Randazzo, Former FirstEnergy Execs Added as Defendants in Yost’s HB 6 Lawsuit

Ohio Attorney General Dave Yost this week expanded his House Bill 6 racketeering lawsuit to include new defendants and additional factual allegations based on recent filings by the U.S. Department of Justice in its criminal case. Yost’s new filing added the following defendants:

• Chuck Jones, former CEO of FirstEnergy;
• Michael Dowling, former senior vice president for FirstEnergy;
• Former Public Utility Commission of Ohio (PUCO) Chairman Sam Randazzo; and
• Several entities associated with Randazzo, including the now-dissolved IEU-Ohio Administration Co., LLC.

Yost wants Randazzo to return a $4.3 million FirstEnergy payment the company admitted was a bribe, as well as his public salary while serving as PUCO chair.

Yost’s press release states: “As layers of the corrupt enterprise continue to be pried apart, it became clear that Jones, Dowling, and Randazzo were significant players in what one of the participants labeled ‘an unholy alliance’ … engaged in extortion, money laundering, coercion, intimidation and an attempted cover-up by a politically-connected group trying to enrich themselves.” 8/5/2021