Sam McCann pleads guilty to wire fraud, money laundering, tax evasion charges
Former state senator and gubernatorial candidate William "Sam" McCann put an end to his federal trial on wire fraud, money laundering and tax evasion Thursday, pleading guilty to all nine counts.
McCann made an open plea admitting guilt on seven counts of wire fraud and one count each of money laundering and tax evasion for spending hundreds of thousands of dollars in campaign funds on personal items, such as cars, motor homes and vacations. He also used those funds to pay personal loans and make payments to himself over a five-year period from May 2015 to June 2020.
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The change of heart from McCann came after a nearly two-day trial in which federal prosecutors, led by Assistant U.S. Attorney Tim Bass, sought to prove he used those campaign funds in an illicit manner.
Testimony was provided from people who contributed to his campaign, such as officials from the International Union of Operating Engineers and the Illinois Education Association, former campaign staffers and even his own mother-in-law, who spoke about payments made to her from his campaign account that she didn't have any knowledge of.
McCann was originally indicted in February 2021, with the trial being continued several times over the course of the past three years. The trial had been slated to begin last November, but McCann decided to represent himself pro se, pushing the start date back to this February.
Shortly before the trial was slated to begin, McCann ended up being hospitalized at Missouri Baptist Medical Center in suburban St. Louis after he experienced a series of health problems. After returning home, he failed to make appropriate contact with the probation office, causing his bond to be revoked by U.S. Central District Judge Colleen Lawless.
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He was held at the Macon County Jail over the weekend and through the trial, but despite being physically present on Monday, McCann felt he wasn't in the best shape to go through with the trial and couldn't remember important events from the prior week, such as the appearance on the bond court violation.
As a result, his stand-by counsel, Jason Vincent of Springfield, stepped in full-time, allowing the trial to proceed as scheduled.
McCann served as a state senator from 2011-19, making a third-party run for governor in 2018 under the Conservative Party label. He got around 4% of the vote that year, performing best in west-central Illinois.
Sentencing in the case has been scheduled for June 20 at 10 a.m.
This article originally appeared on State Journal-Register: Former Illinois senator pleads guilty on nine federal felony counts