COLUMBUS, Ohio — A second person accused in the largest corruption scheme in Ohio history has died in a suspected suicide. Leaders and lawmakers shared their thoughts — except the two men at the top of the state: Gov. Mike DeWine and Lt. Gov. Jon Husted.
The governor gave his State of the State address Wednesday, focusing mainly on children and education, but the speech came under the shadow of the death of former chairman of the Ohio Public Utilities Commission Sam Randazzo, who had been indicted on dozens of charges related to the House Bill 6 scandal.
Randazzo, 74, was found Tuesday by Columbus firefighters in a building he owned, according to a spokesperson.
His death is being investigated as a "suspected suicide," the coroner's office said. A ruling on the cause and manner of his death will be made following a scheduled autopsy.
"Sam was tried and convicted in the media before he even had a chance to defend himself at trial," Randazzo's attorney Richard Blake told me, confirming it was suicide.
RELATED: Ex-PUCO chairman Sam Randazzo, indicted in corruption scheme, dies by 'suspected suicide'
Randazzo pleaded not guilty in both state and federal court after he was charged with dozens of crimes related to bribery and embezzlement. He allegedly received more than $4.3 million in bribes from FirstEnergy, according to Department of Justice officials and Attorney General Dave Yost.
Randazzo is allegedly a major player behind the House Bill 6 scandal. FirstEnergy has already admitted to bribing Randazzo with the millions so that he could help the company behind the scenes — in one way — by pushing and helping to create H.B. 6. Back in 2019, 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.
Former FirstEnergy CEO Chuck Jones, former FirstEnergy Senior Vice President Michael Dowling and Randazzo were all hit with state bribery charges. Each pleaded not guilty during their joint arraignment in mid-February. They are accused of masterminding the corruption scheme.
If the autopsy confirms that it was suicide, he would be the second defendant accused in the scandal who died by suicide. Neil Clark, a lobbyist accused of bribery, died after pleading not guilty in 2021.
Fast Facts
In March 2023, a jury found that Householder and former GOP leader Matt Borges, beyond a reasonable doubt,participated in the racketeering scheme that left four men guilty and another, Clark, dead by suicide.
In late June that year, federal judge Timothy Black sentenced Householder to 20 years in prison. Borges got five years. The two surviving defendants — Jeff Longstreth and Juan Cespedes — took plea agreements early on, helping the FBI, and are still awaiting their sentencing. The feds are asking for zero to six months for them.
Executives
Ohio Gov. Mike DeWine
In February, DeWine defended his top advisor after a criminal indictment alleged she knew about millions going to Randazzo prior to his appointment to power by the governor.
Former Chief of Staff Laurel Dawson helped vet Randazzo after her family had already received a $10,000 loan from him. The governor's team insists she didn't know the millions was a bribe payment.
RELATED: Gov. DeWine defends top advisor after indictment questions how much she knew about H.B. 6 scandal
DeWine's office said it did not have an immediate comment on Randazzo's death on Tuesday and declined to comment on Wednesday.
Back in December, I asked DeWine in a one-on-one interview if he regretted appointing Randazzo to the PUCO.
"Oh, look, if I knew what I know now, if I knew that — I certainly would not have appointed Sam Randazzo to that position," the governor responded.
But typically, when H.B. 6 documents are released about the administration, they focus on his second in command.
Ohio Lieutenant Gov. Jon Husted
Before Husted became DeWine’s running mate, FirstEnergy gave him $1 million through a dark money group in 2017, according to records obtained by a group of news organizations, including News 5’s media partner the Ohio Capital Journal; Floodlight, the Energy News Network and the USA TODAY Network Ohio Bureau were also a part of the coalition.
Husted is accused of being cozy with FirstEnergy executives, even being dubbed the “‘Golden Boy for FirstEnergy’” by Clark.
“The Husted campaign never received this donation and is not affiliated with any of these groups,” spokesperson Hayley Carducci told News 5.
Click or tap here to read the full investigation.
Husted and his team had no comment when asked about Randazzo and his death.
The L.G. is expected to run for governor in 2026 — against Attorney General Dave Yost.
Attorney General Dave Yost
Yost talked candidly with reporters both before and after the State of the State address.
“I was shocked, like everybody else, and saddened,” Yost said. “You don't want to see anybody go like that.”
However, the prosecutor said he doesn’t think it will affect his case against the trio. However, a civil case has frozen Randazzo’s assets – which likely means the freeze will remain in place.
“We're not dismissing any charges,” Yost said. “We're not dismissing any defendants.”
"The action taken by the prosecutors on this case unquestionably contributed to his mental state and final actions," Randazzo's attorney, Richard Blake, told me.
Yost didn't appreciate Blake's insinuation of guilt.
"Both federal and state prosecutors were doing their jobs," Yost responded. "A tragic outcome, but nobody bears responsibility for his actions except him."
Yost will continue fighting for justice, he told us prior to the State of the State address.
I asked if we should expect this death to impact any future defendants, such as anyone in state leadership.
“I have declined to take future questions, I’m going to continue to do that,” he responded. “If there are any further results of the investigation, we will bring those, like the other things, to court and make our case there.”
H.B. 6 and lawmakers
H.B. 6 isn't completely off the books.
The corrupt legislation mainly benefited FirstEnergy's struggling nuclear power plants, but those provisions were later repealed. There are aspects of the bill still in place.
RELATED: Following legal scandal, Ohio utility companies try to raise costs — again
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.
There are numerous bipartisan efforts to repeal H.B. 6 totally and to put forward ethics laws. None have gone anywhere.
House Speaker Jason Stephens
I asked Stephens for his thoughts on Randazzo’s death.
“I will remind everyone I was not here during House Bill 6, I was not appointed until October of 2019,” Stephens said. “I never knew Mr. Randazzo. I feel sad for the family… It's a very difficult situation.”
Stephens has one of the coal plants in his district and has shown no signs of wanting to repeal the bailouts.
I asked him if he still doesn’t want to repeal H.B. 6, given the dozens of additional charges filed since the last time I asked.
“It was vetted – every line of the of House Bill 6 was looked at,” he said, explaining that there were committees to evaluate the pros versus cons of the corrupt legislation.
The speaker explained that in the previous General Assembly, part of H.B. 6 was repealed, but the lawmakers chose to keep the coal plant money and energy efficiency standards.
Then, in the 134th General Assembly, lawmakers passed H.B. 128 — which took out funding for nuclear power plants.
“The real issue we have in Ohio is we have incredible economic growth… the problem we have is we do not have enough power,” Stephens continued. “When the winds not blowing and the sun's not shining – we have to have baseload power, whether that's nuclear, whether that's coal, whether that's gas – if we're going to be able to solve the problem of continuing economic growth, we have to have an energy policy in Ohio to meet that demand for power.”
He is supportive of H.B. 79, though, which could potentially save Ohioans money on their electric bills by restoring the ability for utilities to create voluntary energy efficiency programs.
“Repealing the provisions of House Bill 6, that was passed… five years ago, after it's been reviewed and vetted, and we've had other energy bills – I think that's just so far in the past that we need to look at what we are dealing with today,” Stephens argued. “Five years from now is much more important.”
Yes, the issues will continue through court and “whatnot,” he added.
“But as far as policy goes, the energy policy in Ohio, we need to be focused on the next 5, 10, 20 years.”
Senate President Matt Huffman
Following Stephens, I asked Huffman the same two questions.
“It's a tragedy, obviously whenever someone takes their life,” Huffman said. “To honest with you, I didn't know him personally…. I don't think it's really appropriate for me to comment.”
When it comes to repealing H.B. 6, Huffman doesn’t want to repeal the policy around energy efficiency.
However, he is more open to evaluating the coal plants.
“I never think that we should say ‘Because something happened five years ago or 20 years ago’ that we should say ‘We're not going to talk about it anymore,’” he stated, directly addressing Stephens’ comment.
“It's the Ohio revised code – it's been revised,” he said. “I think we always continue to look at these things – and that, certainly, would be on the table.”
Huffman’s comment toward Stephens isn’t unexpected, as the two are rivals and do not like each other.
House Minority Leader Allison Russo and Dems
“What is I think particularly tragic, is that the lives and the livelihoods of individuals and families that have been destroyed, is because of this corruption,” Russo said. “It's heartbreaking and it's sad. There is no joy or no victory in any of that.”
She and the rest of the Dems have continued to advocate for bipartisan legislation that promotes transparency and prevents corruption.
“The culture of corruption here has tentacles that are very long in the halls of the Statehouse and state government,” Russo added. "And, without a doubt, it took many people at the highest levels of government, either blatantly ignoring warning signs or creating a pathway for that corruption to happen.”
Russo said that thinks as the investigation continues, more public officials will be found out. She didn't name specific people but said that someone ignored warning signs or did damage control so that the PUCO appointment would move forward.
“Who has the power to do that?” she asked rhetorically. “I think all of us who are in elected office, we know at the end of the day; it is usually the elected official who has, ultimately, the power and the authority to say yes or no.”
Russo and Senate Minority Leader Nickie Antonio are upset that not one bill has been passed that would prevent another H.B. 6 scandal from happening.
“It's a fact that at the highest levels of the DeWine-Husted administration, they acted on behalf of corporate interest and against the public interest, against taxpayers and against consumers,” Russo said. “That failed leadership is why Ohio remains one of the most corrupt states in this country, and Ohioans deserve better.”
I asked her thoughts on Stephens’ comments about moving forward.
“Well, it's difficult to move forward when we're still learning things about this corruption scandal – and when people are still paying for this corruption scandal,” she said. “We've said all along because of the lack of reforms, both on the campaign financing side, the lack of ethical reforms and the lack of reforms as it relates to PUCO, specifically, that we have an environment that is ripe for another corruption scandal in the future.”
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