FirstEnergy’s former CEO, the former vice president of external affairs, and the former chairman of the Public Utilities Commission of Ohio all pleaded not guilty to dozens of corruption and other charges Tuesday in a sweeping indictment made public Monday.
All three will be required to wear GPS ankle monitors and will be confined to the state of Ohio, Summit County Common Pleas Judge Susan Baker Ross said during their arraignments. The 27 combined felony indictments are the latest in a yearslong case involving a bribery scandal tied to House Bill 6 and FirstEnergy.
Former CEO Charles “Chuck” Jones was charged with 10 felony counts, including bribery, aggravated theft and money laundering. Michael Dowling, FirstEnergy’s former senior vice president of external affairs, was indicted on 12 felony charges, including bribery, aggravated theft, money laundering and tampering with records. And Samuel “Sam” Randazzo, the former chairman of the PUCO who allegedly took bribes from Jones and Dowling, was charged with 22 counts that echo the others. All three were also charged with engaging in a pattern of corrupt activity.
“Mr. Jones pleads not guilty to each and every count with which he’s been charged,” said his attorney, Carole Rendon, in court.
Dowling and Randazzo entered similar not guilty pleas through their attorneys.
The charges stem from the passage of House Bill 6 in July 2019, a pay-to-play scheme that provided a bailout for two nuclear power plants and two coal plants. Two companies that Attorney General Dave Yost called sham businesses were also charged — Sustainability Funding Alliance of Ohio and IEU-Ohio Administration. An attorney representing Randazzo pleaded not guilty on their behalf, as well.
Ross denied Jones’ request to travel to his home in Naples, Fla., for medical care and to forego monitoring. Rendon said the ankle monitoring would have a negative impact on Jones due to an undisclosed medical condition.
“It’s going to be so difficult for him, physically,” she said.
Jones has a medical appointment in Florida next week, but Ross told him he couldn’t return for it unless she received a letter from the Cleveland Clinic saying the appointment needed to take place in Florida.
“I don’t want him that far away from us,” Ross said.
She suggested the monitor could be worn loosely but said there wasn’t currently an option to wear it on another body part.
Matthew Meyer, the principal assistant attorney general for the state of Ohio, said he worried that if Jones was in Florida, he could easily flee the country. He said he had “significant concerns” about the fact that Jones, who was paid more than $55 million by FirstEnergy, would be a short boat ride from a country without an extradition treaty to the United States.
“This is anything but a routine case,” he said. “The defendant has access to resources and strong incentive.”
Rendon pushed back, saying Jones has known about the potential penalties for the crimes he is accused of since the summer of 2020. If he was going to flee, she said, he would have already done so.
“He has stayed put, he has showed up, he has participated,” she said. “He’s not going anywhere, and you can be assured of that.”
In addition to being monitored, Ross ordered that Jones not sell a Bath home worth $1.3 million, as an incentive for him to stay in town.
All three defendants surrendered their passports and are out of jail on $100,000 surety bonds.
Meyer asked Ross for a property bond for Dowling as well, encumbering homes in Mount Pleasant, S.C., and Stark County. Meyer said Dowling had “substantial resources” and an incentive to flee. His request was denied.
Dowling’s attorney, John McCaffrey, said his client “fully intends to appear.”
“He is not at all a flight risk,” McCaffrey said.
And Richard Blake, who represents Randazzo, said Randazzo would not leave the state because he already has a federal case pending. He asked that Randazzo not be required to wear an ankle monitor because the U.S. Department of Justice didn’t find it necessary – but the request was denied. Ross said she’d reconsider the request at a future date.
Ross set a pre-trial hearing for April 19.
