said<\/a> Tuesday that Casada, 66, and his former chief of staff, Cade Cothren, 38, were convicted of honest services wire fraud, conspiracy to commit money laundering, and related charges. <\/p>\n\n\n\nProsecutors said the pair conspired with former state Rep. Robin Smith to create a fictitious firm, Phoenix Solutions, which secretly funneled state contracts and campaign work to Cothren under the false identity \u201cMatthew Phoenix.\u201d<\/p>\n\n\n\n
According to evidence presented at trial, the company received more than $50,000 in taxpayer funds through the legislature\u2019s Postage and Printing Allowance program and about $160,000 in caucus and campaign work. <\/p>\n\n\n\n
Casada and Smith pressured state officials to pay the fraudulent invoices, while Cothren funneled a portion of the proceeds back to them.<\/p>\n\n\n\n
The court ordered Casada to pay a $30,000 fine and forfeit more than $4,600 in proceeds. Both men remain convicted of multiple counts of conspiracy, fraud, and money laundering. Smith pleaded guilty to honest services wire fraud in 2022 and testified at trial.<\/p>\n\n\n\n
\u201cTennesseans have a right to expect honest services from their elected leaders and their staffs,\u201d Acting U.S. Attorney Robert E. McGuire said in a statement. \u201cThis prosecution, and the sentences ordered today, show our office\u2019s steadfast commitment to seek justice on behalf of our community in cases involving public corruption and fraud.\u201d<\/p>\n","protected":false},"excerpt":{"rendered":"
Former Tennessee House Speaker Glen Casada has been sentenced to three years in federal prison for his role in a scheme that defrauded the state through a sham political consulting company. The U.S. Attorney\u2019s Office for the Middle District of Tennessee said Tuesday that Casada, 66, and his former chief of staff, Cade Cothren, 38, […]<\/p>\n","protected":false},"author":7,"featured_media":59590,"comment_status":"closed","ping_status":"closed","sticky":false,"template":"","format":"standard","meta":{"inline_featured_image":false,"_mi_skip_tracking":false,"_monsterinsights_sitenote_active":false,"_monsterinsights_sitenote_note":"","_monsterinsights_sitenote_category":0,"footnotes":""},"categories":[6],"tags":[3065,514,3393,3857,410,3858,151],"class_list":["post-59589","post","type-post","status-publish","format-standard","has-post-thumbnail","hentry","category-legal","tag-convictions-sentencings","tag-corruption","tag-fraud","tag-glen-casada","tag-tennessee","tag-tennessee-house-of-representatives","tag-united-states"],"yoast_head":"\n
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