COLUMBUS, Ohio — Two fired FirstEnergy Corp. executives were arraigned Monday in the long-running examination into a $60 million bribery plan in Ohio that has currently resulted in a 20-year jail sentence for a previous state House speaker.
Former FirstEnergy CEO Chuck Jones and previous FirstEnergy Services Corp. Senior Vice President Michael Dowling were charged in relation to their declared functions in the huge corruption case, Republican Ohio Attorney General Dave Yost revealed in an online news conference.
“Their actions over a duration of years haveactually weakened self-confidence in state federalgovernments, the guideline of law, and really almost made them even richer guys than they currently are,” Yost stated of Jones and Dowling, who are dealingwith criminal charges for the veryfirst time consideringthat the scandal started. “There can be no justice without holding the check authors and the masterminds responsible.”
Jones and Dowling were fired in October 2020 for breaking business policies and code of carryout, and — offered their various pointsout in earlier indictments and court procedures — the absence of indictments hadactually been significant as a 5-year statute of constraints nears.
Both pressed back powerfully Monday, rejecting any misdeed and implicating Yost of incorrect assertions.
“For more than 3 years, a incorrect and unreasonable narrative hasactually surrounded Chuck Jones and other existing and previous workers of FirstEnergy, the business to which Mr. Jones dedicated his whole 42-year profession. That ends today,” his lawyer Carole Rendon stated in a declaration. “Mr. Jones did not break the law. He did not allurement anybody. He acted in the finest interests of FirstEnergy’s consumers as well as its workers and financiers, and neverever betrayed their trust.”
Yost stated a grand jury in Summit County, home to Akron, arraigned Jones and Dowling on Friday and that the 2 guys guaranteed to turn themselves in Monday to the Summit County Jail however then did not. Jones stated through his lawyer that he was in Akron when the remark was made, waitingfor guidelines from the court as to how to continue. Both he and Dowling were setup to be arraigned Tuesday.
Monday’s statement likewise consistedof extra charges versus Sam Randazzo, previous chair of the Public Utilities Commission of Ohio, who is currently dealingwith 11 counts of charges focused around claims he accepted kickbacks from Akron-based FirstEnergy Corp. in exchange for regulative prefers.
Jones, Dowling and Randazzo