Former Ohio utility regulator who was charged in sweeping bribery scheme dies by suicide

By JULIE CARR SMYTH and SAMANTHA HENDRICKSON
Associated Press/Report for America

COLUMBUS, Ohio (AP) — A former top utility regulator awaiting trial on charges he took millions in bribes in conjunction with the largest corruption scandal in Ohio history has died by suicide. The Franklin County Coroner’s Office 74-year-old Sam Randazzo, the onetime chair of the Public Utilities Commission of Ohio, was found unresponsive Tuesday. Randazzo faced the prospect of spending the rest of his life in prison if convicted of the dozens of criminal charges he faced in simultaneous federal and state investigations. He had pleaded not guilty to all of them, most notably the allegation that he accepted a $4.3 million bribe from Akron-based FirstEnergy Corp. as it was engaged in a scheme to pass a $1 billion nuclear bailout for two of its affiliated nuclear plants.