This article is from Tennessee Lookout
Former Tennessee House Speaker Glen Casada and his ex-chief of staff received presidential pardons Thursday, just weeks after being sentenced to prison for government corruption convictions.
Casada’s attorneys, Jonathan Farmer and Ed Yarbrough of Nashville, received confirmation from President Donald Trump that he granted a “full and unconditional pardon” to Casada for his offense against the United States.
The executive order directs the nation’s pardon attorney to administer clemency for Casada, who received a pardon along with his former chief of staff, Cade Cothren. Neither one responded to messages, and Cothren’s attorney, Cynthia Sherwood, did not answer an email Friday.
Casada was set to appeal a 36-month prison sentence when the pardon came from the White House.
In late September, Casada was sentenced to three years in prison for his role in a kickback scheme after a jury convicted him on multiple counts of fraud, bribery, theft, conspiracy and money laundering in connection with a shell company called Phoenix Solutions run by Cothren, who was sentenced to 30 months the previous week.
Attorneys for Casada and Cothren requested a mistrial after prosecutors inadvertently played an unredacted recording of an FBI interview with Casada that incriminated Cothren during their four-week trial that stretched from mid-April into May. They also sought a new trial just before sentencing, but U.S. District Court Judge Eli Richardson denied the request.
Casada and Cothren were convicted of setting up the secret company that tapped into the state’s postage and printing program that provides House members $3,000 a year for constituent mailers. Casada and former Rep. Robin Smith, who pleaded guilty and testified against the pair, steered lawmakers’ business to Phoenix Solutions, which was secretly run by Cothren with the front name of “Matthew Phoenix.”
Smith was recently sentenced to eight months for her role in the scheme. She is seeking a presidential pardon according to the Chattanooga Times Free Press.
Casada and Smith concealed Cothren’s identity in the scheme because they felt lawmakers wouldn’t do business with their company if they knew the former chief of staff was involved. The whole deal involved only about $52,000, but the company also tapped the House Republican Party for work exceeding $100,000.
_ Sam Stockard
