Former Tennessee Lawmaker Appeals To President Trump For Pardon Saying She Was Unfairly Targeted For Prosecution

Image Credit: capitol.tn.gov

The Tennessee Conservative [By Paula Gomes] –

Former Tennessee state lawmaker Robin Smith is appealing to President Trump for a pardon to help her avoid the eight-month prison sentence that she received at the end of October.

Smith says she was unfairly targeted for prosecution due to decades of political grassroots efforts in the conservative sphere, something she believes that President Trump would understand. 

Smith has been ordered to report to prison on January 5th for her part in a kickback scheme to defraud the state through taxpayer funded mailers. Following incarceration, Smith will have supervised release for one year. She has also been fined $7,500.

Sentencing for Smith was delayed for over two years in order for her to testify against one of her co-conspirators, former House Speaker Glen Casada.

Smith pleaded guilty in March 2022 to one count of honest services wire fraud in relation to the alleged scheme involving bribery and kickbacks in which she, Casada, and Casada’s former chief of staff Cade Cothren all played a part. The charge, regularly used in corruption prosecutions, was accompanied by Smith’s agreement to fully and truthfully cooperate with the federal government.

One time Tennessee Republican Party chair, Smith conspired with Casada and Cothren to create a fake company to participate in the state’s constituent mail program, funded with public dollars.

Cothren created a fake political vendor by the name of Phoenix Solutions, LLC using the fictitious name of “Matthew Phoenix” with which he operated the company, filing federal forms with the name.

In September, Smith paid off a $28,263.26 judgement in connection with the case which she received in July.

Smith paid off the judgement – considered to be equal to the proceeds she received from the scheme – in full via a cashier’s check. In all, Smith and her partners in crime raked in approximately $52,000 in taxpayer funds.

At the October federal sentencing for Smith, prosecutors asked for a longer incarceration – 18 months – while her defense asked for no more than a year of probation.

Smith argues that she was targeted for “lawfare” because of her past as a “stringent, conservative Republican” and deserves a pardon. 

She also believes that people caught up in political conspiracies in the future will be less likely to help the federal government with prosecutions if she ends up having to serve her sentence. Without her cooperation and trial testimony, Smith believes that the convictions of Casada and Cothren would not have been realized.

Leader of the Hamilton County Republican Party from 1998 to 2002, Smith was elected unanimously in 2007 to lead the state GOP.

Smith says she became “public enemy No. 1” when she promoted the use of President Barack Obama’s middle name, Hussein, during his campaign which led to a national conversation about whether Obama might possibly be Muslim.

Several Tennesseans have been pardoned by Trump during his second term in office as President. They include two men who were at the Capitol on January 6th, 2021, and others who were allegedly blocking access to abortion clinics.

Of note, Trump recently pardoned another former state lawmaker, Senator Brian Kelsey who pleaded guilty to two counts of campaign violations.

Kelsey was sentenced to 21 months in jail in 2022 for conspiracy to defraud the United States and for aiding and abetting the acceptance of funds in excess of federal limitations.

About the Author: Paula Gomes is a Tennessee resident and reporter for The Tennessee Conservative. You can reach Paula at paula@tennesseeconservativenews.com.