Connie Ridley, former director of legislative administration, leaves the Fred D. Thompson Federal Courthouse on April 25, 2025, after testifying for the prosecution in a corruption case. (Photo: John Partipilo/Tennessee Lookout) Photograph by John Partipilo/Tennessee Lookout ©2025
Federal agents were already investigating a secretive state vendor for legislative mailers in May 2020 when Tennessee’s director of legislative administration found out a scandal-ridden staffer was running the company.
Now-retired director Connie Ridley testified Friday in U.S. District Court she was “advised” by the U.S. Department of Justice to keep processing invoices because of a federal investigation into Phoenix Solutions, a company run by ex-staff member Cade Cothren.
Testifying Friday on the fourth day of the corruption trial for former House Speaker Glen Casada and his ex-chief of staff Cothren, Ridley said she wouldn’t have approved New Mexico-based Phoenix Solutions as a state vendor if she had known Cothren was behind it.
In the wake of his involvement in a sexist and racist texting scandal that led to his resignation and Casada’s decision to step down in August 2019, Ridley said she had no confidence in Cothren and his judgment.
Casada, Cothren and former Rep. Robin Smith of Hixson were indicted on federal charges in 2022 in connection with an alleged fraud, bribery, theft and money laundering scheme involving the state’s postage and printing program for lawmakers, in which they’re allowed to use state funds to pay for information mailers to constituents. House members receive $3,000 annually and senators $8,000 because their districts are larger.
The prosecution introduced documents showing Cothren, using the alias Matthew Phoenix, formed Phoenix Solutions in December 2019, about three months after he left the Speaker’s office. Smith and Casada allegedly directed business to Cothren in return for kickbacks.
Former Tennessee House Speaker Glen Casada with wife Michelle, left, and a friend, leaves Nashville’s federal courthouse at the end of his first week on trial for corruption. (Photo: John Partipilo/Tennessee Lookout)
Cade Cothren, ex-chief of staff to former Tennessee House Speaker Glen Casada, exits the federal courthouse in Nashville on April 25, 2025. Cothren and Casada are on trial for charges including wire fraud. (Photo: John Partipilo/Tennessee Lookout) Photograph by John Partipilo/Tennessee Lookout ©2025
Glen Casada’s defense team, including attorneys Ed Yarbrough, front center, and Johnathan Farmer, front right, leave at the conclusion of the first week of Casada’s corruption trial. (Photo: John Partipilo/Tennessee Lookout) Photograph by John Partipilo/Tennessee Lookout ©2025
Ridley said Smith, who resigned, pleaded guilty and is cooperating with federal authorities, pressured her to make payments to Phoenix Solutions when it filed invoices for work on constituent mailers for former Rep. Patsy Hazlewood and current Reps. Jay Reedy, Paul Sherrell and Esther Helton-Haynes, all of whom are Republican.
Ridley said she initially declined to process the invoices because Phoenix Solutions hadn’t filled out a federal W-9 tax form.
Prosecutors displayed the IRS tax form, which was filled out under penalty of perjury, showing the signature of “Matthew Phoenix,” the bogus name used by Cothren to hide his identity. Prosecutors say Casada and Smith had to hide Cothren’s name or lawmakers wouldn’t have used the company.
Federal attorneys also showed canceled checks to Phoenix Solutions with Cothren’s signature.
Defense attorneys have admitted that Cothren was “Matthew Phoenix” and that he had to keep his identity secret or he wouldn’t have been able to conduct state business.
Ridley acknowledged she approved Phoenix Solutions as a vendor once it filed the W-9 form. She also required the same for Smith’s company, Rivers Edge Alliance, and Casada’s company, Right Way Consulting and eventually set up direct deposit into bank accounts.
Most of those invoices from December 2019 through mid-2020 ranged from about $2,500 to $4,500. The total amount involved in the case is $52,000.
Connie Ridley, former director of legislative administration, took the witness stand on Day 4 of the corruption trial of former House Speaker Glen Casada. (Credit: Paul Collins)
Defense attorneys said in their opening statements that federal investigators took aim at Cothren because of his indiscretions as chief of staff, believing he had to be guilty of running an illicit company because he was a “sinner.”
Ridley, who had discretion to approve vendors, said rules for lawmakers’ constituent mailers changed in mid-2020 when questions were being raised about Phoenix Solutions. The House Speaker’s office also had final approval on the mailers to make sure they met state guidelines.
The former director said she got “pushback” from Smith because of the rules, in addition to pressure to pay Phoenix Solutions.
At one point, Ridley said, Smith told her it was a “poor reflection on the state” for Phoenix Solutions not to be paid.
Prosecutors showed an email to Ridley from Smith saying it would be “illegal or unethical” to print and send out mailers without knowing payment was coming.
One email from Matthew Phoenix to a bogus assistant, Candice McKay, said it seemed as if the state’s Legislative Administration Office was “having some drama” and added Tennessee is “not the easiest state to work with.”
In response to cross examination from Cothren’s legal team, Ridley said she had concerns about approving Phoenix Solutions and both Casada’s and Smith’s companies as vendors and that she took her concerns to House Speaker Cameron Sexton.
“I felt it was a conflict of interest for sitting members of the General Assembly to sell services to other members,” she said.
Ridley said she did not share her concerns with either Casada or Smith and ultimately, senior staff members for Sexton directed her to pay the invoices for all three companies.
(Holly McCall contributed to this story.)
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