Former Illinois state senator William “Sam” McCann was sentenced to 42 months in prison on Tuesday for spending campaign funds on personal items such as trucks and recreational vehicles. McCann’s admission to wire fraud, money laundering, and tax evasion resulted in this verdict, delivered by U.S. District Judge Colleen Lawless.
Sentencing Details and Legal Proceedings
Judge Lawless handed down the sentence five months after McCann pleaded guilty to the charges. In addition to the prison term, McCann received two years of supervised release and was ordered to pay nearly $684,000 in restitution. McCann agreed to the restitution ahead of his sentencing.
McCann has been incarcerated since February after failing to contact probation officers following his discharge from a hospital. This incident delayed his trial by about a week. During his three-day trial, McCann admitted to misusing campaign funds, leading Judge Lawless to order him to remain in custody until his sentencing.
William McCann Sentenced to 3.5 Years for Money Laundering : Background and Charges
Elected to represent Illinois’ 49th District in 2011 and then the 50th District in 2013, McCann served until 2019. He did not run for re-election in 2018, instead launching an unsuccessful third-party campaign for governor.
