William "Sam" McCann Jr. (born November 4, 1969) is an American politician who was a member of the Illinois Senate from 2011 to 2019.
[1] On July 10, 2024, he was sentenced in federal court to 3 1/2 years in prison after pleading guilty to fraudulent use of campaign funds, money laundering and tax evasion.
[1] In an interview with Politico, McCann described himself as an "independent conservative" and stated that he was motivated to run to prevent "two billionaires from Chicago" from being the only general-election candidates.
[17] The total amount for the challenged mileage reimbursements and "grouped expenditures" that McCann personally received from his campaign fund was $85,019.65.
[19] A day before the public hearing was to take place in September 2016, the complaint was dropped, but the complainant, through his attorney, pledged to refile it and include more allegations.
[20] In September 2017, McCann came under fire again when he used campaign funds to purchase an SUV for over $60,000 and a new engine on a personally owned vehicle.
The indictment alleges that from May 2015 to June 2020, McCann engaged in a scheme to convert more than $200,000 in contributions and donations made to his campaign committees to pay himself and make personal purchases, and that he concealed his fraud from donors, the public, the Illinois State Board of Elections and law enforcement authorities.