Former Speaker of the Tennessee House of Representatives Glen Casada and his chief of staff, Cade Cothren, have been arrested on bribery and conspiracy charges.
The U.S. Attorney for Nashville says both were indicted by a grand jury on Monday. The FBI arrested them at their homes Tuesday morning.
The 20-count indictment, unsealed Tuesday, charges Casada and Cothren with fabricating a fictitious political consultant named “Matthew Phoenix” to set up Phoenix Solutions in late 2019, the year Casada resigned as House Speaker. The company offered campaign services to other legislators.
According to federal prosecutors, the company submitted sham invoices to the state, secretly funneled state money through the company’s bank accounts, and engaged in bribery and kickback schemes.
They are accused of receiving nearly $52,000 from the state mailer program in 2020. If convicted, they could face up to 20 years in prison.
The indictment also mentions another “conspirator” who is described as a member of the Tennessee House of Representatives but is not named and is not part of the indictment.
In March, former state Rep. Robin Smith pleaded guilty to one count of wire fraud related to her role convincing legislative leaders to use Phoenix Solutions for constituent mailers. She’s scheduled to be sentenced in October.
In the wake of the arrests, House Speaker Cameron Sexton issued a statement praising the FBI and reiterating that he’d been assisting their investigation since 2019.
“In Tennessee, we will not tolerate public corruption, defrauding our state, or bribery at any level,” Sexton wrote. “Today is a good day for Tennesseans because we did not turn a blind eye on these criminal activities.”
Casada became a Williamson County Commissioner in 1994 and first won his state House seat in 2002. He rose to the role of Republican Majority Leader in 2016 and then House Speaker in 2019, but held the latter position for less than a year.
This year, Casada announced he wouldn’t run again, and then was soundly defeated in May in the race for county clerk in Williamson County.
This is a developing story and will be updated.