President Donald Trump officially pardoned Cothren and former House Speaker Glen Casada on Friday.
Image Credit: Martin B. Cherry / Nashville Banner
This story was originally published by the Nashville Banner. Sign up for their newsletter.
by Sarah Grace Taylor, [The Nashville Banner, Creative Commons] –
Presidential pardons for Cade Cothren and Glen Casada were signed on Friday. Now, five years after the pair was found at the center of a political kickback scheme, Cothren’s considering a return to the public eye.
Casada, then Tennessee House Speaker, and Cothren, his former chief of staff, were convicted on a litany of money laundering, fraud and related charges this summer after a years-long federal investigation into Phoenix Solutions, a shell company through which the pair offered political services to candidates and lawmakers while Casada was in office.
Cynthia Sherwood, Cothren’s defense attorney, told the Banner Saturday that Cothren maintains his innocence, even after being convicted on more than a dozen charges this summer and sentenced to 30 months in prison.
“Cade Cothren is innocent. He always has been. He was charged with crimes he didn’t commit – crimes he couldn’t have committed under the law,” Sherwood said in a text message on Saturday, after Cothren’s sentence was effectively erased by President Donald Trump.
According to Sherwood, Cothren has faced “political weaponization and lawfare” for five years, but can now return to a normal life. He may even return to public life.
“He called his case what it was – a prosecution motivated by politics, personal bias, and greed instead of justice,” Sherwood continued. “Cade cannot thank President Trump enough for pardoning him and righting this wrong. Because of President Trump, Cade can reclaim his future, rebuild his life, and return to public service.”
Casada has been less vocal during the investigation and trial and since the pardons were announced on Thursday.
Conspirator and former state representative Robin Smith, who quickly flipped and cooperated with the FBI, has been sentenced to 8 months in prison for her role in the scheme and is not expected to receive a pardon.
