Overview
- Casada and Cothren were convicted in 2025 for a scheme using Phoenix Solutions and a fictitious “Matthew Phoenix” persona to steer about $52,000 in taxpayer-funded mailer work.
- The full pardons erase September sentences of 36 months for Casada and 30 months for Cothren after their public-corruption convictions.
- A White House official said legislators never complained, the mailers were competitively priced, and the scheme produced a net profit loss under $5,000.
- The investigation included FBI raids in January 2021 during Trump’s first term, and the trial was overseen by a judge he appointed.
- Casada’s attorney said Trump phoned Thursday to grant a full pardon days before Casada was to report to prison.