俄亥俄州的两名政治顾问打算认罪，安排数千万美元的非法付款，以帮助通过纳税人资助的两家核电站的救助。
Juan Cespedes, a lobbyist and political consultant, and Jeff Longstreth, a longtime political strategist for former Ohio House Speaker Larry Householder [R], will plead guilty to racketeering conspiracy and taking bribes from nuclear energy provider FirstEnergy and its affiliates. A plea agreement with federal prosecutors was made public this week.
Both men were七月起诉along with Householder, lobbyist Neil Clark, and lobbyist and former Ohio Republican Party Chairman Matthew Borges for accepting bribes totaling $60.9 million that were given to a 501(c)(4) entity that Longstreth created, called Generation Now.
作为交换，Longstreth和Cespedes承认有助于通过House 6 Bill 6，这是一项救助，挽救了FirstEnergy Corp.的两家当时接触俄亥俄州的核电站Davis-Besse和Perry。现在，Generation也被指控敲诈勒索，这是阴谋的一部分。HB 6包括纳税人的补贴，以防止其关闭这两个设施
朗斯特雷斯（Longstreth）在他的认罪协议中还承认，他现在就建立了一代人，知道它将被用来收到贿赂资金，他承认管理该实体的银行帐户并进行旨在掩盖其资金来源的交易。
塞斯皮德斯（Cespedes）在他的认罪协议中还承认，他现在策划了一代人的付款，并且知道他们的目的是帮助住户成为房屋的俄亥俄州发言人，并保留了第一票的救助。
Longstreth had been Householder's political strategist for his entire political career. Cespedes co-founded lobbying firm The Oxley Group and was appointed to the Ohio Civil Rights Commission and the Ohio Arts Commission by Gov. John Kasich [R] during his administration.
根据联邦量刑指南，Cespedes和Longstreth均面对20年的监禁，尽管他们可能会获得更短的判决建议，以换取与政府的合作。七月份的Househome被撤职为俄亥俄州众议院议长，但仍代表他的地区，对这些指控不认罪。克拉克和博尔奇也没有不认罪。
美国俄亥俄州南部大卫·M·德维勒斯（David M. Devillers）的美国检察官说：“如果您有与所谓的公共腐败有关的信息，请致电513-421-4310与联邦调查局联系。”“这项调查仍在进行中。”
FirstEnergyhas fired its CEO, Charles Jones, and two other executives after investigating Generation Now and the company's political giving. Steven Strah, formerly president of FirstEnergy, has been appointed acting CEO.
The company's bailout totaled a customer-paid $1.1 billion subsidy for the two nuclear power plants, to be paid in increments of $150 million a year starting in 2021 through 2027. While Ohio Governor Mike DeWine [R] says he supports a repeal of House Bill 6, the state legislature has not yet created a bill to repeal it. However, both plants are now operated by another company.
FirstEnergyCorp. was the original operator of the nuclear plants until its subsidiary, FirstEnergy Solutions, filed for bankruptcy in April 2018. Thanks to the bailout, FirstEnergy Solutions survived the bankruptcy, emerged and renamed itself Energy Harbor. The firm, which now operates independently from FirstEnergy Corp., is not expected to be affected by any punishment of Generation Now or FirstEnergy Corp.
"It just demonstrates a new low in terms of how a utility will exercise its power, and dollars, and influence," says Jeff Deyette, director of state policy and analysis in the Climate and Energy program at the Union of Concerned Scientists, about Generation Now and the conspiracy. "But it's not new in that we've seen many, many times how utilities, and particularly the fossil fuel industry writ large, how they've used their deep pockets over and over again with a willingness to funnel money in deceptive and deceitful ways."
