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It is highly unlikely, Squire said, that a well-known figure seeking election in the 17th District would attempt to flee.

Traficant is getting worse treatment than a lot of murderers out there. BTW, does anyone on this forum STILL think Traficant isn't being railroaded?

Traficant is getting worse treatment than a lot of murderers out there. BTW, does anyone on this forum STILL think Traficant isn't being railroaded?

I know he is no Saint but I feel the jury didn't have ALL the evidence. I don't think Traficant got a fair trial. OTOH, he DID act as his own lawyer and I think that cost him as well.

He believes that expulsion from the U.S. House of Representatives was punishment enough and that his prison sentence represents double jeopardy.

I feel sorry for the guy but this is a reach.

Judge Wells, in her decision, gave examples of threats Traficant made about what he would do to FBI agents and how he refused to allow a home inspection or provide the whereabouts of his firearms.

Is this woman serious? Does she really think that a 61-year-old man is going to go and mow down FBI agents with an undocumented assault rifle? Mr. Traficant poses virtually no threat to anyone. I mean, the man was convicted of bribery and corruption, and he's lost the public office from which to further commit these crimes.

This refusal to allow him to go out on bail, and her sentencing him to more time than the government recommened, seems to indicate that this judge may have a personal bias, or an axe to grind. Or, possibly, this judge is just disgusted with corruption in high office and wants to make an example out of the former Congressman. Either way, he still poses little threat to society anymore.

And, seriously, doesn't everyone think that depriving the poor man of his 'hairpiece' (to put it lightly) is punishment enough?

What about Rostenkowski!!! He was quite the criminal!! Traficant should have kept his senses and decorum ,however. I admire Jim T.I lived in Trumbull county for 25 years. He was highly regarded. I think that he was railroaded and deserves a new trial.

"Traficant is getting worse treatment than a lot of murderers out there. BTW, does anyone on this forum STILL think Traficant isn't being railroaded?"

I like the guy, and I don't think he got the best legal treatment in the world (mostly because he made the mistake of representing himself) but I don't think the evidence against him was created out of whole cloth. He WAS up to something down there, and he got caught.

He WAS railroaded in the House, though. You'll note that Dick Gephardt stuck by Gary Condit right up to close to the bitter end, but peed all over Trafficant from the get-go. Given that no one was expecting Chandra to be found alive, this means that Gephardt was willing to stand up for a guy who wasn't being forthcoming, and could very well have had something to do with the intern's death, but was unwilling to do the same for a guy who got caught doing the same thing other House members do all the time.

Trafficant was his own man and a fighter for ordinary folks, but he was no saint. I hope he succeeds on appeal, but I think he should lay low and get out of politics for a while thereafter.

J