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Householder bribery trial delayed after juror falls ill with COVID

Former Ohio House Speaker Larry Householder, center, walks into Potter Stewart U.S. Courthouse with his attorneys, Mark Marein, left, and Steven Bradley, right, before jury selection in his federal trial, Friday, Jan. 20, 2023, in Cincinnati.
Joshua A. Bickel
/
AP
Former Ohio House Speaker Larry Householder, center, walks into Potter Stewart U.S. Courthouse with his attorneys, Mark Marein, left, and Steven Bradley, right, before jury selection in his federal trial, Friday, Jan. 20, 2023, in Cincinnati.

The bribery trial of former Ohio House Speaker Larry Householder has been put on hold for the rest of the week after a juror fell ill with COVID.

Wednesday would have been the third day of the trial connected to what prosecutors call the largest bribery scheme in Ohio history.

Prosecutors alledge Householder and former Ohio GOP chairman Matt Borges took $61 million in bribes from FirstEnergy in order to pass a billion dollar bailout law to prop up two FirstEnergy nuclear plants.

Householder and Borges have pleaded not guilty. Their trial could last up to two months.

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