McCann Trial to Start Tuesday

Former state Sen. Sam McCann is pictured in a mugshot after being arrested last week for violating his conditions of pretrial release.McCann checked himself into a Missouri hospital on the eve of his corruption trial and allegedly failed to notify his probation officer of his release. His trial was again delayed until Tuesday, Feb. 13 after he terminated his plan to represent himself and agreed to let his standby attorney take over his defense.(Courthouse photo by Peter Hancock, Capitol News Illinois; booking photo from Macon County Sheriff’s Office)

PETER HANCOCK

CAPITOL NEWS ILLINOIS

The much-delayed federal corruption trial of former Illinois State Senator Sam McCann has been delayed yet again, but this time for only one day.

Capitol News Illinois reports McCann arrived at the federal courthouse in Springfield today (Monday) in a wheelchair and dressed in black-and-gray striped jail clothing after he was arrested last Friday for failing to show up at an earlier trial date.

McCann claimed to be suffering from memory loss and confusion due to not receiving his medications while in jail, a claim prosecutors disputed. He then agreed to cancel his plans to represent himself and instead let his standby counsel Jason Vincent take over his defense.

U-S District Judge Colleen Lawless granted a one-day delay to allow Vincent to prepare for trial. The case is scheduled to resume at nine a-m tomorrow (Tuesday).

The former Republican served eight years in the Senate before leaving the G-O-P and launching a third-party bid for governor in 2018. He now faces charges of wire fraud, money laundering, and attempted tax evasion for allegedly misusing campaign contributions for personal expenses.