In a recent report from the Associated Press, two former FirstEnergy Corp executives were indicted on Monday in the long-winded investigation into a 60-million-dollar scheme in the state of Ohio.
In addition, a former House speaker has also been sentenced. CEO Chuck Jones and former Vice President Michale Dowling were charged for their roles in the corruption case.
Republican Attorney General Dave Yost made these announcements during an online news conference. Yost made the following statement during the conference "Their actions over a period of years have undermined confidence in state governments, the rule of law, and very nearly made them even richer men than they already are. There can be no justice without holding the check writers and the masterminds accountable." Both Jones and Dowling were fired in the year 2020 for their roles in the case in addition both are facing criminal charges for the first time according to Yost.
Yost also stated that both executives had failed to meet their promise of turning themselves in following their indictments from a grand jury in Summit County. But he expects the two to be taken into custody sometime on Monday. Yost's announcements also discussed additional charges for the former chair of the Public Utilities Commission of Ohio, Sam Randazzo. Randazzo was already facing 11 counts of charges because he accepted bribes from FirstEnergy Corp in exchange for regulatory benefits. The case also names Randazzo's two businesses known as IEU-Ohio Administration Co. and Sustainability Funding Alliance of Ohio.
Randazzo had resigned in November of 2020 following a search conducted by FBI agents at his Columbus-based Townhouse. The security filings of FirstEnergy had revealed that they paid him $4.3 million for his support in the future just a month before the Republican Governor Mike Dewine nominated him for Ohio's top utility regulator.
Together Chuck Jones, Michael Dowling, and Sam Randazzo face a combined total of 27 new felony counts announced Yost. These include bribery, theft, engaging in corrupt activity, tampering with records, and money laundering. Discussing the charges Yost stated "This indictment is about more than one piece of legislation. It is about the hostile capture of a significant portion of Ohio's state government by deception, betrayal and dishonesty."
The aforementioned former House speaker, Larry Householder, was sentenced in June to serve 20 years for his role in organizing the scheme. In addition, former, Lobbyist and a former chair for the Ohio Republican party, Matt Borges was sentenced to five years.
Who Else Is Being Held Accountable?
The United States Attorney's office in Cincinnati also indicted three more individuals on racketeering charges in July of 2020. Those individuals were Lobbyist Juan Cespedes, former top Householder political strategist Jeffery Longstreth, and former statehouse lobbyist Neil Clark. Both Cespedes and Longstreth pleaded guilty in October of 2020 and are still awaiting sentencing. However, Clark pleaded not guilty before taking their own life in March of 2021. The money group Generation Now also pleaded guilty to a racketeering charge in February of 2021.
All involved were accused of using the 60 million dollars in secrecy, funding FirstEnergy with cash to get Householders selected Republican nominees elected into the House back in 2018 and to then get him elected speaker in January of 2019. The money was used to help win the passage of the energy bill known as House Bill 6 and to then conduct what authorities described as a $38 million dirty-tricks campaign to prevent a repeal public vote from even reaching the ballot.
In July 2021 Yost requested an unnamed judge in Columbus to add Jones, Randazzo, and Dowling to a state-level lawsuit against FirstEnergy by his office.
There is also an 81-page FBI criminal complaint from July 2020 which detailed how the executives of FirstEnergy worked with Householder and the others involved in the scheme. It also details 84 phone contacts between Jones and the former House speaker. In addition, to 14 phone contacts between Dowling and Householder. FirstEnergy has admitted to its role in the scheme in July 2021 as part of a prosecution agreement with the United States Department of Justice. The company has agreed to pay 230 million dollars and also fulfill a long list of reforms to avoid being criminally prosecuted on a conspiracy charge on the federal level.
A recent statement detailing the facts was signed by FirstEnergy's new CEO, Steven Strah, and discusses the involvement of Dowling, Jones, and Randazzo along with the others involved in the scheme. However, there has been pushback from Randazzo's defense who have called the claims in the document "hearsay" that were meant to keep the energy company out of legal trouble.
