Former state Rep. Robin Smith, R-Hixson, has requested to be resentenced to probation for her role in a corruption conspiracy after her codefendants were pardoned, leaving her “alone to suffer” for their collective crimes, according to a motion.
Smith, then-Tennessee House Speaker Glen Casada, R-Franklin, and his one-time chief of staff, Cade Cothren, conspired to defraud fellow Republican legislators from October 2019 to January 2021, according to the reconsideration motion.
While Casada and Cothren were pardoned this month for their involvement by President Donald Trump, Smith is still expected to serve an eight-month prison sentence and pay over $28,000 in restitution and a $7,500 fine.
Smith’s attorneys unsuccessfully sought probation at her October sentencing hearing. She announced she was seeking a pardon shortly after. Now, her legal team is arguing against prison time again, according to the motion.
She should serve probation with no special conditions and pay no fine to mitigate “the manifest injustice” of being the only conspirator to face criminal sanctions, the motion said.