Two fired utility execs and a former top Ohio regulator plead not guilty in bribery scheme
Two fired top executives of FirstEnergy Corp. and Ohio’s former top utility regulator have pleaded not guilty in connection with a $60 million bribery scheme
COLUMBUS, Ohio — Two fired executives of FirstEnergy Corp. and a former top state utilities regulator pleaded not guilty Tuesday to state charges related to a $60 million bribery scheme that centered on securing a legislative bailout for two Ohio nuclear power plants with the help of a powerful House speaker.
Former FirstEnergy CEO Chuck Jones and Senior Vice President Michael Dowling forcefully pushed back after Republican Attorney General Dave Yost announced their indictments Monday, disputing fact patterns laid out in the state's 50-page indictment and claiming a lack of evidence.
They and Sam Randazzo, a former chair of the Public Utilities Commission of Ohio who is also federally charged, were indicted by a Summit County grand jury Friday on a combined 27 criminal counts, including bribery, theft, engaging in a pattern of corrupt activity, tampering with records and money laundering.
The long-awaited indictments marked the latest development in what has been labeled the largest corruption case in Ohio history. Former House Speaker Larry Householder was convicted of racketeering last year and sentenced to 20 years in federal prison for masterminding the scheme. A lobbyist and former state Republican chairman, Matt Borges, got five years for his role. Both men have appealed.
Jones and Dowling, who were both fired in October 2020 for violating company policies and code of conduct, did not speak during Tuesday's arraignment hearing before Summit County Common Pleas Judge Susan Baker Ross.
Randazzo also entered a not guilty plea in Baker Ross's courtroom in
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