Fw: Jury Deliberates Case Against Ohio Congressman Traficant

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----- Original Message -----

From: " Myrl Jeffcoat " <myrlj@...>

<myrlj@...>

Sent: Tuesday, April 11, 2006 8:38 AM

Subject: Jury Deliberates Case Against Ohio Congressman Traficant

> The following message has been sent to us by Marti s. Somehow, it

was

> lost in my e-mail box for a couple of days. Thank you Marti for sending

> this our way. I know some of our women did work with Traficant on breast

> implant issues a few years back.

>

> Myrl

>

> ----

>

> Jury Deliberates Case Against Ohio Congressman Traficant

> Updated 2:40 PM ET April 8, 2002

>

> By Jay

>

> CLEVELAND (Reuters) - A jury began deliberating bribery and corruption

> charges against Ohio Rep. Traficant on Monday following a rancorous

> nine-week trial in which the nine-term U.S. congressman repeatedly accused

> the government of conducting a baseless vendetta against him.

>

> ``The government and the prosecutors have given you every vague

dissertation

> and hearsay,'' the veteran Democratic politician told the eight women and

> four men on the jury as he closed his case.

>

> ``There's not one bit of goddamn evidence that anyone gave me any money,''

> he added, calling the voluminous files the government produced as evidence

> ``circumstantial crap.''

>

> Assistant U.S. Attorney Craig Morford, who led the prosecution team, told

> the jury there was ample evidence to convict Traficant, 60, of all counts

> against him.

>

> Traficant could face 43 to 63 years in prison if convicted on all charges.

>

> Morford urged the jurors to ignore testimony that Traficant was an

outspoken

> advocate for his constituents, saying that did not give him the right to

> enrich himself on the side.

>

> During the trial Traficant acted as his own lawyer, though he is not an

> attorney. He clashed repeatedly on procedural issues with Judge Lesley

Wells

> of the U.S. District Court and with prosecutors.

>

> A grand jury indicted Traficant on May 4 on 10 federal charges, including

> bribery, fraud, obstruction of justice, filing false tax returns and

> racketeering.

>

> KICK-BACKS AND BRIBES ALLEGED

>

> Prosecutors alleged the former county sheriff demanded kick-backs from the

> salaries of some of his congressional staffers, that he accepted bribes

for

> lobbying and that he used staff members to work on his farm.

>

> They said Traficant used his power in the blue-collar, steel-making region

> of northeast Ohio to extract more than $100,000 from people who sought his

> assistance or help from government agencies.

>

> Traficant maintained the charges were baseless and that the government had

> been out to get him ever since 1983 when he beat a corruption charge --

also

> acting as his own lawyer -- in a trial that took place before he was

elected

> to Congress.

>

> Traficant's political career is also in shambles. His former congressional

> district has been carved into three pieces as a result of redistricting

> prompted by population changes and Ohio's loss of one seat in the House of

> Representatives. He has vowed, however, to run again as an independent in

> one part of his old district.

>

> In his closing argument Traficant said there were no finger prints or tape

> recordings linking him to any of the alleged bribes. He said the Internal

> Revenue Service had particular cause to dislike him because he had helped

to

> install an inspector-general at the IRS.

>

> Morford noted, however, that Traficant himself was a part of the

government,

> adding ``if the government's so bad, what has he been doing for 18

years?''

>

> The investigation of Traficant also produced a number of charges other

> individuals, some of whom pleaded guilty.

>

>

>