Akron jury to decide if former FirstEnergy executives are guilty in House Bill 6 corruption case

An Akron jury will decide if former top FirstEnergy executives are guilty of paying a bribe to the head of the Public Utilities Commission of Ohio as part of an effort to push a controversial bill through the state legislature.

Former FirstEnergy CEO Chuck Jones and former VP Mike Dowling are accused of paying a $4.3 million bribe to Sam Randazzo, then-PUCO chair, in 2019. The company has been charged with bribing multiple officials to pass House Bill 6.

In closing arguments on Monday and Tuesday, defense lawyers for the former executives said that the money was intended as payment for a legal settlement when Randazzo was providing legal services for FirstEnergy, according to a report from the Statehouse News Bureau. Steve Grimes, the attorney for Dowling, said during closing arguments on Monday that the former PUCO chair stole the money.

“These two are not the only two people that trusted Sam Randazzo,” Grimes said, Statehouse News Bureau reported. “They’re not the only two people whose lives have been absolutely upended by the fact that Sam Randazzo turned out to be a crook.”

However, Assistant Ohio Attorney General Matt Meyer told the jury that the two “purposely corrupted Ohio’s PUCO chairman for their own benefit” and “rigged a process that was supposed to be fair for everyone,” Statehouse News Bureau reported.

“Sophisticated businessmen, powerful corporate executives who know how this game works aren’t going to just write a memo line on a check that says ‘bribe,’” Meyer told the jury on Tuesday, according to Statehouse News Bureau. “They’re not going to put that in their texts, as careless as they were. They’re going to look for an excuse. They’re going to look for a cover story. They’re going to look for a way to mask it.”

Carole Rendon, the attorney for Jones, told jurors that their decision depends on whether they believe the payment was a  “bribe.”

“If you agree that the state has failed to prove beyond a reasonable doubt that that was a bribe, then all of the other counts collapse like a house of cards,” Rendon told the jury on Tuesday, Statehouse News Bureau reported. “It doesn’t matter whether you find that it wasn’t a bribe because Sam Randazzo wasn’t a public servant, or you find that it wasn’t a bribe because Chuck Jones didn’t intend to corrupt him. If it wasn’t a bribe, he is not guilty.”

Randazzo reportedly died by suicide in 2024 after facing corruption charges, according to the News Bureau.

“Mike Dowling and Chuck Jones were not Sam Randazzo’s victims,” Meyer said, Statehouse News Bureau reported. “They were Sam Randazzo’s accomplices and the beneficiaries of his corruption. And to avoid the consequences of their actions, they are blaming the dead man. The victims are the people of the state of Ohio.”

Dowling and Jones also face federal charges of participating in a racketeering conspiracy. Both executives were charged by a Federal grand jury in January 2025 and have pleaded not guilty.

Federal prosecutions have led to the convictions of former Speaker of the House Larry Householder, a Republican from Glenford, who received a 20‑year sentence for orchestrating the scheme, and former GOP leader Matt Borges, who is serving five years.

FirstEnergy was ordered to pay $249 million in restitution to customers as part of a settlement in January, after PUCO found the company to be in violation of Ohio law after paying more than $60 million in bribes through a dark money group to multiple officials in order to secure a bailout.

Ohio lawmakers passed HB 6 in 2019, and the legislation gave FirstEnergy an over $1 billion ratepayer-funded bailout of two nuclear power plants. House Bill 15, which was signed into law in January, repealed parts of House Bill 6 and eliminated the option for utility companies to file an Electric Security Plan.

Former FirstEnergy executive Dennis Chack testified that a meeting with Jones and other company executives occurred at Randazzo’s home during a hearing held by PUCO in 2025. Chack said that HB 6 was discussed and that Jones met alone with Randazzo.