Ohio Supreme Court Freezes Ex-Utility Regulator's $8M Assets

The decision, reversing a previous court ruling, comes amid charges against Sam Randazzo over a $4.3 million bribe from FirstEnergy Corp.

Sam Randazzo, a former top Ohio utility regulator, has had $8 million in personal assets frozen by the Ohio Supreme Court.
The court reversed a previous decision by the Tenth District Court of Appeals, which had unfrozen Randazzo's assets on a technicality.
Randazzo was charged with 11 counts in connection with a $4.3 million bribe from FirstEnergy Corp. for favorable treatment.
Randazzo had transferred a home worth $500,000 to his son and liquidated other properties worth a combined $4.8 million, sending some $3 million of the proceeds to his lawyers in California and Ohio.
The bribe was part of a scheme led by then-Ohio House Speaker Larry Householder to win the speakership, pass a $1 billion bailout of two aging FirstEnergy-affiliated nuclear plants and block a referendum to repeal the bailout bill.