Jury convicts ex-Tennessee House speaker and his aide in legislative mail scheme

NASHVILLE, Tenn. (AP) — A federal jury on Friday convicted a former Tennessee House speaker and his onetime chief of staff in a scheme to win taxpayer-funded mail business from state lawmakers even after scandals drove the two out of political power.

Former Republican Rep. Glen Casada was found guilty of 17 of 19 charges, while his then-chief of staff, Cade Cothren, was found guilty of all 19 charges in a public corruption trial that began in late April.

The current House speaker, Cameron Sexton, helped authorities in the case against his predecessor since taking the job in 2019, he has said. Sexton was among the lawmakers and staffers who testified to the grand jury.

But Sexton was noticeably absent as a witness after prosecutors said they planned for him to testify. The defense sought to draw attention to a political rivalry between Casada and Sexton. Ultimately, the defense declined to call any witnesses. Neither Casada nor Cothren testified. And defense attempts to discuss in front of jurors whether Sexton wore a wire were shut down by the judge.

Casada resigned as House speaker in August 2019 after a no-confidence vote from fellow House Republicans due to swirling scandals, including revelations he exchanged sexually explicit text messages about women years ago with Cothren. Not long before that, Cothren also left his post over those texts and racist texts, coupled with an admission he used cocaine inside a legislative office building when he held a previous job.

The criminal charges center on a time after the pair’s political freefall, while Casada was still a sitting lawmaker. The charges claim Cothren launched Phoenix Solutions with Smith’s and Casada’s knowledge and support. The trio claimed the firm was run by a “Matthew Phoenix,” as Phoenix Solutions and companies controlled by Casada and then-Rep. Robin Smith received roughly $52,000 in 2020 from the state in payments associated with the taxpayer-funded mailer program for lawmakers. A “Matthew Phoenix” signature ended up on an IRS tax document.

Casada and Cothren were indicted in August 2022 after Smith resigned and pleaded guilty to one charge in the Phoenix Solutions scheme. Smith testified for prosecutors for several days.

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

Smith testified that the goal was to keep the current House speaker, the legislative administration director and the public unaware of who was behind Phoenix Solutions due to the “radioactive” scandal that pushed Casada and Cothren out of power. The taxpayer-funded mailings for House Republicans were a way in to expand later to campaign work, she said.

Smith told fellow lawmakers that Phoenix Solutions was run by professionals with a prominent political consulting firm who were tired of doing Washington-related work. Matthew Phoenix’s associate, Candice, was portrayed by Casada’s then-girlfriend, prosecutors said.

In a recorded call played for jurors, a fellow Republican, Rep. Ron Gant, feigned interest in becoming a client and spurred Smith to repeat lies about Phoenix Solutions. Smith said she didn’t know she was being recorded.

In January 2021, FBI agents searched the homes, legislative offices, or both, of Casada, Cothren, Smith and other statehouse figures. Smith left a voicemail with her attorney when they arrived. But by the time the attorney called back to tell her not to talk, she had already lied about the scheme to agents, Smith testified.

The trial’s fate became shaky when prosecutors failed to redact a portion of the FBI’s interview with Casada that was then played for the jury. But the judge ruled against a defense motion for a mistrial, saying there was other evidence that echoed Casada’s mistakenly unredacted comments — that Sexton would have rejected the use of Phoenix Solutions if he knew Cothren was involved.

Casada remained a state representative until 2022, when he didn’t seek reelection.

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This story has been corrected to show that Casada was convicted of 17 charges, not 19, and that Cothren was convicted of 19 charges, not 17.

Jonathan Mattise, The Associated Press