Ex-senator, Illinois governor candidate McCann gets 3 1/2 years for fraud and money laundering

SPRINGFIELD, Ill. (AP) — A former Illinois state senator and candidate for governor was sentenced Wednesday in federal court to 3 1/2 years in prison after pleading guilty to fraudulent use of campaign funds, money laundering and tax evasion.

U.S. District Court Judge Colleen Lawless, who also ordered William “Sam” McCann to pay $684,000 in restitution, noted during sentencing that McCann continued to siphon campaign money for personal use even after federal authorities confronted him. And she said he fraudulently claimed that he was physically and mentally unable to stand trial during a bizarre series of delays leading up to his February bench trial.

McCann, 54, who declared “God’s got this” after firing his attorneys in 2023 and announcing that he would represent himself, later capitulated and started trial with new representation before throwing in the towel on the third day of testimony. He entered a no-strings open guilty plea to seven counts of wire fraud and one count each of money laundering and tax evasion. He faced up to 20 years in prison for each count of fraud and money laundering alone.

A state senator from 2011 to 2019, McCann formed the Conservative Party of Illinois in a 2018 bid for governor. His candidacy drew $3 million in contributions from a labor union which considered him a worker-friendly “lunch-pail Republican.”

<bsp-list-loadmore data-module="" class=«PageListStandardB» data-gtm-region=«RELATED COVERAGE» data-gtm-topic=«No Value» data-show-loadmore=«true»