BY MICHAEL HAWTHORNE
Enquirer Columbus Bureau
COLUMBUS -- A former Statehouse lobbyist will spend 30 days in jail for trying to bribe the No. 2 official at the state Department of Insurance. Closing a chapter in a wide-ranging influence scandal, Judge James J. O'Grady of Franklin County Common Pleas Court also sentenced Thomas Strussion to five years' probation and ordered him to pay $1,250 in fines and to perform 300 hours of community service.
Mr. Strussion could have faced up to 18 months in prison. But as part of a plea agreement, he agreed to cooperate with state and federal authorities investigating the financial demise of Cleveland-based PIE Mutual Insurance and the failed merger of Blue Cross and Blue Shield of Ohio and Columbia-HCA Healthcare Corp.
"It's an open investigation," said state Inspector General Richard Ward. "We're going to just keep following the facts." Mr. Strussion told state investigators he provided thousands of dollars of amenities to David Randall, the insurance department's former deputy director, in return for favorable treatment for his insurance and medical clients.
The bribes included cash, hotel accommodations, airfare, telephone credit-card expenses, a laptop computer and the balance of the tab for Mr. Randall's wedding reception at a Columbus-area country club.
Mr. Strussion also told investigators he paid for Mr. Randall's August 1993 bachelor party, which included a $70 credit card charge for a hotel bed "broken by dancers."
"I do want to apologize to this court and take full responsibility for my conduct and the mistakes I've made," Mr. Strussion told the judge.
Thomas Beal, Mr. Strussion's attorney, said his client has been interviewed four times by the FBI and state investigators, most recently on Monday.
Mr. Ward said investigators are sifting through conflicting stories from Mr. Strussion and Mr. Randall, erstwhile friends who worked together in the late 1980s as aides to former State Sen. Robert Ney, now a Republican congressman from St. Clairsville. A summary of the bribery investigation details how Mr. Randall used his position at the state insurance deparment to benefit companies represented by Mr. Strussion.
"Ultimately, this relationship was no longer based upon friendship," the report states. "It was two people who lacked any moral compass and sought only how they might use others to reap undeserved benefits for themselves."
Among other things, Mr. Randall tried to intervene with another state agency on behalf of Genesis Health Plan of Ohio and MedOhio Health Plan Inc., companies Mr. Strussion represented that were seeking to participate in the state's Medicaid program.
Mr. Strussion also paid $10,000 to Mr. Randall's estranged wife, Cortney, for services as a "Medicaid trend consultant." Mr. Strussion told investigators that no work was provided to merit the payment.
Mr. Randall pleaded guilty last month to two felony counts of bribery and one misdemeanor count of lying to investigators. He faces up to 10 years in prison and $10,000 in fines when he is sentenced Aug. 4.
