Posted on 07/29/2002 7:23:19 AM PDT by PJ-Comix
In his last gasp for freedom, James Traficant looked at jurors in his corruption case and promised that he could take what they doled out.
"If you find me guilty, you come out and just say it," Traficant roared. "I'll accept it like a man."
Federal prosecutors say Traficant has accepted nothing about the jury's verdict in April and has failed to show any remorse. Instead, they say in pleadings filed Friday, he has accused investigators, attorneys and a judge of corruptly conspiring to bring him down.
Because of those actions, and for tarnishing the image of Congress, Traficant now deserves the harshest sentence possible, they say.
Tomorrow, U.S. District Judge Lesley Wells will decide Traficant's prison term, one that attorneys have argued over for weeks. The former 18-year member of Congress faces 87 months in prison after being convicted of 10 felony charges, according to federal guidelines.
But Wells has the discretion to add to or subtract from that.
The judge is expected to listen to some character witnesses who will describe Traficant's 22 years of public service to the Mahoning Valley, including four years as sheriff before he was elected to the U.S. House. Sentencing hearings typically last less than an hour, but the testimony and legal arguments slated for this one could stretch it out over a full day or more, some court officials predict.
Prosecutors say Traficant deserves a much greater sentence than the 87 months because his crimes were so egregious: He shook down contractors who did hundreds of thousands of dollars of free work at his farm and boat in exchange for political favors. They also say his outlandish behavior after the verdict warrants a steep sentence.
Traficant's attorney says his client deserves a much lighter term in prison because of his "lifelong dedication and exceptional public service."
Traficant has denied wrongdoing. With bluster and profanity, he tried - and failed - to bully his House colleagues out of voting last week to toss him from office.
Traficant told them that he was railroaded during his federal jury trial in Cleveland. Legal experts say Traficant's ouster from the House, as well as two jurors expressing second thoughts about his conviction, are not likely to play into Wells' sentencing.
At the end of the 10-week trial, on April 11, a jury convicted him of 10 corruption charges, including tampering with witnesses, bribery and racketeering. Traficant said many witnesses whom prosecutors called at his trial were felons who testified against him to get light sentences.
Traficant wants Wells to allow him to remain free on bond until an appeals court decides his case. But prosecutors in Cleveland say Traficant must first show that he has a chance of winning an appeal, and they believe he has none. They want Traficant to go immediately to prison.
Federal authorities said the impact of his misdeeds go far beyond his district.
"The fact that a member of Congress, one of the highest positions in our government, has been convicted of these crimes of dishonesty will cause some loss of public confidence in these institutions at the very time citizens must depend on them to ensure our domestic security," prosecutors wrote in court documents.
They stopped short of saying how much more time in prison Traficant should spend, but they asked for a substantial increase to "fully reflect the nature of the crime and extent of its harm on the community."
Prosecutors also contend that Traficant is a risk to run. During his trial, he told Wells: "I do caution the court, that if you poison this jury one more time, you'll have to send a marshal for me because I am not coming back to your courtroom. You can put that on the record."
Traficant represented himself at trial, even though he is not an attorney. For his sentencing, he has an attorney, Richard Hackerd, who said the former congressman is no threat to vanish.
Hackerd also said Traficant deserves the minimum sentence because of his service to the Youngstown area. He cited Traficant's four-year term as sheriff, when Traficant refused to foreclose on the homes of laid-off steelworkers. Traficant was found in contempt of court, and he was sent to jail for failing to remove the families from their homes.
"This demonstrates his willingness to sacrifice his personal liberty for the community," Hackerd said in documents. He plans to call witnesses tomorrow and present affidavits from constituents whom the former congressman helped.
"His office was aggressive in constituent services, and Mr. Traficant pursued legislation action diligently," Hackerd wrote.
Prosecutors say Traficant did not serve his community, but stole from it. They said he took more than $200,000 in kickbacks from his employees, forced his staff to clean stalls at his horse farm and encouraged witnesses to lie for him. And if a constituent needed help, they said, Traficant wanted to know what the citizen could do for him first.
To reach this Plain Dealer reporter:
jcaniglia@plaind.com, 216-999-4128
Instead, they say in pleadings filed Friday, he has accused investigators, attorneys and a judge of corruptly conspiring to bring him down.
Because of those actions, and for tarnishing the image of Congress, Traficant now deserves the harshest sentence possible, they say.
So if the prosecutors and the judge really are corrupt, the message here is that the defendent must shut his mouth or have the book thrown at him. As for "tarnishing the image of Congress," don't make me laugh.
Tomorrow, U.S. District Judge Lesley Wells will decide Traficant's prison term.
So does the husband of Judge Wells have business dealings with the prosectution team? Unfortunately, this reporter didn't check that allegation out.
Legal experts say Traficant's ouster from the House, as well as two jurors expressing second thoughts about his conviction, are not likely to play into Wells' sentencing.
The two jurors having second thoughts should DEFINITELY play into the sentencing.
He cited Traficant's four-year term as sheriff, when Traficant refused to foreclose on the homes of laid-off steelworkers. Traficant was found in contempt of court, and he was sent to jail for failing to remove the families from their homes.
And how many other members of Congress would have the cojones to go to jail on a matter of principal like this? Yeah, that Traficant is evil alright. He served jail time for REFUSING to evict folks from their homes.
And if a constituent needed help, they said, Traficant wanted to know what the citizen could do for him first.
Yeah, sure. What kind of favors did the family of John Demjanjuk do for Traficant when he went to bat for them at great political risk? What happened is that Traficant helped them investigate the PROVEN corruption of the Justice Department on this matter.
Well, the problem with going to jail on this "principle", is that it is wrongheaded. Sob stories aside, it is evident that the "laid off steelworkers" didn't pay for their homes. What will typically happen in a situation like that is eviction. If every public official decided to stand on the same principle (that you get something for nothing), they'd all be in jail and all the banks would go under.
Traficant's an interesting but altogether nutty dude. Whatever good he did for his constituents doesn't erase the fact that he's been convicted of crimes. By your logic, we had no right to demand Clinton's impeachment and removal because the economy was fine.
It explains his defense of condit and his NO vote on impeachment of clinton. The man fails to see the TRUTH as he is busily searching for excuses.
That does not suggest that Condit, Clinton, OJ, and countless others who skated were not guilty. I believe Trafficant broke the law.
"Mr. Speaker, today Congress will debate two bills. The first bill is partial-birth abortions. The second bill is wildlife and sport fish restoration. Unbelievable. Kill the babies but save the trout and the tit mouse. Beam me up. In fact, beam me up, Scotty. See, I believe that Congress and America can and should save both the babies and the wildlife. Think about it. I yield back an old street saying: Only in America, Mr. Speaker.""Mr. Speaker, a 1992 law designed to save water said that the old standard 3 1/2 gallon toilet must be replaced with a 1 1/2 gallon streamlined job. It sounds good, but Americans have been flushing away ever since. It has gotten so bad there is now a black market on old reliables. It is no joke. Americans are getting potty fatigue flushing their own toilet. If that is not enough, Members of the other side, to squeeze your Charmin, if you get caught flushing an old reliable in your own home, it is a $2,500 fine. Beam me up here. I say the nincompoop over at EPA who suggested this policy should go to a proctologist for a brain scan. Flush this. I yield back all the constipation over this issue and urge us to bring old reliable back to its appropriate throne."
I disagree. It worked perfectly, like a well run railroad, all the players playing their parts to perfection.
There is a senator in good standing who ran a homo bordello out of his house.
And JT goes to prison, hard time.
And yet their crimes were much worse than those alleged about Traficant. They committed PERJURY (now not an impeachable offense).
This practice has to stop. A felon is a criminal; why should the jury or anyone expect the truth from a convicted felon. A lighter sentence is motive in itself to extract lies.
I just hope Traficant gets a good lawyer this time to handle the appeals process. This case is definitely one that is SCREAMING OUT to be overturned..... And I still want more info about Judge Wells' husband....Charles Clark.
And for all his faults, 7 or 8 or 9 times out of 10, when he spoke up about something, I agreed with him.
Yeah, the twit said Traficant was too smart to be caught by the FBI.
They had no evidence but threw him out anyway.
Have you checked out the hearings on C-Span.org?
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