Utility will pay $20 million to avoid prosecution in Ohio bribery scheme

AKRON, Ohio (AP) — The energy company at the center of a $60 million bribery scheme in Ohio will pay $20 million and avoid criminal charges as part of a deal with state prosecutors to resolve its role in the scandal.

Akron-based FirstEnergy Corp. announced the deal Tuesday, a day after it filed the agreement with the U.S. Securities and Exchange Commission. It calls for the company to cooperate with the ongoing investigations being conducted by the state attorney general and the Summit County prosecutor’s office and also settles FirstEnergy’s involvement in a civil lawsuit filed by the attorney general in 2020.

FirstEnergy will pay $19.5 million to the attorney general’s office within five business days and will pay $500,000 for an independent consultant to review and confirm unspecified “changes and remediation efforts” made by the company.

Two fired FirstEnergy Corp. executives were indicted in April as part of the long-running investigation into the scheme that has already resulted in a lengthy prison sentence for a former state House speaker.

Former FirstEnergy CEO Chuck Jones and former FirstEnergy Services Corp. Senior Vice President Michael Dowling were charged in relation to their alleged roles in the massive corruption case. Both men have denied any wrongdoing. Another man charged alongside them, former Public Utilities Commission of Ohio Chairman Sam Randazzo, had pleaded not guilty in both federal and state courts before dying by suicide at age 74 in April.

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