TBA Law Blog


Posted by: Kate Prince on Mar 7, 2022

Rep. Robin Smith, R-Hixson, today resigned from the Tennessee House after she was charged on one federal count of honest services wire fraud, the Tennessean reports. Prosecutors allege Smith, Rep. Glen Casada, R-Franklin, and Casada's former top aide Cade Cothren worked to set up a firm known as Phoenix Solutions, concealing its operator as Cothren engineered kickbacks to Smith and Casada. Smith and Casada allegedly received kickbacks from Cothren in exchange for using their official positions to pressure the House Speaker's Office to approve Phoenix Solutions as an official vendor and disburse state funds to the firm, according to court records. The Tennessee Journal reports that Smith has reached a plea agreement with federal prosecutors. A hearing on the matter is set for tomorrow at 4:30 p.m. CST in Nashville.