Jury deadlocks on ex-FirstEnergy execs on bribery charges

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(The Center Square) A jury in Akron deadlocked Tuesday in the trial of two former FirstEnergy executives charged of bribing a state utility board chairman.

Ohio Attorney General David Yost said his office will retry the two men, Michael J. Dowling and Charles E. Jones. The jury deliberated for nine days but could not reach a unanimous verdict.

“We had a hung jury,” Yost said in a statement Tuesday. “That means they deliberated for a long time and couldn’t get to a verdict that they all agreed on. That means somebody didn’t think they were guilty, and some people thought they were, beyond a reasonable doubt.”

The state of Ohio “can and will retry these defendants,” the attorney general added. “Justice needs to be done.”

Jones was the  former CEO of FirstEnergy and Dowling, former senior vice president of external affairs.

Samuel “Sam” Randazzo, former chairman of  the Public Utilities Commission of Ohio was also indicted.

“Jones and Dowling actively worked to spend FirstEnergy money to improperly influence Randazzo to exercise the authority of PUCO chairman to advance FirstEnergy’s regulatory and policy agendas,” according to the indictment.

The men engaged “in a scheme to corrupt the PUCO chairman and ratemaking policies, stealing millions of dollars from FirstEnergy and a nonprofit trade group, and tampering with government records,” the attorney general’s office said in 2024.

The case stretches back to 2019, with the passage of House Bill 6, according to the non-profit group Common Cause Ohio.

The legislation was a bailout for the state’s nuclear energy industry and “forced Ohio customers to pay for failing nuclear and coal plants,” Common Cause said.

“The House Bill 6 scandal – the biggest in Ohio history –was a $60 million scheme by FirstEnergy and other utility companies to buy seats and votes in the Ohio House to secure passage of a billion-dollar bailout of failing nuclear and coal plants in Ohio and Indiana. The House Bill 6 scandal is the largest public corruption case in Ohio history,” Common Cause Ohio said. “Utility companies secretly spent millions of dollars to influence elections and pass a law that forced Ohio residents to pay for failing power plants.”

Dowling and Jones were accused of paying Randazzo a $4.3 million bribe to help pass House Bill 6 and obtain favorable rulings for the utility.

Former Speaker of the Ohio House Larry Householder and former Chair of the Republican Party Matt Borges were convicted of racketeering and bribery and the prosecutions have continued.

Randazzo died in 2024, “likely as the result of suicide,” according to Common Cause Ohio.