Former Illinois state senator sentenced for wire fraud, money laundering

Former state senator and gubernatorial candidate Sam McCann received a 42-month prison sentence and a two-year conditional release for the misuse of campaign funds on Tuesday.

U.S. District Judge Colleen Lawless issued the sentencing at Paul Findley Federal Courthouse in Springfield, one she hopes will discourage similar action from public officials in the future.

"“Greed coupled with the abuse of power has become expected of public servants,” she said.

The sentencing was just shy of the maximum recommended prison time for cases like McCann's and 2 1/2 years more than what his court-appointed attorney Jason Vincent requested.

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McCann, 54, for his part expressed regret for his actions but stood behind his three terms and eight years in the Illinois Senate, his district making up parts of Sangamon County. Assistant U.S. Attorney Tim Bass said McCann had shown little remorse in past court proceedings and he had knowingly defrauded supporters of his campaign.

“This wasn’t a one-off. This wasn’t an anomaly,” Bass said, noting McCann still owned items he had purchased with his campaign funds. "He continued to use campaign funds for his personal expenses up to the point where there was nothing left.”

The sentencing came more than three years after his February 2021 indictment, where several continuations prolonged the process. McCann originally said he would represent himself, pushing back his trial months, before ultimately dropping that request. Sentencing itself was originally scheduled for June 20.

This February, McCann pleaded guilty to seven counts of wire fraud and one count each of money laundering and tax evasion and has been in custody at the Macon County jail prior to his conviction— despite a request for home confinement.

In total, federal prosecutors estimated he spent more than $630,000 in campaign funds between 2015 and 2020 on various personal items such as cars, a motor home and a family vacation to Colorado.

McCann served as a state senator from 2011 to 2019 and made a third-party run for governor in 2018 under the Conservative Party label. He received just north 4% of the vote that year, performing best in west-central Illinois. Two major donors to his campaign — Operating Engineers Local 150 in suburban Chicago and the Illinois Education Association — are also owed $683,816 in restitution per Lawless' ruling.

It has not been determined where McCann will serve his sentence, but it will likely be somewhere in the Midwest so his family can be close.

Contact Patrick M. Keck: [email protected], twitter.com/@pkeckreporter.

This article originally appeared on State Journal-Register: Former Illinois Senator Sam McCann sentenced on wire fraud charges