A spokesperson for the county coroner’s office said Randazzo was found unresponsive just before noon at a building he owned in Columbus.
The U.S. Attorney's Office, Ohio Attorney General's Office and office of Republican Gov. Mike DeWine, who initially appointed Randazzo to the PUCO, all declined immediate comment.
FirstEnergy has admitted to using dark money groups to fund a $60 million bribery plot that allowed former Republican Ohio House Speaker Larry Householder to win the speakership, elect his allies and pass and defend a $1 billion nuclear bailout bill, known as House Bill 6, for two of its affiliated nuclear plants.
A jury convicted Householder and lobbyist Matt Borges last year on federal racketeering charges for their roles in the scheme. Householder was sentenced to 20 years in prison, Borges to five. Both have appealed.
Randazzo resigned his regulatory post in November 2020 after FBI agents searched his Columbus townhome and FirstEnergy revealed in security filings what it said were bribery payments of $4.3 million for his future help at the commission a month before DeWine nominated him as Ohio’s top utility regulator.
He is the second person that was accused as part of the sweeping investigation to take his own life. Longtime Statehouse lobbyist Neil Clark, one of the five people initially arrested in the probe in July 2020, died by suicide in March 2021 after pleading not guilty. The remaining two men, Juan Cespedes and Jeffrey Longstreth, pleaded guilty and are cooperating with the government in the ongoing inquiry.
How to get help
If you or someone you know is struggling or in crisis, help is available. Call or text 988 or chat at 988lifeline.org
—-
Smyth contributed from Chicago. Samantha Hendrickson is a corps member for the Associated Press/Report for America Statehouse News Initiative. Report for America is a nonprofit service program that places journalists in local newsrooms.
Credit: AP
Credit: AP