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
If you are a small fry that can be ignored or labeled a kook, that's one thing. But a congressman? FORGET ABOUT IT!
To: exodus
Where online can we find the transcript of the Ethics Committee hearings on Traficant?
If you can find it, please post the link here.
Thanx.
# 45 by PJ-Comix
Here you go, PJ-Comix.
For these Ethics Committee transcripts you will need the acrobat reader program. If you find a link to a regular html transcript, please let me know. I can't copy and paste from the acrobat program.
http://www.yourcongress.com/ViewArticle.asp?article_id=2545
Contrasted to Clinton, Traficant is small potatoes.
You didn't watch any of it did you?
Copy-paste away!
HeHeee, there is no evidence, Travis.
Traficant is right, but he hasn't gone far enough yet. I hope he will.
So, do you think Traficant would have got off if he had hired a lawyer?
Richard Detore, also fighting the Government paid, $240,000 and then his lawyer quit him.
He seemed to do very well without a lawyer at the hearings.
Oh, nevermind, most folks had rather watch somthing else.
Maybe so, but I wonder about one of the audios I heard.
There were voices that were never identified. One said, "Where's the fuel? I know they have fuel here!"
Would you please share a fact with us?
Maybe no physical evedence. But I have him on tape!
I reckon he ain't as smart as Traficant!
Naw, he might get his face dirty.
By your logic, the government-ordered murder of the Branch Davidians was okay,YOU'RE overlooking the culpability of Vernon Wayne Howell in his refusal to honor deals he struck -
- the promises he went back on (a promise to release his people from the compound) - deals that included air-time on 50 thouand Watt radio station KRLD (in Dallas) for his 'message' as well as time to write about the Seven Seals (a 'stall' it turns that he perpetrated on us all).
Of course, it is your right to do this (ignore the other half of the coin) to bolster your argument and your 'case'. A weak and dishonest practice - but your right in the end ...
Ruby Ridge was a terrible and henious act by the government along with waco.AND so the obfuscation continues, fed by militia-borne web-sites hawking their version of events ...
It's absolutely incredulous that these 'sites' tell *only* ONE side of the story, as if they were blind to reality and human nature and what criminals are actually capable of.
A dishonest and disingenuous practice, unfit for patriots and those with a *real* taste for the truth ...
I brought up Waco, yes. Our government committed premeditated murder there, murder planned and orchestrated at the highest levels of our government.THAT'S what you've been told - by a group (and groups) with their OWN agendas to promote.
NEVER MIND that McNulty and crew assembled video footage OUT OF SEQUENCE according to real events.
NEVER MIND that he and his crew became known and gained fame because of 'very loose' playing with what he deemed to be 'the facts'.
Producing hte kind of propaganda like he produced would have made Goebels proud ... and when the soft-headed in America lap that kind of dribble up - I just *know* it's over for logic in America.
It's time to head back to the caves and start over -
- as MANKIND has FAILED in the use of his intellect and finally allowed his HEART to be won over by sheer emotionalism via video-producing con-artists out to make money damning the real facts all the while ...
Arent you aware that some of our allies in WWII were members of the Vichy French government? We didnt like De Gaulle and forced him to form war governments with at least two separate vichy leaders during the war.
Did they fly in on Black Helicoptors with guys in little blue helmets? Are these the same guys that ordered the assasinations of JFK, Reagan, the Pope, etc?
And you are a big time sucker. Want to buy a bridge?
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