Ohio Capital Journal Staff

The former chairman of the Public Utilities Commission of Ohio has been indicted by a federal grand jury on bribery and embezzlement charges, the U.S. Attorney’s Office for the Southern District of Ohio announced in a news release Monday.

Sam Randazzo, 74, of Columbus, self-surrendered at U.S. District Court in Cincinnati Monday morning, the release said. Randazzo is charged in an 11-count indictment that was returned on Nov. 29 and he was scheduled for an initial appearance later Monday.

The charges stem from an ongoing investigation into what federal prosecutors have called the biggest political bribery scandal in state history, where Akron-based FirstEnergy paid more than $60 million in 2018 and 2019 to get the legislature to pass and protect a $1.3 billion bailout that was mostly intended to benefit FirstEnergy.

Former House Speaker Larry Householder, R-Glenford, in June was sentenced to 20 years in federal prison after a jury found him guilty of racketeering for his role in the scheme. Former Ohio GOP Chairman Matt Borges was sentenced to five years in the same case.

FirstEnergy fired two of its top executives, CEO Chuck Jones and Vice President Michael Dowling. And it signed a deferred prosecution agreement admitting wrongdoing and committing to pay a $230 million fine.

Jones, Dowling and Randazzo denied wrongdoing, but in the agreement, FirstEnergy said the executives paid Randazzo a $4.3 million bribe just as Ohio Gov. Mike DeWine was nominating him to be the top Ohio regulator overseeing FirstEnergy.

“Public officials — whether elected or appointed — are tasked with upholding the highest level of integrity in their duties and responsibilities. Such service to the public must be selfless, not selfish,” said U.S. Attorney Kenneth L. Parker in Monday morning’s release. “Through the indictment unsealed today, we seek to hold Randazzo accountable for his alleged illegal activities.”

FirstEnergy said the payment was made through Randazzo’s “consulting company in return for (Randazzo) performing official action in his capacity as (Public Utilities Commission of Ohio) Chairman to further FirstEnergy Corp.’s interests” and that “it was under no legal obligation to make the payment … ”

Randazzo was the PUCO chairman from April 2019 until November 2020, when he resigned.

Randazzo faces one count of conspiring to commit travel act bribery and honest services wire fraud, two counts of travel act bribery, two counts of honest services wire fraud, one count of wire fraud and five counts of making illegal monetary transactions.

According to the indictment, Randazzo allegedly received more than $4.3 million from an energy company and its affiliates to provide favorable official actions for the company through PUCO proceedings.

For example, it is alleged that in November 2019, Randazzo included language in a PUCO Opinion and Order that would address an issue for the energy company that was slated to happen in 2024.

“Stock is gonna get hit with Ohio 2024. Need Sam to get rid of the ‘Ohio 2024 hole,’” an energy executive text message read. Another executive messaged, in part: “I spoke with Sam today. Told me 2024 issue will be handled next Thursday.” The next Thursday, the PUCO decision included language alleviating the 2024 issue.

A March 2020 text message from an executive mentions that Randazzo “will get it done for us but cannot just jettison all process.” The message references specific official actions before continuing: “…a lot of talk going on in the halls of PUCO about does he work there or for us? He’ll move it as fast as he can.”

It is alleged that Randazzo received the bribe money from the energy company through his consulting business, Sustainability Funding Alliance of Ohio, Inc. (SFA), which was registered in Ohio in March 2010. SFA filings name Randazzo as the president and sole representative of the business and lists Randazzo’s home address as the business address.

The charging document alleges that Randazzo also used his consulting business, SFA, to carry out an embezzlement scheme, funneling to himself at least a million dollars meant for an association of large, industrial energy users in Ohio.

Randazzo was the general counsel of the industry group for multiple years, including from 2010 until his PUCO appointment, and at times served as the industry group’s executive director. Randazzo controlled the industry group’s bank accounts.

It is alleged Randazzo entered into settlements with companies on behalf of the industry group and kept portions of the settlement payments for himself. As one method to conceal his alleged embezzling, Randazzo allegedly created a fictitious member of the industry group that received payments along with legitimate members.

For example, in March 2019, it is alleged Randazzo attempted to conceal his embezzling by wiring approximately $1.1 million between bank accounts under his control.

If convicted as charged, the defendant could face up to 20 years in prison.

In the release, FBI Cincinnati Special Agent in Charge J. William Rivers said the indictment outlines an alleged scheme in which a public regulatory official ignored the Ohio consumers he was responsible for protecting, instead taking a bribe from an energy company seeking favors.

“The FBI will remain vigilant in investigating allegations of corruption at all levels of government and hold those who violate the law accountable for their actions,” he said.

Last week, it was revealed that plaintiffs in a civil suit related to the massive bribery and money-laundering scandal have subpoenaed documents from DeWine and they’re scheduling a sworn deposition with Lt. Gov. Jon Husted.

Ohio Consumers’ Counsel Maureen Willis in a statement Monday called the indictment an important step to bring justice to Ohio utility consumers.

“It underscores the need for near-term reform of the PUCO selection process that led to his appointment as Chair of the PUCO,” she said. “OCC’s calls for reform so far have gone unanswered. Ohioans deserve better from the public officials in this state.”

Ohio state Rep. Elliot Forhan said Friday he doesn’t regret the actions that led to Democratic Party leaders stripping him of nearly all lawmaker privileges, citing him for behavior they describe as “abusive” and “violent” though he did issue apologies in social media videos posted over the weekend.

The decision to remove his duties was detailed in a 19-page dossier sent to House Democratic Leadership by Minority Leader Allison Russo, which was then obtained by WEW/OCJ.

In another document, a letter to Forhan obtained by WEWS/OCJ, Russo kicked the Cleveland-area lawmaker out of the Democratic caucus due to his “pattern of harassment, hostility, and intimidation of colleagues and staff.”

In a WEWS/OCJ exclusive, Forhan (D-South Euclid) sat down with Statehouse reporter Morgan Trau to share his perspective on the tumultuous few months.

RELATED: Northeast Ohio lawmaker removed from Democratic caucus for ‘abusive behavior’

On Thursday, WEWS/OCJ was told by a Democratic House executive team member that Forhan has been kicked out of caucus, meaning he can no longer attend meetings of all legislative members and staff within the party. It also means that he can no longer have an office, a legislative aide or utilize any services that state representatives can access. The only thing he can legally do is attend sessions to vote on bills.

On Friday, the spokesperson backtracked and said Forhan was still technically a part of the caucus, meaning he could feasibly still show up at meetings — even though he was forbidden from going to the last one. All the rest of the punishments still stand.

Forhan has been stripped of all committee assignments and is instructed not to contact all Democratic caucus staff members.

In the 19-page document sent to House Democratic Leadership and obtained by WEWS/OCJ, Russo and her team called Forhan’s behavior abusive, erratic and inappropriate.

“Ultimately, hostility, profanity, and dangerous, violent remarks have unfortunately been the hallmark of Rep. Forhan’s tenure in the Ohio House of Representatives,” the document states.

Click here to learn more about the timeline and details of the allegations.

Response

Forhan is serving in his first term at the House. He represents an area of the east-side suburbs of Cleveland. He is an attorney and was an activist before joining the legislature.

“I stand up for what’s right,” Forhan told WEWS/OCJ. “To punish somebody for doing that — I have to disagree.”

The trouble all started back in May when Cleveland Heights salon owner Ladosha Wright traveled down to the statehouse. She opposed legislation that Forhan cosponsored, which resulted in an altercation following the hearing.

“He was intimidating, and he just continued to yell and point his finger in my face, and it just became very volatile like out of nowhere,” Wright told the WEWS crew at her salon. “I’ve never had the confrontation of a white man being so aggressive — so it was traumatizing because it just made me feel like I was helpless.”

The exchange left her so shaken that she filed a three-page formal complaint.

“I felt he wanted to slap me,” she wrote back in May. “I should not feel pains in my stomach, racing of my heart and tears stinging in my eyes as I type this complaint.”

After an investigation, Russo sanctioned Forhan, forcing him to take implicit bias training.

Originally, Forhan issued a public apology.

“I am ashamed of my failure during my interaction with Ms. Wright,” he wrote in a Facebook post in late May. “I let my emotions get the best of me.”

But now, he is changing his tune. He said he believed his behavior was fine because he falsely believed Wright was a lobbyist.

“Their job is to take us away from enacting and enforcing our values, right?” he said. And so, if I have a stern conversation, I think that’s incredibly important.”

Forhan, despite showing no remorse to WEWS/OCJ, published a series of videos following the publishing of this article on WEWS. In the videos, which have now been deleted, Forhan apologizes to fellow lawmakers state Reps. Juanita Brent (D-Cleveland) and Jessica Miranda (Forest Park).

“I expressed annoyance directly to you in trying to end that conversation… I should not have done that in front of Ms. Wright and her colleagues — I regret that; I’m sorry,” Forhan said to Brent. “I love you.”

For Wright, their interaction is a sign of a much bigger issue.

“I don’t think we should wait for him to hurt someone and then to say, ‘Oh, Ladosha tried to warn us,'” she said.

Her complaint against Forhan became the first of many.

The document asserts concerns about the lawmaker’s behavior with his colleagues, constituents, nonprofits, unions and religious groups. Complaints from all parties reported aggressive behavior by the lawmaker, including threats, calling people excessively at all hours of the day and night and showing up to people’s homes unannounced.

The culmination of all of these incidents came to a head Wednesday.

Forhan’s alleged reaction to the Israel/Hamas war is documented several times, resulting in a confrontation with another lawmaker.

Early this week, Forhan claimed he was asked to move a large flag of Israel that he put outside of his office to the inside of his office. He took this as an attack on his pro-Israel beliefs. He claims other lawmakers are allowed to have decor outside of their offices. It is possible he is being targeted, he said.

“I’m not one for conspiracy theories; that’s just not who I am, but I do take exception to telling me to take down my expression of support for Israel.”

Colleagues and the document accuse Forhan of only now caring about Israel due to his large population of Jewish constituents that he allegedly has ostracized for posting anti-Israel sentiment online.

“He finds political pandering and manipulation in place of substantive policy work,” the document said.

On Wednesday, Forhan allegedly screamed about the war at state Rep. Munira Abdullahi, who is Muslim, alone in a committee room to the point that she was “visibly shaken,” and the House Sergeant At Arms was called and dispatched to stand outside of where Forhan was — because they believed he would become violent.

After leadership tried to calm Forhan down, he became violent, and the leaders kicked Forhan out of caucus for that day, according to the memo.

However, Forhan defended himself in this situation — saying that Abdullahi had slighted him for not supporting his social media video blasting the House Democrat’s chief of staff over a flag of Israel.

“I stood up for myself, and unfortunately, the leadership of my caucus seemed to disagree with me doing that,” he said.

Although Wright believes she and her neighbors deserve another representative, she hopes Forhan gets help.

WEWS/OCJ brought up his colleagues’ concerns about mental stability, but Forhan said he was doing fine.

“I do think that it’s important that I refine my own approach with respect to these types of situations,” he said. “I am actually participating at the moment in a conflict resolution course.”

As of right now, all Forhan is able to do is show up and vote during session days. Despite losing support from his caucus and colleagues, he has no plans of stepping down.

“To do what I’m doing right now, Morgan, it’s the honor and the privilege of my life,” he said.

What happens next

A spokesperson for the House Dems told WEWS/OCJ that the document speaks for itself. When asked if Forhan would be formally removed or expelled from being a lawmaker, the spokesperson replied that internal removal would be a caucus decision.

House Speaker Jason Stephens told WEWS/OCJ that he is aware of the ongoing situation with Forhan.

“I will take any appropriate and necessary steps to keep colleagues, staff, and constituents safe at the Statehouse,” the speaker said.

Northeast Ohio state Rep. Elliot Forhan has been stripped of nearly all lawmaker privileges by Democratic Party leaders for “abusive” and “violent” behavior detailed in a 19-page memorandum sent to party leadership by House Democratic Leader Allison Russo.

In another document, a letter to Forhan obtained by News 5, Russo kicked the Cleveland-area lawmaker out of the Democratic caucus due to his “pattern of harassment, hostility, and intimidation of colleagues and staff.”

Forhan (D-South Euclid) has been stripped of all committee assignments and is instructed not to contact all Democratic caucus staff members.

The punishments mean he can no longer attend caucus, which is a meeting of all legislative members and staff within one party, nor have an office, a legislative aide, or utilize any services that state representatives can access. The only thing he can legally do is attend sessions to vote on bills.

In the 19-page document sent to House Democratic Leadership and obtained by News 5, Russo and her team called Forhan’s behavior abusive, erratic and inappropriate.

“Ultimately, hostility, profanity, and dangerous, violent remarks have unfortunately been the hallmark of Rep. Forhan’s tenure in the Ohio House of Representatives,” the document states.

News 5 has reached out to Forhan for comment but has not heard back.

Timeline

Forhan is serving in his first term at the House. He represents an area of the east-side suburbs of Cleveland. He is an attorney and was an activist before joining the legislature.

The trouble started back in May, according to Russo. Forhan was reprimanded and sanctioned publicly following an incident in which he shouted and acted disrespectfully toward a Black female constituent.

The constituent filed a formal complaint, the first of many against the lawmaker. Following this incident, Forhan was required to complete bias training, which the document says Forhan did begrudgingly.

Forhan previously told News 5 that he never intended to insult his constituent and had tried to make amends. He also issued a public apology.

Democratic leadership has counseled and tried to course-correct Forhan following incidents, the document says. Each time, Forhan would act aggressively and threaten “retaliation.”

From May through the summer, different labor groups reached out to Democratic leadership to express their concerns with Forhan’s aggressive and violent behavior, the document continues — providing evidence.

In June, Forhan showed up at another representative’s house unannounced to talk about complaints made about him. The female representative viewed this as hostile.

Following this incident, Forhan was counseled about appropriate social media behavior and was removed from his leadership position on the Government Oversight Committee.

Forhan’s pattern of “enraged, erratic and abusive behavior” toward members and staff continued through the summer months, according to documentation that includes violent outbursts and threats while in a mediation session with other organizations.

Forhan’s alleged reaction to the Israel/Hamas war is documented several times, culminating with a confrontation with another lawmaker.

On Wednesday, Forhan allegedly screamed about the war at state Rep. Munira Abdullahi, who is Muslim, alone in a committee room to the point that she was “visibly shaken” and the House Sargent At Arms was called and dispatched to stand outside of where Forhan was — because they believed he would become violent. After leadership tried to calm Forhan down, he became violent and the leaders kicked Forhan out of caucus for that day, according to the memo.

What happens next

A spokesperson for the House Dems told News 5 that the document speaks for itself. When asked if Forhan would be formally removed or expelled from being a lawmaker, the spokesperson replied that that would be a caucus decision.