Former House Speaker, staff member in Tennessee corruption case object to sentencing ranges

Cade Cothren, former aide to ex-House Speaker Glen Casada, has asked for his sentencing hearing on corruption convictions to be held at the same time as Casada’s. (Photo: John Partipilo/Tennessee Lookout)

An ex-House staffer convicted in a political corruption case is requesting a joint sentencing hearing with his former boss where they are expected to object to the rules for calculating their sentences.

Cade Cothren, chief of staff for former House Speaker Glen Casada, is asking for his sentencing guidelines hearing to be held at the same time as Casada’s on Sept. 12 at the federal courthouse in Nashville. Casada, though, wants a separate hearing, according to the filing.

Casada was convicted on 17 counts and Cothren on 19 counts of fraud, bribery, theft, conspiracy and money laundering in May. One fraud conviction alone comes with a maximum sentence of 20 years in prison and a $250,000 fine.

Casada sought a new trial in the case, but U.S. District Court Judge Eli Richardson hasn’t ruled on the request. 

Former Tennessee House Speaker Glen Casada, ex-aide, guilty in federal corruption case

A recent filing by Cothren’s attorney, Cynthia Sherwood, says objections by Cothren and Casada to sentencing guidelines “overlap almost completely.” A consolidated hearing will keep the judge from hearing the same argument twice, according to Sherwood’s filing. Joint hearings may be “unusual” but aren’t “unprecedented,” the filing says.

“A joint hearing will also allow Mr. Cothren the opportunity to present his own arguments in support of his objections to the sentencing guidelines, which may be different from, or augment, Mr. Casada’s guidelines arguments,” the filing says.

The filing says U.S. Attorney Taylor Phillips doesn’t oppose a joint sentencing guidelines hearing. 

Casada and Cothren were accused of setting up a secret company called Phoenix Solutions 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.”

Separately, Casada claims he should be given a new trial because the jury was prejudiced when the prosecution inadvertently played an unredacted version of an FBI interview with him. 

Casada and Cothren sought a mistrial during the four-week trial held earlier this year, based on the audio from 2021 when federal agents raided their homes. They were indicted in August 2022.