SPRINGFIELD, Ill. (WCIA) — A former state legislator and gubernatorial candidate has pled guilty to wire fraud after improperly spending campaign funds.
Court documents confirm former Central Illinois legislator Sam McCann pled guilty on all counts Thursday afternoon after appearing several days in court this week.
McCann served in the Senate as a Republican from 2011 to 2019. He ran as a third-party candidate under the Conservative Party for the 2018 governor election, and received around 4.2 percent of the vote.
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Federal investigators were looking into McCann’s campaign expenses as early as Feb. 2019. WCIA investigated McCann’s expenses in December 2019 and found $168,665 in secret payroll expenses. A spokesperson for the State Board of Elections described the expenses as “illegal” at the time.
McCann was indicted in 2021 for seven counts of wire fraud, as well as one count of money laundering and one count of tax evasion.