Samuel C Randazzo

A federal grand jury has charged the former chairman of the Public Utilities Commission of Ohio (PUCO) with crimes related to bribery and embezzlement. Samuel Randazzo, 74, of Columbus, self-surrendered at U.S. District Court in Cincinnati this morning. Randazzo is charged in an 11-count indictment that was returned on Nov. 29 2023. 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. Randazzo was the PUCO chairman from April 2019 until November 2020, when he resigned. 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.