A criminal trial is currently underway in the FirstEnergy bribery scandal. The trial alleges Chuck Jones, former CEO of FirstEnergy and Michael Dowling, former senior vice president of FirstEnergy, played a role in a $4.3 million bribe, given to Sam Randazzo, former chair of the Public Utilities Commission of Ohio, for his future help.
Dowling and Jones are pleading not guilty to a combined 27 criminal charges, including theft, bribery, engaging in a pattern of corrupt activity, tampering with records and money laundering, according to the Associated Press.
FirstEnergy is a coal, hydroelectric and solar energy company based in Akron. The company mainly serves the northern region of Ohio, as well as parts of Pennsylvania, West Virginia, Maryland and New Jersey, according to their website.
Jones and Dowling’s trial began in early February in Summit County and is one part of the broader bribery scheme that totals over $60 million.
According to the U.S. Department of Justice, Larry Householder, former speaker of the Ohio House of Representatives, also received payments for his work in pushing HB 6 to become law, as reported by the AP.
Controversy surrounding the issue began in July 2020, when Householder was arrested for his connection to that crime, according to the U.S. Securities and Exchange Commission.
The bribes were centered around House Bill 6, which was signed by Gov. Mike DeWine in July 2019 and established the nuclear generation fund. The fund was intended to collect $150 million annually for seven years. That money was to be generated from energy customers and used to support two FirstEnergy nuclear plants.
Sen. Kent Smith serves Ohio’s 21st Senate District and has continually been vocal about the bribery scandal. Smith said FirstEnergy had been struggling financially before the bailout provided in HB 6.
He described the three-step plan they used to ensure the legislation passed and issued the bailout they desired.
“The three-fold scheme was, number one, take over the legislature to pass legislation to bail out their new plans, which is House Bill 6…number two, take over the PUCO, the utility watchdog agency,” Smith said. “And number three, have a friend in the governor's office to sign the bailout legislation and appoint a friend of FirstEnergy to run the PUCO.”
Patrick Williams, the growth and development reporter for the Akron Beacon Journal, has been in the courtroom covering the trial. Williams discussed the allegations the prosecution is presenting in court.
“The prosecution was saying that the defendants paid a roughly $4.3 million bribe to the former PUCO chair by the name of Sam Randazzo … before he took the position as PUCO chair,” Williams said.
Smith said FirstEnergy wanted to be in control of the PUCO chair so they could waive the audits the commission is supposed to conduct on utility companies.
“They're supposed to stand for a full audit every couple of years that the PUCO will conduct,” Smith said. “The PUCO needs to be energy policy experts who can go through utilities' books and make the proper determination, ‘Are customers being ripped off, or are they being treated fairly?’”
FirstEnergy has not stood for a full audit since 2007, and Randazzo waived off a potential audit in November 2019, Smith said.
Williams said the defense is arguing the money given to Randazzo was supposed to go to a client of his, the trade group Industrial Energy Users-Ohio.
Smith said the transaction is known to be a bribe because neither Randazzo nor FirstEnergy disclosed the payment.
Both Jones and Dowling were terminated from FirstEnergy in October 2020 due to violations of company policies and code of conduct, according to the AP.
Those two individuals are not the first to face legal trouble for the scheme. Both Householder and Randazzo were charged for their ties to the bribery scandal. Householder was sentenced to 20 years in prison in June 2023 after being found guilty of leading the racketeering conspiracy, according to the U.S. Attorney’s Office.
While Randazzo was indicted on 11 counts in June 2023, he committed suicide in April 2024 before trials began, according to the U.S. Attorney's Office.
Williams described the atmosphere in the courtroom during Jones and Dowling’s ongoing trial, stating it has been mostly calm, and for the most part, everyone has remained cordial.
“There have been some arguments between attorneys on past motions and things, usually outside of the presence of the jury,” Williams said. “This is a very technical case, so the jury has not been able to hear certain testimony regarding other larger House Bill 6 things and other kinds of tangentially related topics…But I would say for the most part, it's been a pretty calm atmosphere.”
Smith raised questions about DeWine and his administration's potential connections to the bribe. He discussed a public records request his office filed to obtain a copy of Jones’s speech given at a fundraiser he hosted for DeWine on August 14, 2018. In the speech, Jones announces his support for DeWine and his then-running mate, Jon Husted.
“Their vision, experience and strong leadership will be great for our state, our communities, our company and our shareholders,” the report states. “Jon has always been very accessible and great to work with, and I can say without question, he is a good friend of FirstEnergy.”
DeWine continues to deny claims that he had knowledge of or was involved in the bribery scheme, according to the Statehouse News Bureau.
“I'm trying to count the years,” DeWine said in a press conference. “45 years in public office, 45 years without a personal scandal.”
The trial is expected to take eight to ten weeks, indicating it will most likely run until March 2026. FirstEnergy declined to comment on the pending litigation.
