CHICAGO (CBS/AP) — Former Illinois State Sen. William “Sam” McCann was arrested on Friday, ahead of his trial next week on corruption charges, after a federal judge said he violated the terms of his pretrial release.
McCann, 54, a onetime third-party candidate for governor, originally was supposed to go on trial earlier this week on charges of wire fraud and money laundering, but the trial was delayed after he was hospitalized last weekend.
He had checked himself in to a St. Louis area hospital on Saturday, and was released on Wednesday, and was supposed to check in with the federal probation office when he got home, but failed to do so.
U.S. District Judge Colleen Lawless ordered him taken into custody on Friday, after he claimed he had emailed his probation officer when he got home, but couldn’t provide proof, and another probation officer said they had tried several times to reach McCann and his wife without success.