Traficant draws eight-year jail term
CLEVELAND (AP) – Expelled from Congress a week ago, an unrepentant James A. Traficant Jr. was sentenced to eight years behind bars for corruption Tuesday and made it clear he intends to run for re-election from his prison cell – and expects to win. “Quite frankly, I expect to be re-elected,” the pugnacious former congressman told U.S. District Judge Lesley Wells after she imposed sentence.
The 61-year-old former House member was then led off to jail in handcuffs after Wells refused to let him remain free on bail while he appeals his conviction. In April, he was convicted of 10 counts of bribery, racketeering and tax evasion.
Wells gave Traficant a longer sentence than the minimum 7 1/4 years prosecutors had requested, saying he had no respect for the government and used lies to distract attention from the charges against him. The judge also ordered him to pay a $150,000 fine on top of the $96,000 the jury required him to forfeit.
Wells also told Traficant that he believes he is above the law.
Paraphrasing Traficant’s repeated refrain that he would fight the charges “like a junk yard dog,” Wells said he did so “to protect a junk yard full of deceit and corruption and greed.”
She said his constant public statements accusing the government of misconduct are “the drumbeat of the big lie.”
Traficant objected in a rage. “I am not going to be pushed around,” he shouted. “I am tired of the diatribes.”
He turned to Assistant U.S. Attorney Craig Morford and other government officials and repeated his oft-stated claim of witness intimidation.
“You should be ashamed of yourself, not me,” he said. “You’re a bunch of damn crooks!”
Traficant is running for re-election as an independent in the redrawn 17th District in northeast Ohio against Democratic state Sen. Tim Ryan, Republican state Rep. Ann Womer Benjamin and independent Warren Davis, a former labor leader.
The Youngstown-area district he has represented since 1984 was eliminated in January by Ohio’s Republican-controlled legislature.
Wells refused Traficant’s request to release him on bond pending his appeal.
She said Traficant had threatened federal investigators and violated his bond by making a brief trip to Pennsylvania to interview a witness in the case without the court’s permission.
Wells said Traficant knew that the trip violated his bond.
She rejected his request that he be allowed to go free to put his house and his papers in order.
As he was led away, Traficant turned to a bench of his supporters and said sardonically, “See ya, kids.”
Morford welcomed the judge’s decision.
“In these types of cases when you have those types of facts, the defendant always goes to jail,” he said. “There shouldn’t be any exceptions for him for who he is.”
He should be treated like any other defendant, which is what the judge did today.”
Mark Colucci, appointed by Traficant to represent him during his appeal, said he will ask the U.S. Court of Appeals to free Traficant while he appeals his conviction.
“I think the sentence of eight years compared to the people who were turned loose for testifying against him is a raw deal for our community,” Colucci said.
During the hearing, Traficant accused Wells of aiding prosecutors and complained that he wasn’t allowed to use his claim of a government vendetta as a defense.
“Why did you tie my hands behind my back?” he asked Wells, who ordered him to sit down.
After a raucous trial lasting about 2 1/2 months, Traficant was found guilty of requiring staff members to do personal chores for him and kick back a portion of their paychecks and of accepting cash bribes and various favors from businessmen who were seeking his help in Washington.
But Tuesday he said he had done nothing wrong.
“I’m not ashamed of a damned thing,” he said.
Traficant defended himself throughout his trial and during the expulsion proceedings in Congress. At his sentencing he was represented by Cleveland lawyer Richard Hackerd, but Traficant fired Hackerd in the middle of the hearing.