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-FirstEnergy Services Corp. Senior Vice President Michael Dowling played roles in orchestrating the hefty payout to Randazzo in exchange for regulatory and legislative 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 was a lump sum settling Randazzo's long-running consulting agreement with the company.
Opening statements kicked off Tuesday in Akron. Special Assistant Attorney General Matthew Meyer told jurors they need not to be overwhelmed by the complexities of utility regulation that they'll encounter over what is expected to be an eight-week trial. He said that the two executives were smart men who knew exactly what they were doing.
“Chuck Jones and Mike Dowling went to Mr. Randazzo repeatedly, secretly and they rigged the game,” he said. “That's what this is about, and that's why it's simple. This game got rigged and the game is not boring.”
Defense attorney Steve Grimes countered by repeatedly telling jurors that "details matter.” He predicted that prosecutors would try to gloss over or omit the complexities behind Jones' and Dowling's actions in order to tell a good story.
“In our daily lives, we might be able to get away with that sort of shortcut from time to time," he said. “But that's not how it works in a court of law. You can't skip the details. You can't miss critical facts when somebody's liberty is at stake. Not in here.”
Prosecutors allege an elaborate plot
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 — as the defense painted him as “a thief” and “a con man” who bore sole responsibility for the misuse of FirstEnergy money. The respected energy attorney died by suicide in 2024, after pleading not guilty to dozens of state and federal charges.
Defense has a lengthy list of potential witnesses
Jones and Dowling have alerted Summit County Common Pleas Judge Susan Baker Ross to a list of 58 potential witnesses they may call in their defense.
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.
Grimes said that Jones had ready access to Husted, who could speak to FirstEnergy's interest in seeing a different person than Randazzo tapped as PUCO chair.
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.”
Jones' attorney says payout was aboveboard
Jones' defense attorney, Carole Rendon, showed jurors a series of additional communications from this critical 17-hour period, laying out what she said was clear evidence that the $4.3 million constituted a settlement agreement intended for Randazzo's clients. She said the payout was all aboveboard and handled through normal corporate channels.
“There was nothing secret or hidden about this payment,” she said.
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.