An ex-House staffer convicted in a political corruption case is requesting a joint sentencing hearing with his former boss where they are expected to object to the rules for calculating their sentences to get lighter punishment.
Cade Cothren, chief of staff for former House Speaker Glen Casada, is asking for his sentencing guidelines hearing to be held at the same time as Casada’s on Sept. 12 at the federal courthouse in Nashville. Casada, though, wants a separate hearing, according to the filing.
Casada was convicted on 17 counts and Cothren on 19 counts of fraud, bribery, theft, conspiracy and money laundering in May. One fraud conviction alone comes with a maximum sentence of 20 years in prison and a $250,000 fine.
Casada sought a new trial in the case, but U.S. District Court Judge Eli Richardson hasn’t ruled on the request.
A recent filing by Cothren’s attorney, Cynthia Sherwood, says objections by Cothren and Casada to sentencing guidelines “overlap almost completely.” A consolidated hearing will keep the judge from hearing the same argument twice, according to Sherwood’s filing. Joint hearings may be “unusual” but aren’t “unprecedented,” the filing says.