Cade Cothren

Cade Cothren served as chief of staff to Glen Casada, former Speaker of the Tennessee House of Representatives. Together they operated a political consulting company called Phoenix Solutions, with Cothren playing the role of "Matthew Phoenix" — a fictitious person he invented to serve as the company's proprietor, obscuring the pair's control of the firm. The scheme involved using their positions in the Tennessee legislature to steer taxpayer-funded constituent mailer contracts from other legislators to Phoenix Solutions, funneling public money to themselves. Cothren managed the day-to-day operations under his false identity, handling contracts with campaigns and legislative offices. Both men were convicted in federal court on charges of conspiracy to defraud the United States, honest services wire fraud, conspiracy to commit money laundering, and multiple counts of money laundering.