Former Tennessee House speaker sentenced to 3 years in prison in legislative mail scheme

NASHVILLE, Tenn. (AP) — A former Tennessee House speaker was sentenced Tuesday to three years in prison after being convicted in a scheme with a onetime aide to win taxpayer-funded mail business from lawmakers after scandals drove the two out of their top leadership roles.

U.S. District Judge Eli Richardson in Nashville handed down the sentence for former Republican Rep. Glen Casada, a court document shows. Casada’s former chief of staff, Cade Cothren, was also convicted in the case and received a 2 1/2-year prison sentence last week.

In May a jury found Casada guilty of 17 of 19 charges, and Cothren was found guilty of all 19 counts in a public corruption trial that began in late April.

Earlier this month the judge acquitted the pair of three counts in the case while leaving in place the convictions on the rest of the charges, including use of a fictitious name to carry out fraud, wire fraud and money laundering.

Their convictions set off social media fights months ago over whether a pardon would be warranted. Country musician John Rich called for President Donald Trump to pardon Cothren, while Knox County Mayor Glenn Jacobs, the former famed professional wrestler Kane, called it “unfathomable” that any Republican would push for pardons for Casada or Cothren.

Cothren is scheduled to report for to prison Nov. 17, and Casada on Nov. 21. Both are expected to appeal.

Casada resigned as speaker in 2019 after a no-confidence vote by fellow Republicans due to swirling scandals, including revelations that he exchanged sexually explicit text messages about women with Cothren years ago.

Cothren also left his post over those texts and racist texts, coupled with an admission that he used cocaine inside a legislative office building during a previous job.

The criminal charges centered on a time after the pair’s political free fall, while Casada was still a sitting lawmaker.

According to prosecutors, Cothren launched a company called Phoenix Solutions with the knowledge and support of Casada and then-Rep. Robin Smith that the three claimed was run by a “ Matthew Phoenix,” and companies controlled by Casada and Smith received roughly $52,000 in taxpayer money in 2020 from a mailer program for lawmakers.

A “Matthew Phoenix” signature ended up on an IRS tax document. A purported associate of that fictitious person was portrayed by Casada’s then-girlfriend, prosecutors said.

The goal was to use the state-funded assignments to launch into more lucrative business, including through campaign and caucus work, prosecutors said.

“The defendants abused their power as government officials and defrauded taxpayers for their own enrichment,” Acting Assistant Attorney General Matthew R. Galeotti of the Justice Department’s Criminal Division said in a statement. “The Criminal Division is committed to holding accountable those who betray public trust and steal from government coffers in order to line their own pockets.”

Casada and Cothren were indicted in 2022 after Smith resigned and pleaded guilty to one charge. Smith testified for the prosecution at trial and is awaiting sentencing.

Defense attorneys noted that the state got the mailings it paid for. They tried to portray Smith as untrustworthy and driven by hopes for a lenient sentence under her plea deal.

The current House speaker, Cameron Sexton, had been floated as a star witness but ultimately did not testify. He has said he helped authorities in the case against his predecessor since Sexton took the speaker job in 2019. Sexton was among the lawmakers and staffers who testified to the grand jury.

Neither Casada nor Cothren testified. Defense lawyers’ attempts to discuss in front of jurors whether Sexton wore a wire were shut down by the judge.

Casada remained a state representative until 2022, when he did not seek reelection.