Overview
- Casada and Cothren received full pardons after September convictions that carried prison terms of 36 months and 30 months respectively, with Cothren also fined $25,000.
- Prosecutors said the pair steered taxpayer-funded lawmaker mailers through Phoenix Solutions using a fictitious “Matthew Phoenix,” with companies tied to Casada and then-Rep. Robin Smith receiving about $52,000 in 2020.
- A White House official said the case involved competitively priced constituent mailers, drew no legislator complaints, and produced a net profit loss under $5,000.
- Casada resigned as Tennessee House speaker in 2019 following scandals that included sexually explicit texts with Cothren, and the FBI raided both men’s homes in January 2021.
- The pardons continue a pattern of clemency for figures convicted of public corruption, raising fresh scrutiny of pardon power and public-integrity enforcement.