Hospitalization delays start of ex-Illinois state senator’s federal fraud trail
SPRINGFIELD, Ill. — The federal fraud and money laundering trial of William “Sam” McCann was postponed Monday after court officials learned the former Illinois state senator was hospitalized over the weekend.
McCann, 54, who ran a third-party campaign for governor in 2018, faces seven counts of bank fraud and several counts of money laundering and tax evasion for allegedly converting hundreds of thousands of dollars in campaign contributions for personal use. He was scheduled to stand trial in U.S. District Court Monday morning.
McCann is representing himself, but has a so-called standby attorney, Jason Vincent of Springfield. Vincent told U.S. District Judge Colleen Lawless that McCann’s wife, Vicki, reported that he drove Sam McCann to a hospital in suburban St. Louis on Saturday after he became ill and passed out.
Assistant U.S. Attorney Timothy Bass said he had subpoenaed the hospital for medical records and Lawless set another hearing late Monday afternoon in hopes of learning details, particularly McCann’s status and expected discharge date.
“We’re all speculating at this point about how he got to where he is today,” Lawless said. “What we do know is that he is indeed in the hospital. What we don’t know is the basis for it, the expected care plan or the expected discharge date.”
Since firing his lawyers in November and signaling his intention to defend himself, McCann has tried to delay the trial to give him more time to prepare. In a Jan. 10 motion, he complained that 70,000 pages of evidence had been presented against him and that he could not prepare an adequate defense within the allotted time. Lawless denied the motion.
Although Vicki McCann has not been charged with any crime, Bass told the court she was the treasurer of one or more of Sam McCann’s campaign committees and claimed she benefited from her husband’s fraud.
“The government doesn’t believe anything Mr. McCann says or anything Ms. McCann says,” Bass said. “We want to know when he was admitted, when he is expected to be discharged and what his actual medical condition is.”
Bass requested that McCann’s personal recognizance bond be revoked.
McCann owned two construction companies when he defeated an incumbent Democratic senator in 2010. He was re-elected twice and ran a third-party campaign for governor in 2018, receiving 4% of the vote and finishing behind the winning Democrat JB. Pritzker and then-incumbent Republican Governor Bruce Rauner.
Federal prosecutors charged McCann in February 2021 over McCann’s plans to divert money from his Senate and gubernatorial campaign funds for personal use.
He allegedly used more than $60,000 in campaign money to buy a 2017 Ford Expedition and a 2018 Ford F-250 pickup, then used more for fuel, loan payments and insurance on both, and billed himself for the mileage with the truck, paid back money he had received. the right.
In one alleged scheme, McCann used $43,000 to purchase a recreational vehicle and trailer, prosecutors said. He rented them through an Ohio-based rental company, but then leased the vehicles from himself with campaign funds. In total, the purchase and rental of the recreational vehicles netted McCann an additional $77,800.
McCann also allegedly paid himself more than $150,000 from Senate and Governor campaign funds for services he did not complete, using $50,000 for personal credit card bills.