FirstEnergy official: Larry Householder, Sam Randazzo, ex-company executives conspired to break federal law

Householder Randazzo Jones Dowling

From top left, clockwise: Ex-Ohio House Speaker Larry Householder, former Public Utilities Commission of Ohio Chair Sam Randazzo, former FirstEnergy Senior Vice President of External Affairs Mike Dowling, and former FirstEnergy CEO Chuck Jones. All four men conspired with FirstEnergy to commit honest services wire fraud, according to a company official. So far, only Householder has been accused of a crime. (File photos)

COLUMBUS, Ohio— Ex-Ohio House Speaker Larry Householder, former top state regulator Sam Randazzo, and two now-fired FirstEnergy executives appear to be the people who conspired with FirstEnergy to commit honest services wire fraud, a FirstEnergy official said in a sworn deposition as part of a civil lawsuit.

That goes beyond what FirstEnergy admitted last year as part of a deferred prosecution agreement with federal prosecutors.

In that agreement, the company admitted to committing conspiracy to commit honest services wire fraud and bribing Householder and Randazzo to secure its policy goals, including the scandal-tainted House Bill 6 energy law. But, at the time, FirstEnergy didn’t specifically name who it conspired with to commit wire fraud.

Under repeated questioning during a deposition taken May 19, Tracy Ashton, FirstEnergy’s assistant controller, said that Householder, Randazzo, ex-FirstEnergy CEO Chuck Jones, and former FirstEnergy chief lobbyist Mike Dowling conspired with the company to break federal law.

“Who were FirstEnergy’s co-conspirators in the conspiracy to commit honest services wire fraud that it has admitted?” asked Jason Forge, a lawyer representing the Los Angeles County Employees Retirement Association, the lead plaintiff in a class-action lawsuit filed by FirstEnergy shareholders who claim the HB6 scandal resulted in investors losing billions when the company’s stock price fell.

“The facts of the DPA [deferred prosecution agreement] would support that is Chuck Jones, Mike Dowling, Larry Householder, and Sam Randazzo,” Ashton replied.

Earlier, when Forge asked, “With whom did FirstEnergy conspire to commit honest services wire fraud?” Ashton replied: “As stated in the DPA, Sam Randazzo and Larry Householder.”

When Forge asked Ashton where it stated in the deferred prosecution agreement that FirstEnergy conspired with Householder to commit honest services wire fraud, she replied: “The facts within the DPA support that conclusion.”

When Forge asked whether FirstEnergy conspired with Jones and Dowling to commit honest services wire fraud, after a back and forth, Ashton eventually answered “yes” regarding both men.

“Mike Dowling and Chuck Jones what, conspired with FirstEnergy and Householder and Randazzo to commit honest services wire fraud?” Forge asked.

“[They] were involved and parties to the conspiracy,” Ashton answered.

The deposition transcript was made public late last week via a filing submitted to the PUCO by the office of the Ohio Consumers’ Counsel, the state’s utility consumer watchdog agency.

FirstEnergy admitted in a 2021 deferred prosecution agreement with federal prosecutors that it gave $60 million in bribe money to dark-money groups overseen by Householder to secure the passage of HB6 and fend off an attempted statewide referendum to repeal it, among other things. The company also admitted to giving millions of dollars in secret payments to Randazzo to do their policy bidding while serving as chair of the Public Utilities Commission of Ohio from early 2019 until late 2020.

Authorities have called the scheme the largest bribery scandal in Ohio history.

In the summer of 2020, Householder and several allies were charged with conspiring to violate the racketeering statute through honest services wire fraud, receipt of millions of dollars in bribes and money laundering. Householder has pleaded innocent and is set to go to trial in January; three other co-defendants have pleaded guilty to their roles in the scheme.

Randazzo, Jones, and Dowling have also maintained their innocence and, so far, have not been accused of any crime. However, the three, along with Householder, are among the defendants in a pending civil lawsuit filed by Ohio Attorney General Dave Yost.

Ashton – who was put forward by FirstEnergy to speak on behalf of the company, not because she has a personal knowledge of events related to the HB6 scandal – stuck largely to repeating and confirming what was contained in FirstEnergy’s deferred prosecution agreement.

She told lawyers more than 100 times that she did not know the answer to a question, including when asked about details about FirstEnergy payments to Randazzo, FirstEnergy’s involvement with Householder and allied dark-money groups, the termination and separation of FirstEnergy executives, and the thought process that led FirstEnergy to enter into a deal with prosecutors.

Last week, U.S. Magistrate Judge Kimberly Jolson held that Ashton was “inadequately prepared” for the deposition, noting that Ashton didn’t answer lawyers’ questions because “she had not reviewed relevant facts prior to the deposition.” At the request of lawyers for Jones and Dowling, Jolson ordered FirstEnergy to provide at least one corporate official for a second deposition.

Randazzo’s attorney, Roger Sugarman, said in a statement Thursday that it would be “inaccurate and untrue” to state that Ashton’s deposition statements “are factual in nature or based somehow on ‘facts.’” Sugarman pointed to Jolson’s statement that Ashton’s preparation for the deposition “made her adept at restating the generalized information FirstEnergy already disclosed publicly.”

Sugarman continued: “There is nothing in Ms. Ashton’s background or job descriptions that suggests she has any direct or firsthand knowledge about any agreements or dealings of FirstEnergy Service Corp. with Mr. Randazzo, or as to anything that might be implicated by the HB 6-related investigations. Her deposition testimony makes clear that she does not have any facts supporting FirstEnergy’s admissions in the DPA.”

Carole Rendon, a former U.S. attorney representing Jones, said in a statement Thursday: “Mr. Jones did not engage in any unlawful activity or violate any of FirstEnergy’s policies. Mr. Jones did not make or authorize any payment of any money to any public official in exchange for any official act.”

Rendon continued: “Whether one agrees with it or not, the First Amendment and campaign finance laws allow the use of 501(c)(4) entities for appropriate political activity; allow individuals and corporations to support political candidates in a lawful manner; and allow individuals and corporations to lobby on behalf of legislation and government policies.”

John McCaffrey, a lawyer representing Dowling, said in a statement that his client denies bribing any public officials or engaging in unlawful activities. 

“Payments to an entity owned by Mr. Randazzo were intended for the direct benefit of a consortium of companies that purchased electricity from FirstEnergy.  Those companies were represented by Mr. Randazzo before he was appointed to the PUCO,” McCaffrey stated.

The contractual arrangements of the FirstEnergy payments to Randazzo were determined by FirstEnergy’s legal and rates departments, not Dowling, McCaffrey continued, and the management of those payments -- budgeting, monitoring, amendments to the contact, and approval of payments -- was the responsibility of FirstEnergy’s legal department, not Dowling.

An attorney for Householder, Steven Bradley, declined comment Thursday on Ashton’s deposition statement.

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