Trial of ex-FirstEnergy executives charged in $60M Ohio bribery scheme set to begin

COLUMBUS, Ohio (AP) — The $4.3 million payment that Ohio-based FirstEnergy made to veteran lawyer and lobbyist Sam Randazzo in 2019, shortly before he was appointed as the state’s top utility regulator, is at the center of the latest criminal trial to get underway in a sweeping $60 million bribery scandal.

Prosecutors allege that then-FirstEnergy Corp. CEO Chuck Jones and then-Senior Vice President Michael Dowling played roles in orchestrating the hefty payout to Randazzo in exchange for several lucrative regulatory favors he would later deliver to the company. Both men have pleaded not guilty to felony corruption charges, denying all wrongdoing and arguing that the money represented fees already promised to Randazzo as part of a long-running consulting arrangement.

Opening statements were expected to kick off Tuesday in Akron.

The two defendants were among executives FirstEnergy fired in the wake of the 2020 arrests of then-Ohio House Speaker Larry Householder and four associates. Federal prosecutors alleged that the speaker and the others carried out an elaborate bribery plot funded by FirstEnergy that allowed Householder to win the speakership, elect his allies, pass a $1 billion nuclear plant bailout and then foil a proposed effort to repeal the legislation, known as House Bill 6.

FirstEnergy admitted in 2021 to using dark money groups to fund the plot, and a jury convicted Householder of racketeering in 2023. He is serving 20 years in federal prison, a sentence he continues to fight in the U.S. Supreme Court.

Randazzo is no longer here to tell his side of the story at the long-anticipated trial. He died by suicide in 2024, after pleading not guilty to dozens of state and federal charges. But Jones and Dowling have alerted Summit County Common Pleas Judge Susan Baker Ross to a list of 58 other potential witnesses they may call in their defense during the closely watched trial.

The highest-profile of those are Ohio Gov. Mike DeWine, who appointed Randazzo to the powerful Public Utilities Commission of Ohio, and his former lieutenant governor, Jon Husted, who DeWine appointed a U.S. senator last year. Husted is making a closely watched bid to retain his seat this fall, likely against Democrat Sherrod Brown. Neither DeWine nor Husted has ever been accused of wrongdoing in the case.

Various court filings show that the two Republicans dined with Jones, Dowling and Josh Rubin on Dec. 18, 2018, at the storied Athletic Club of Columbus. Earlier in the day, Rubin — a FirstEnergy lobbyist and adviser to the 2018 DeWine-Husted campaign — had provided advice to the executives on how to lobby DeWine, then the governor-elect, in favor of the company’s preferences to chair the PUCO, according to a text contained in the criminal complaint.

Rubin cautioned the executives not to mention to DeWine that they would be meeting Randazzo at his residence after the dinner. Later in the day, Randazzo texted Dowling a list of figures for the years 2019 through 2024: “Total 4,333,333.” “Got it, Sam,” Dowling replied. “Good seeing you as well. Thanks for the hospitality. Cool condo.”

The next day, Jones also texted Randazzo. “We’re going to get this handled this year, paid in full, no discount,” he wrote. “Don’t forget about us or Hurricane Chuck may show up on your doorstep! Of course, no guarantee he won’t show up sometime anyway.”

Randazzo replied, “Made me laugh — you guys are welcome anytime and anywhere I can open the door. Let me know how you want me to structure the invoices. Thanks.”

DeWine has said that Randazzo did not disclose — and that the governor did not know of — the consulting arrangement with FirstEnergy until it was reported in a U.S. Securities and Exchange Commission filing.