters' campaign from donors seeking to do business with the treasurer's office and pled guilty to a misdemeanor charge. 




More:1 name from secretive marijuana applications: Ex-GOP chair Borges

More:After debate, Ohio GOP chairman unsure whether he'll vote for Trump

Disclosure: Matthew Borges is a member of the Columbus-based firm 17 Consulting, which advises The Enquirer on legislative activity affecting the media industry.

Juan Cespedes, 40, of Columbus

He's a lobbyist for FirstEnergy Solutions via the Oxley Group, which works in government relations and business development. Cespedes is a current board member of the Ohio Arts Council.

Concurrent with his work as a lobbyist, Cespedes also has received an annual salary from the state of Ohio as an appointee to its Civil Rights  Commission. Former Gov. John Kasich named Cespedes in 2015 to a five-year term as a commissioner that expires July 29. He was paid $57,824 for  2019, state records show.


Neil Clark, 67, of Columbus

He's a longtime Householder adviser. Clark founded Grant Street Consultants in Columbus which its website calls a "bipartisan government relations firm." According to his bio on the company website, Clark was called “one of the best-connected lobbyists in Columbus” by USA TODAY. He is a former chief operating officer of the Ohio Senate Republican Caucus.


David DeVillers, U.S. Attorney in charge of probe

The U.S. Attorney for the Southern District of Ohio,  DeVillers was nominated by President Donald Trump on Sept. 9, 2019 and the U.S. Senate approved his confirmation on Oct. 28. He has been an Assistant U.S. Attorney for the Southern District of Ohio since July 2002.

DeVillers previously was an Assistant Franklin County Prosecutor for a decade and served as Director of the Organized Crime/Gang Unit for the Franklin County Prosecutor's Office. One of his most notable prosecutions was the Short North Posse federal murder case in which 20 members were convicted on murder and 18 on drug and firearm crimes; it was the largest federal murder case in Ohio's history. 

DeVillers has worked overseas as a Prosecutor Advisor to the Iraqi High Tribunal during the trial of Saddam Hussein and other members of the former Iraqi Regime in 2006 and 2007. He lived in Tbilisi, Georgia, from 2010 to 2012 as a resident l egal advisor to combat transnational crime, corruption and international money laundering.  

Generation Now

Generation Now, a nonprofit 501(c)(4) that federal prosecutors link to Longstreth and Householder, also was charged. The  "dark money" operation that was not required to disclose donors under federal law. The group hired blockers to stall signature collectors working for those opposed to the bailout. 

Generation Now was incorporated by Longstreth in early 2017, but federal officials say they have a recording that shows it secretly was controlled by Householder. Federal officials have a recorded conversation of Clark saying “Generation Now is the Speaker’s….”

The 82-page criminal complaint alleges Generation Now received about $60 million in exchange for Householder and other’s help in the passage of House Bill 6 and the blocking of a ballot initiative to overturn the legislation.

Note: There is an unrelated Generation Now organization in Cincinnati whose mission is workforce development. They have no connection to the Householder case. 

Contributing: Joe Thomas of the Akron Beacon Journal

This would go perfect right here:

https://www.dawgtalkers.net/ubbthreads.ph...ber#Post1777463

Nuclear Bailout Tied to Bribery Scandal Was Years in Making
Ohio lawmakers are facing calls to repeal a $1 billion nuclear plant bailout that’s now entangled in a state bribery scandal.

By Associated Press, Wire Service Content Aug. 3, 2020, at 7:42 a.m.

BY JOHN SEEWER, Associated Press

link
TOLEDO, Ohio (AP) — A $1 billion bailout for Ohio’s two nuclear plants that’s now entangled in a state bribery scandal had little support when the idea came up three years ago. It was all but dead until the spring of last year, when the new leader of the Ohio House stepped up with a last-ditch attempt to give the plants a financial lifeline.

But that’s all on shaky ground again after federal authorities accused the powerful Republican Ohio House speaker and four associates of orchestrating a $60 million bribery scheme involving corporate money secretly funneled to them in exchange for passing the bailout.

The question for state lawmakers who are under pressure to repeal the bailout is whether they’re willing to face another divisive debate — this time under the shadow of scandal — in order to find a new way to prop up the financially strapped nuclear plants.

Here is a look at how the bailout came about and its prospects going forward.

___

DIM OUTLOOK

Nuclear plants nationwide were warning four years ago that their aging reactors were in need of financial help, because they couldn't compete with cheaper natural gas-fired plants and subsidized renewable energy. It was no different in Ohio.

FirstEnergy Corp., whose subsidiary operated the Ohio plants at the time, pressed state lawmakers in 2017 to approve surcharges on electricity bills to generate about $300 million annually for its reactors. The utility’s CEO, Chuck Jones, said it was needed to protect jobs and the state's largest clean energy source, saying “this is not a bailout for FirstEnergy.”

Republicans in the Legislature blocked the proposal from moving forward. Then-Gov. John Kasich had no interest either, saying the utility needed to figure out how to keep its nuclear plants

operating without the state's aid.

With little hope in sight, FirstEnergy announced in early 2018 that it planned to close its nuclear plants within three years, leaving the door open to change its decision if the state Legislature came to the rescue.

___

GLIMMER OF HOPE

Just months after taking over the GOP-controlled Ohio House, Speaker Larry Householder in early 2019 unveiled a plan to save the nuclear plants and eliminate incentives promoting wind and solar power. It would steer the state in the right direction, he said.

The two small communities where the plants operate said they feared that losing them and the tax money they generate would be devastating for schools, safety services and programs for children and seniors.

But the state's business and environmental groups joined in opposition to the bailout. So did some conservatives who were against picking winners and losers in the energy market.

The bill, which went through several revisions to drum up more Republican votes, passed the Legislature last summer. GOP Gov. Mike DeWine, Kasich's successor, hurriedly signed it into law the same day.

How important was that vote? Ohio House leaders almost sent a state-owned airplane to Chicago to bring back lawmakers from a conference in Chicago so they could vote on the bill after it had fallen short of needed votes days earlier.

___

BEHIND THE SCENES

It was no secret that millions were being spent to persuade lawmakers to support the bill and keep a repeal effort off the statewide ballot last year. But it wasn't until just two weeks ago that federal authorities said it involved illegal activity that began in 2017.

Householder’s strategy, according to a federal complaint, was to pick freshman legislators he’d help elect to sponsor the bill, create a new subcommittee comprised mostly of his supporters who would push the legislation forward, and engage in an expensive media blitz to pressure public officials to back it.

Federal prosecutors allege Householder then used “pressure tactics” to get the bill passed, strong-arming his own House members and senators to vote in favor.

In exchange, investigators said a dark money group Householder controlled received $60 million from a unidentified company, which the complaint makes clear is FirstEnergy and its affiliates.

Householder and his attorney have not commented since his arrest. FirstEnergy's CEO has said he and the company did not do anything wrong.

___

WHAT’S NEXT

Ohio’s governor is calling on the Legislature to repeal the bailout and replace it, saying he still believes the nuclear plants are an important part of the state’s energy future.

Fellow Republican Bob Cupp, a veteran lawmaker from Lima who was chosen this past week to become the new House speaker after lawmakers booted Householder from the job, said one of his first priorities will be to do away with the legislation and start anew.

But some lawmakers, including those who voted for the bailout last time around, want nothing to do with it again.

“We should not get in the habit of rewarding illegal behavior,” said Republican Sen. Jay Hottinger, of Newark.

He thinks the nuclear plants are worth maintaining because they still produce 15% of the state's energy, provide good jobs and generate millions for their local communities. But he said Friday he can't get past that “the process was so polluted, tainted, illegal, inappropriate — however you want to call it.”

___

Associated Press Writer Julie Carr Smyth in Columbus and AP/Report for America reporter Farnoush Amiri contributed to this report. Amiri is a corps member for the Associated Press/Report for America Statehouse News Initiative. Report for America is a nonprofit national service program that places journalists in local newsrooms to report on undercovered issues.

Copyright 2020 The Associated Press. All rights reserved. This material may not be published, broadcast, rewritten or redistributed.

Tags: Ohio

The following, the Grand Jury indictment...




Department of Justice
U.S. Attorney’s Office
Southern District of Ohio

FOR IMMEDIATE RELEASE
Thursday, July 30, 2020
Federal grand jury indicts Ohio House Speaker enterprise in federal public corruption racketeering conspiracy involving $60 million

link

COLUMBUS, Ohio – A federal grand jury has indicted the Ohio Speaker of the House in a federal racketeering conspiracy involving approximately $60 million paid to a 501(c)(4) entity to pass and uphold a billion-dollar nuclear plant bailout. The 43-page indictment was returned on July 29 and filed today.

Larry Householder, 61, of Glenford, Ohio, four other individuals and 501(c)(4) entity Generation Now were previously charged by a criminal complaint that was unsealed on July 21.



It is alleged that the enterprise conspired to violate the racketeering statute through honest services wire fraud, receipt of millions of dollars in bribes and money laundering.



The four other individuals indicted include:



Mathew Borges, 48, of Bexley, a lobbyist who previously served as chair of the Ohio Republican Party;
Jeffrey Longstreth, 44, of Columbus, Householder’s longtime campaign and political strategist;
Neil Clark, 67, of Columbus, a lobbyist who owns and operates Grant Street Consultants and previously served as budget director for the Ohio Republican Caucus; and
Juan Cespedes, 40, of Columbus, a multi-client lobbyist.


Generation Now, a corporate entity registered as a 501(c)(4) social welfare organization, was also charged.



According to court documents, from March 2017 to March 2020, the enterprise received millions of dollars in exchange for Householder’s and the enterprise’s help in passing House Bill 6, a billion-dollar bailout that saved two failing, Ohio nuclear power plants from closing.



The defendants then also allegedly worked to corruptly ensure that HB 6 went into effect by defeating a ballot initiative to overturn the legislation. The Enterprise received approximately $60 million into Generation Now from an energy company and its affiliates during the relevant period.



As alleged, in February 2017, Longstreth incorporated Generation Now as a 501(c)(4) social welfare entity purporting to promote energy independence and economic development; however, the entity was secretly controlled by Householder. As Clark stated in a recorded conversation, “Generation Now is the Speaker’s (c)(4).” Pursuant to federal law, the names and addresses of contributors to 501(c)(4)s are not made available for public inspection.



In March 2017, Householder began receiving quarterly $250,000 payments from the related-energy companies into the bank account of Generation Now. The defendants allegedly spent millions of the company’s dollars to support Householder’s political bid to become Speaker, to support House candidates they believed would back Householder, and for their own personal benefit. When asked how much money was in Generation Now, Clark said, “it’s unlimited.”



The affidavit filed in support of the criminal complaint also alleges:



In 2018, the enterprise spent energy company-to-Generation Now money on approximately 21 different state candidates – 15 (including Householder) in the primary, and six additional candidates in the general election. The Enterprise spent more than one million in fall 2018 alone to flood the airways with negative ads against enterprise opponents. Most of these candidates won the 2018 general election. All who won voted for Householder as Speaker.


Money passed from the energy company through Generation Now was used to pay for Householder campaign staff, which would otherwise have been paid by Householder’s candidate committee, Friends of Larry Householder.


Householder received more than $400,000 in personal benefits as a result of the payments into Generation Now, including funds to settle a personal lawsuit, to pay for costs associated with his residence in Florida, and to pay off thousands of dollars of credit card debt.


The enterprise paid $15,000 to an individual to provide insider information about the ballot initiative and offered to pay signature collectors for the ballot initiative $2,500 cash and plane fare to stop gathering signatures.


“Dark money is a breeding ground for corruption. This investigation continues,” U.S. Attorney David M. DeVillers said.



The racketeering conspiracy as charged in this case is punishable by up to 20 years in prison.



The case is being investigated by the FBI. Deputy Criminal Chief Emily N. Glatfelter, Assistant United States Attorney Matthew C. Singer, as well as Assistant Deputy Criminal Chief Timothy Mangan and Assistant United States Attorney Megan Gaffney Painter, are representing the United States in this case.



If you have information related to the public corruption alleged in this case, please contact the FBI at 614-849-1777.



An indictment merely contains allegations, and defendants are presumed innocent unless proven guilty in a court of law.





# # #

Topic(s):
Public Corruption
Component(s):
USAO - Ohio, Southern
Contact:
jennifer.thornton@usdoj.gov
Updated July 30, 2020