Prosecutors say Cothren created an alter ego to run the company — Matthew Phoenix, of Phoenix Solutions.
The two face a 20-count indictment for charges including bribery, kickbacks and conspiracy to commit money laundering. If convicted, they each face up to 20 years in prison. After multiple delays, the trial comes three years after they were charged and almost six years after they resigned from their top statehouse posts.
Federal prosecutors plan to call about 15 witnesses, including House Speaker Cameron Sexton. Sexton, who succeeded Casada, helped federal authorities in their investigation and is expected to testify. So is former Rep. Robin Smith, who took a plea deal in the scheme. Some lawmakers have been subpoenaed for the defense, according to news reports.
Attorneys for Casada and Cothren have said that lawmakers got the political services they paid for, so the secrecy about the firm's ownership isn't a crime.
Glen Casada and Cade Cothren, defendants
Casada, a Republican from Williamson County south of Nashville, became House speaker in January 2019. Cothren rose through the legislative staff ranks to become his chief of staff.
Casada notably left the voting board open during a key vote to pass a school voucher program, waiting until one vote flipped so the bill would pass. The discussions to try to convince lawmakers to switch to “yes” created wide speculation about what was promised.
Casada resigned from the top leadership post 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.
In January 2021, FBI agents searched the homes, legislative offices or both of Casada, Cothren, Smith and other statehouse figures. Casada remained a state representative until 2022, when he didn't seek reelection.
Casada and Cothren were indicted in August 2022, a few months after Smith pleaded guilty.
The charging documents say Cothren launched Phoenix Solutions with Smith’s and Casada’s “knowledge and support” to offer mail and consulting services to lawmakers. Cothren registered the company in New Mexico because the state allows anonymous registration of LLCs, and rebuffed requests for in-person meetings with Casada’s fellow lawmakers, saying the company representatives were out of state, prosecutors allege.
All three claimed the firm was run by a “Matthew Phoenix," as Phoenix Solutions and companies controlled by Casada and Smith received roughly $52,000 in 2020 from the state in payments associated with the taxpayer funded mailer program for lawmakers, the indictment says.
