NASHVILLE, Tenn. (WTVF) — Glen Casada, the former Tennessee Speaker of the House, is sentenced to 3 years in prison, one year of supervised release and a $30,000 fine. He was found guilty on 14 counts of honest service fraud and money laundering.
BREAKING: Glen Casada, former Tennessee Speaker of the House, is sentenced to 3 years in prison, one year of supervised release and a $30,000 fine.
— Chris Davis NC5 (@ChrisDavisMMJ) September 23, 2025
He was found guilty on 14 counts of honest service fraud and money laundering. @nc5
Casada was sentenced after being found guilty on 14 counts of conspiracy, honest services fraud and money laundering. Casada, and his former aide Cade Cothren, were accused of setting up the company Phoenix Solutions using a fake name, Matthew Phoenix, on federal tax documents to obtain state mailing contracts.
Last week, Cothren learned his fate from the judge: two and a half years in prison, a year of probation and a $25,000 fine.
So why did Casada get a longer sentence? Judge Eli Richardson said that's because Casada was the elected official and should be held to a higher standard. "No doubt, this was crummy and way below the expectations of a public official," Richardson said during sentencing.
Richardson added that Casada didn't show a lot of remorse for his actions. He explained, while Casada had a right to not self-incriminate himself, he felt like Casada was still contending he did absolutely nothing wrong. "None of this needed to happen," Judge Richardson added.
Prosecutors in the case wanted Casada to be sentenced to five years in prison, but the judge decided to go lower with the sentence given Casada's age of 66 and his low likelihood of getting in future criminal trouble.
Casada will be expected to report to federal prison on November 21st, but he could potentially stay out of custody longer, pending an appeal. In a few weeks, Judge Eli Richardson can decide whether or not he'll grant bond to both Casada and Cothren while a potential appeal is considered.
Cothren seeks presidential pardon
Meanwhile, Cothren didn't answer questions about seeking a presidential pardon last week, but activity on his social media appears to be telling a different story.
Cothren changed his profile picture on X to a photo he took on the day of his sentencing in front of President Donald Trump's official portrait inside the federal courthouse in Nashville. "If one of these guys is standing in front of Trump's picture putting up the thumbs up or whatever, that may be the last card he has to play," Raybin said.
Country music singer John Rich has been vocal on X about trying to persuade the president to pardon Cothren. But there was no mention of trying to do the same for Casada.
Despite Cothren's attempt to obtain a pardon, several members of the Tennessee House Republican leadership have previously posted on social media denouncing the idea of a pardon for either man in this scandal.
Do you have more information about this story? You can email me at Chris.Davis@NewsChannel5.com.
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