Image Credit: John Partipilo/Tennessee Lookout
By Sam Stockard [Tennessee Lookout -CC BY-NC-ND 4.0] –
Former Tennessee House Speaker Glen Casada and his ex-chief of staff reportedly received presidential pardons Thursday, just weeks after being sentenced to prison for government corruption convictions, according to news reports.
Casada’s attorney, Jonathan Farmer of Nashville, could not confirm the pardon Thursday evening.
But Casada told Channel 4 News via text message and the Tennessee Journal that President Donald Trump called him Thursday and granted him a full pardon.
Casada and his former chief of staff, Cade Cothren, did not respond to text messages or calls Thursday night to confirm the pardons.
In late September, Casada was sentenced to 36 months 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.
Defense attorneys were appealing the case to a higher court.
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.
