A former Ohio-based executive-turned-regulator has just been found dead following a massive bribery scandal.
Gov. Mike DeWine's first pick to chair the Public Utilities Commission of Ohio, Sam Randazzo, embroiled in a huge utility scandal from 2020, was found dead of an apparent suicide Tuesday in a Franklin County warehouse he owned.
The 74-year-old regulator and former energy consultant had previously been charged in a state and federal court for his role in the crime.
Along with other offenses, Akron-based FirstEnergy paid more than $60 million in bribes between 2017 and 2022 in exchange for a $3.1 billion ratepayer bailout.
Following a decade of questionable dealings between Randazzo and FirstEnergy, DeWine still endorsed Randazzo for his pick as the state's top regulator, according to an indictment obtained by Cleveland Jewish News.
This includes being paid privately as a consultant for FirstEnergy while serving as general counsel to industrial energy users who were attempting to haggle a better deal from FirstEnergy.
Randazzo allegedly scammed millions from settlements FirstEnergy orchestrated with big users via payouts to get them to go along with rate hikes.
Prior to Randazzo's nomination to chair the PUCO in early 2019, FirstEnergy's higher-up executives paid him $4.3 million, a payment the company later admitted was a bribe.
DeWine's chief of staff was reportedly aware of the payment before Randazzo's nomination; however, it remains unclear as to how much she, Dewine, and other staff members knew about the million-dollar payments Randazzo received over the years.
Randazzo initially helped draft the bailout legislation and also facilitated several lucrative deals for FirstEnergy.
After a long trial last year, former House Speaker Larry Householder, R-Glenford, was handed down a 20-year prison sentence for his involvement in the scandal.
Former Ohio GOP Chairman Matt Borges was sentenced to five years, while two others have pleaded guilty and await sentencing.
Defendant and lobbyist Neil Clark also died by suicide.
