A Summit County Common Pleas judge dismissed theft charges last week against FirstEnergy’s former CEO Charles “Chuck” Jones and another top company executive accused of paying a $4.3 million bribe to a top state regulator. 

The two former executives of the Akron-based utility still face a long list of charges including racketeering, bribery, telecommunications fraud, conspiracy and records tampering. However, attorneys for the defendants have asked Judge Susan Baker Ross to dismiss those charges, and she has yet to rule on those motions. 

The theft charges against Jones and Mike Dowling, FirstEnergy’s former senior vice president of external affairs, are somewhat counterintuitive. The charges essentially accused the two men of stealing $4.3 million from FirstEnergy, without the board’s knowledge, to pay a bribe. So, even though FirstEnergy as a corporate entity has admitted to executing two separate bribery schemes and paid a $230 million criminal penalty, the theft charges designated FirstEnergy as a victim. 

Ross, dismissing the two charges, ruled that it cannot be the case that FirstEnergy is a victim given the company is accused of having agreed to pay former Public Utilities Commission of Ohio Chair Sam Randazzo a $4.3 million bribe. 

Randazzo led a powerful panel of five gubernatorial appointees that regulated and set prices for FirstEnergy and other utilities in the state. Evidence released in years of trials and investigations has shown how FirstEnergy paid him – through a private business – $4.3 million shortly before Gov. Mike DeWine appointed Randazzo to the PUCO. From there, he led several rulings to FirstEnergy’s benefit, often at the cost of ratepayers. That includes eliminating a rate review that would have likely decreased the company’s electric costs, lobbying state lawmakers for the company’s legislative priorities, such as a more favorable interpretation of a “significantly excessive earnings test,” and other regulatory favors to FirstEnergy. 

The company itself entered a deferred prosecution agreement with the federal government, admitting to bribing both Randazzo and ex-Ohio House Speaker Larry Householder, who is now serving a 20-year sentence. Randazzo pleaded not guilty but died by suicide before his trial. His wife, as inheritor of his private companies allegedly used in the scheme, pleaded guilty on behalf of one of the companies. Jones and Dowling await trial on state charges for bribing Randazzo and await federal trial on charges of bribing both Randazzo and Householder. 

John McCaffrey, an attorney for Dowling who is working closely with Jones’ legal team, was pleased with the ruling in an interview Friday. He said the defense still has pending motions to dismiss almost all the dozen or so related individual charges, plus another motion to dismiss the entire indictment. 

Steve Irwin, a spokesman for Ohio Attorney General Dave Yost, said his office is reviewing the decision and declined further comment. 

Is the PUCO still investigating the bribes?

Most of the criminal actions alleged occurred between 2017, when Householder came back to political power with FirstEnergy as his primary bankroller, and 2019, when Householder led bailout legislation through the Statehouse and Randazzo ruled for the company at the PUCO. 

Despite the years of delay, the PUCO is moving forward with its investigation.

Later this month, six lawyers and lobbyists, who previously mounted legal fights to avoid testifying given the risk of self-incrimination, will be forced to testify under oath at a PUCO evidentiary hearing about the scandal. This comes after a Franklin County Common Pleas judge ordered them to do so and granted them criminal immunity so they can’t be prosecuted for what they say. 

“We look forward to getting answers for FirstEnergy consumers and holding FirstEnergy accountable,” said Maureen Willis, executive director of the Ohio Consumers’ Counsel, a state agency that has pushed for investigations on the subject for the past five years. “Justice for FirstEnergy consumers is long overdue.”

P.G. Sittenfeld, another convicted Ohio politician, is pardoned

In semi-related news, President Donald Trump pardoned former Cincinnati City Council member P.G. Sittenfeld, a Democrat, who was seen as a rising political player at the time of his 2020 arrest.

Federal prosecutors accused him of bribery and extortion after he accepted $20,000 in bribe payments to his political action committee from undercover FBI agents posing as corrupt businessmen working with a real estate developer. He was sentenced to 16 months in prison in 2023, though he was released as an appellate court considered his appeal. The court ruled against him, and he was slated for re-incarceration before Trump intervened.

Sittenfeld, albeit on a significantly smaller scale (prosecutors say Householder was bribed with a staggering $60 million in political contributions), was accused, tried and convicted around the same time as Householder, a Republican. 

Given the timing, Householder’s pre-existing relationship with Trump, and the similar allegations, the Sittenfeld pardon has fueled speculation over whether Trump would free Householder from a 20-year prison sentence. 

Scott Pullins, an attorney representing Householder, declined to comment. However, Yost has also filed additional charges against Householder, and he’s set for trial later this year. Presidents cannot pardon state criminal offenses.