McCann Continuance Motion Granted for Federal Trial

By Benjamin Cox on July 20, 2021 at 6:17am

The federal trial of a former local state senator and one-time candidate for governor will have to wait a bit longer.

The U.S. Court of the Central District of Illinois granted a second continuance to the defense counsel of William “Sam” McCann in court yesterday, moving McCann’s trial to November. McCann has been accused of money laundering, tax evasion, and misuse of campaign funds. McCann has plead not guilty to all of the charges.

McCann’s federal public defender Rosana Brown asked for a second continuance on July 6th after receiving what she characterized as “voluminous amounts” of discovery documents in the case, saying it would be impossible to bring the case to trial on July 27th. More than 64,000 pages of material have been handed over to the defense by federal prosecutors in the case. McCann was granted a 90-day continuance in March in the case.

McCann faces more than 45 years in prison and up to $1 million in fines if convicted. Final pre-trial via teleconference has been set for October 18th with jury selection to being in Springfield later that day.