Feds move to vacate prison orders, judgments on Casada, Cothren

Former House Speaker Glen Casada, accompanied by his wife and at right, attorney Ed Yarbrough, leaves the Fred D. Thompson Federal Courthouse in Nashville after a jury convicted him in a federal corruption case. (Photo: John Partipilo/Tennessee Lookout)

Despite spending six years investigating and prosecuting former House Speaker Glen Casada and his ex-chief of staff on corruption charges, the U.S. Department of Justice requested their convictions and prison orders be vacated after they received a presidential pardon.

Under Acting U.S. Attorney Robert McGuire, the federal government filed motions in U.S. District Court to vacate a 30-month sentence against Cade Cothren and a 36-month sentence for Casada when President Donald Trump granted them pardons Nov. 7.

The move by prosecutors to vacate the convictions isn’t considered necessary because the presidential pardon leads to the same outcome. 

Trump pardons former Tennessee Speaker Casada, ex-chief of staff

A spokesman for the U.S. Attorney’s Office didn’t respond to emailed questions from the Tennessee Lookout.

They were set to report to prison this month after U.S. District Court Judge Eli Richardson sentenced them for a litany of convictions stemming from a fraudulent campaign vendor called Phoenix Solutions that targeted state lawmakers’ constituent mailers. 

Federal prosecutors started investigating Casada and Cothren in 2019 when the New Mexico-based company hit the scene after Cothren resigned his post amid a racist and sexist texting scandal and Casada exited the speaker’s office after a no-confidence vote.

Without pardons, Casada and Cothren were to report to prison Nov. 21 and Nov. 14, respectively.

Casada’s attorney, Ed Yarbrough, declined to comment when asked about a possible request for the conviction to be vacated.