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Two Politicos Plead Guilty In Nuclear Bailout Law Bribery Scheme

WCBE 90.5FM | By Ohio Public Radio

Published October 30, 2020 at 5:17 AM EDT

Two of the five men charged in the federal corruption case involving the state's nuclear power plant bailout law have pleaded guilty to racketeering charges.

They admit to carrying out a bribery scheme that got the law passed and helped get Republican Larry Householder elected as Ohio House Speaker. Ohio Public Radio's Andy Chow reports.

Juan Cespedes and Jeffrey Longstreth both pleaded guilty in the case.

Cespedes, a lobbyist for FirstEnergy, says he orchestrated payments to the dark money group known as Generation Now.

Longstreth, political strategist for Larry Householder, says he organized Generation Now at Householder's direction to help Householder get elected as speaker and to get HB6 passed into law.

Householder has pleaded "not guilty" to the racketeering charge, along with lobbyists Neil Clark and Matt Borges.

Investigators say a utility believed to be FirstEnergy funneled millions of dollars into Generation Now. HB6 accomplishes several measures FirstEnergy has wanted for years. The utility says it has acted properly in the matter.

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