Two former FirstEnergy executives and the former chairman of the Public Utilities Commission of Ohio pleaded not guilty to corruption and bribery charges during their arraignment Tuesday.
Former FirstEnergy CEO Chuck Jones, former FirstEnergy Senior Vice President Michael Dowling and former chairman of the Public Utilities Commission of Ohio Sam Randazzo have been charged with a "combined 27 counts of felony violations, including engaging in a corrupt activity, all related to their joint enterprise to hijack Ohio’s regulatory structure for the benefit of First Energy Corporation and for themselves."
The court ordered Randazzo to have a GPS ankle bracelet and said he could travel to specific counties throughout the state. He was given a $100,000 bond.
Dowling's bond was also set at $100,000. He will be required to wear a GPS ankle monitor and cannot leave the state.
The judge ruled that Jones was not allowed to return to Florida, where he lives, and had to stay in Ohio. A property asset freeze, as well as a $100,000 bond, was issued for Jones.
The judge scheduled the next pre-trial hearing to take place via Zoom on April 19 at 9:30 a.m.
Fast facts
Back in 2019, former Ohio House Speaker Larry Householder took a $61 million bribe in exchange for legislation to give FirstEnergy a $1 billion bailout, named H.B. 6, all at the expense of the taxpayers.
The scheme was revealed in three main ways — two separate whistleblowers and a phone wiretap.
Fast forwarding to March 2023, a jury found that Householder and former GOP leader Matt Borges, beyond a reasonable doubt, participated in the largest public corruption case in state history, a racketeering scheme that left four men guilty and another dead by suicide.
In late June that year, federal judge Timothy Black sentenced Householder to 20 years in prison. Borges got 5 years. The two surviving defendants took plea agreements early on, helping the FBI, and are still awaiting their sentencing. The feds are asking for 0-6 months for them.
Until 2024, only federal indictments had been handed out.
This bribery scandal has been covered extensively by News 5, which followed the legislation all the way through the Statehouse, the arrests, trial, conviction and sentencing of Householder and former GOP leader Matt Borges.
Watch our report on Householder's sentencing:
H.B. 6 mainly benefited FirstEnergy's struggling nuclear power plants, but those provisions were later repealed. There are aspects of the bill still in place, though.
The Ohio Valley Electric Corporation (OVEC) got a handout from the scheme. It expanded a bailout of the OVEC plants and required Ohioans to pay for two 1950s-era coal plants— one in the Southern area of the state and the other in Indiana. The main beneficiaries of this are American Electric Power Company (AEP), Duke Energy and AES Ohio.
RELATED: Following legal scandal, Ohio utility companies try to raise costs — again
Watch our report from July on utility companies attempt to raise their rates last year:
Despite this scandal becoming public years ago, ethics laws in the state have not changed to prevent schemes like this from happening.
There are numerous bipartisan efforts to repeal H.B. 6 totally and to put forward ethics laws. None are going anywhere, it seems.
Watch our report on the statehouse's various efforts to repeal the law:
Now
Yost was joined by Summit County Prosecutor Sherri Bevan Walsh and Sheriff Kandy Fatheree for the announcement on Monday.
"The crimes committed by these individuals impacted the pocketbooks of every hard working Ohioan and further shook our faith in the institutions and organizations that we count on to represent us and to provide us with essential services," Fatheree said. "Today, we take another important step in ensuring that justice is served for these crimes and that those who took advantage of the public's trust are held accountable."
FirstEnergy as a company has already admitted to bribing public officials in Ohio, including a $4.3 million bribe to Randazzo. Jones and Dowling allegedly paid this to him.
The two former executives face a dozen charges each, including engaging in a pattern of corrupt activity, bribery and fraud.
Click here to read each of their specific charges.
Randazzo has already been charged with federal racketeering, which he pleaded not guilty to in December. The state added 22 felony counts, including engaging in a pattern of corrupt activity, bribery and money laundering.
RELATED: Former PUCO chair pleads not guilty for his alleged part in FirstEnergy scandal
Watch our report on Randazzo's trip to federal court late last year:
Download the News 5 Cleveland app now for more stories from us, plus alerts on major news, the latest weather forecast, traffic information and much more. Download now on your Apple device here, and your Android device here.
You can also catch News 5 Cleveland on Roku, Apple TV, Amazon Fire TV, YouTube TV, DIRECTV NOW, Hulu Live and more. We're also on Amazon Alexa devices. Learn more about our streaming options here.
