Who is Glen Casada? Former Tennessee House Speaker arrested on federal charges

Tennessee's former House Speaker, Glen Casada, 63, and his former chief of staff, Cade Cothren, 35, were arrested on Tuesday on federal fraud charges following an in-depth investigation that was carried out against both men.

The former House Speaker resigned from his post in 2019. He did not seek re-election this year and is the first current or former representative of the House to be indicted in the history of Tennessee.

Glen Casada and Cothren appeared before a federal court where they pleaded not guilty to the charges. However, if convicted, the accused could be sentenced to 20 years in prison.

Glen Casada and Cothren were indicted by a federal grand jury and charged with conspiracy to commit -- theft from programs receiving federal funds; bribery and kickbacks concerning programs receiving federal funds; honest services wire fraud; and conspiracy to commit money laundering, the U.S. Attorney’s Office Middle District of Tennessee said in a press release.

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Glen Casada and Cade Cothren's connection with "Matthew Phoenix"

Glen Casada and Cade Cothren were arrested from their homes by federal agents. The former House Speaker has been accused of running a political consulting firm under the false identity of "Matthew Phoenix" to obtain funds for personal gains.

In a press release, the Department of Justice said:

"In October 2019, Casada, while representing Tennessee House District 63, Cothren, and another conspirator, also a member of the Tennessee House of Representatives, engaged in a fraudulent scheme to enrich themselves by exploiting Casada and the other conspirator’s official positions as legislators to obtain State approval of Phoenix Solutions as a Mailer Program vendor to provide constituent mail services to members of the Tennessee General Assembly."

It further stated:

"In fact, Cothren operated Phoenix Solutions, and Casada, Cothren, and the other conspirator allegedly knew that 'Matthew Phoenix' was a fictitious person and secretly profited from the fraudulent venture."

They would submit false invoices to the state government under the names of consulting companies owned by Glen Casada and the third conspirator. In 2020, these companies and Phoenix solutions pulled in around $51,947 from the state in payments connected to the mailer program.

House Speaker Cameron Sexton testified during the trial and assured authorities of utmost cooperation in the matter.

"In Tennessee, we will not tolerate public corruption, defrauding our state or bribery at any level. Together, our legislative body has stood strong over the past two years to take significant actions during this investigation by passing laws to strengthen campaign finance regulations and new ethics laws for elected officials and staff."

Sexton added:

"Today is a good day for Tennesseans because we did not turn a blind eye on these criminal activities."

House Minority Leader Karen Camper, D-Memphis, said:

"We are elected to serve the public and when that trust is broken, it’s very disheartening and erodes the confidence that our constituents have in government."

Camper further stated:

"This does, however, highlight how badly campaign finance reform continues to be needed and that bi-partisan legislation already passed needs to go much farther."

In November 2021, Casada announced that he would retire at the end of 2022.