Former state Rep. Robin Smith, R-Hixson, is hoping for “grace in the form of a presidential pardon” from an eight-month prison sentence, arguing she was unfairly targeted for prosecution due to her high-profile political past, according to her attorney, Ben Rose.
“I applaud President Donald Trump for his efforts to end the weaponization of government and lawfare,” Smith said in a statement to the Chattanooga Times Free Press. “My 35 years of grassroots, conservative work at the local, state and federal levels has come with the risk of being on enemies’ lists and unfairly targeted. No one knows how this feels more than President Trump.”
Smith pleaded guilty in March 2022 to one count of honest services wire fraud and cooperated with the government for over three years during its successful prosecution of ex-House Speaker Glen Casada, R-Franklin, and his one-time chief of staff, Cade Cothren, according to Rose, who spoke by both phone and email.
Smith, Casada and Cothren all played a role in a corruption conspiracy in which they illegally profited off the Tennessee General Assembly’s taxpayer-funded constituent mail program from October 2019 to January 2021.