Former Speaker of the House of Representatives Larry Householder and former Ohio Republican Party Chairman Matt Borges were convicted Thursday in a $60 million bribery scheme that has been called the largest corruption case in state history by federal prosecutors.

A jury in Cincinnati, after about 9

1/2½

; After hours of deliberation over two days, the couple was found guilty of conspiracy to participate in a racketeering enterprise involving bribery and money laundering.

Prosecutors alleged that Householder orchestrated a plan, secretly funded by the Akron-based FirstEnergy Corp., to secure his power in the legislature, elect his allies, and then

Unpleasant

to approve and defend a $1 billion nuclear energy bailout to benefit the

energy

utility. They alleged that Borges, then a lobbyist, tried to bribe an agent for inside information about the referendum to reverse the bailout.

Householder, 63, had been one of Ohio’s most powerful politicians until he was charged. Then the House, controlled by fellow Republicans, removed him from his leadership position and later from the chamber altogether. He took the stand in his own defense, contradicting FBI testimony and denying attending posh dinners in Washington, where prosecutors allege he and FirstEnergy executives masterminded the elaborate plan in 2017.

Borges, 50, did not testify at the trial but has maintained his innocence. Both men face up to 20 years in prison.

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The verdict comes 2½ years after Householder, Borges and three others were arrested in what prosecutors are calling the largest corruption case in Ohio history.

Over the past seven weeks, jurors have been shown firsthand accounts of the alleged scheme during the trial, as well as reams of financial documents, emails, text messages and wiredap audio.

The prosecution called two of the detainees Juan Cespedes and Jeff Longstreth, who pleaded guilty, to testify about political contributions they said were

actually its not just, but

bribes intended to secure passage of the bailout bill known as House Bill 6.

Household lawyers described his activities as nothing more than hard politics.

Jurors also heard taped phone calls in which Householder and another co-defendant, the late state House super-lobbyist Neil Clark, plotted a vicious attack ad and, in an expletive manner, contemplated revenge against lawmakers who had crossed Householder.

Housekeeper testified that he never retaliated against those who voted against his wishes or who donated to his rivals.

Under an agreement to avoid prosecution, FirstEnergy admitted to using a network of dark money groups to fund the scheme, even bribing the state’s top utility regulator, Sam Randazzo.

Randazzo resigned as chairman of Ohio’s Public Utilities Commission following an FBI search, but has not been charged and denies wrongdoing.