BROOKFIELD At Traficant auction, many come ready to do their bidding

The auctioneer prohibited news cameras inside the event that drew about 500.
By PATRICIA MEADE
VINDICATOR CRIME REPORTER
BROOKFIELD -- Even a miniature wooden bowling pin used to mark Jim Traficant's seat at a banquet table 20 years ago brought $60 at auction.
Items that once belonged to the imprisoned ex-congressman, identifiable by orange dots, drew die-hard collectors (and the merely curious) to Jeff Anglin's Auction Service on Sunday afternoon. Roughly 500 people filled the rear of Valley View Antique Mall, 7281 Warren-Sharon Road.
Some auction-goers used their left hand to hold sandwiches, keeping their right hand free to raise their assigned auction number placard when the time came.
Others just wandered about, at times running a hand over the orange-dot items on display.
Standing on an elevated platform, Anglin kept things moving with his rapid-fire banter.
Surprised by prices
Cradling a small iron horse bank, Roger Bauer of Warren expressed awe at the prices paid for the type of goods typically seen at garage sales.
"There's no way this is worth $135.50," Bauer said, holding out his purchase. "I just wanted something for my bar."
Bauer, grinning, then added: "This will tide me over until Tim Ryan's auction."
Ryan, of Niles, is congressman-elect for the 17th District, having defeated Ann Womer Benjamin and Traficant, who ran from his Pennsylvania prison cell.
Opening his jacket, Bauer displayed a T-shirt made for his wife's bid for Congress. His wife, Warren attorney Maridee Costanzo, ran unsuccessfully in the May Democratic primary.
If the Traficant auction had one theme, it was American saddle-bred horses.
Four ceramic beer steins, with distinctive prints of American saddle-bred horses on each, sold for $150. Four small plates, again with horses on them, sold for $110. A small cream pitcher, with resplendent horse, of course, sold for $115.
Traficant raised American saddle-bred horses at his farm on state Route 165 in Greenford. Most of the household goods sold Sunday came from the 76-acre farm owned by Traficant's daughter Elizabeth.
A little jug went for $27. A small paddle fan with ducks on it sold for $10. A framed and autographed picture of astronauts brought $400. Duck stamps sold for $625. Cutlery in a slanted stand went for $60.
Promoted auction
Anglin, who had welcomed reporters and photographers for pre-auction hype a week ago, prohibited cameras at Sunday's event. He also warned the crowd that "the media is running around" and "just tell them no if you don't want to talk."
Anglin's effort to promote the auction drew the notice of two government entities.
The General Services Administration in Washington, D.C., collected a conference table, six chairs, end table and hall tree from Anglin's last Friday.
U.S. Rep. Bob Ney, chairman of the House Administration Committee, said the nine pieces of furniture consigned for the auction are government property.
Ney said a marble-top desk and matching credenza were originally government property but that Traficant apparently bought the items in the late 1980s.
The desk sold for $1,550 and the credenza for $900 to a man who declined to give his name. When asked if he thought the furniture had historical value, he said "that could be."
The auction also caused the U.S. attorney's office in Cleveland to file an application a week ago to seize proceeds of the event.
The garnishment request, filed in U.S. District Court, is an effort to collect a $150,000 fine levied by the judge who sentenced Traficant to eight years in prison in July.
The 61-year-old ex-congressman from Poland, found guilty of racketeering and tax evasion, also owes a $96,000 forfeiture and nearly $20,000 to the IRS.
A man with a yellow legal pad wrote down each item and its selling price from the Traficant collection. When he and his companion were approached by a reporter, they denied being with any government agency.
Anglin said Traficant's wife, Tish, and daughter consigned the auction items, which included furniture, antiques, artwork, prints, collectibles and church pews. The auctioneer said that he had been contacted by the government about the garnishment.
Pews drew attention
The items that seemed to cause the most auction buzz were seven church pews. People milled about them, some even sat down for a while.
"What, he had his own little church? Where did he get this stuff?" Bob Zynski wondered as he leaned on a church pew. "I hope the government gets most of the money."
Zynski said his wife, Helen, didn't attend to buy anything that once belonged to Traficant. "She wanted to come -- I didn't," Zynski said, grinning.
The Canfield couple marveled at the church pews with built-in hymn book stands. Colorful carpets covered the seats and backs.
Anglin, when auctioning the church pews, invited potential buyers to feel free to make up their own story of where the pews came from. He said he'd heard Columbiana and Youngstown.
Mark Ferrara, curriculum director for the Neshannock (Pa.) School District, bought the pews at $245 each. The 44-year-old Brookfield man wasn't quite sure what he'd do with them, each about 6 feet long.
"I don't know. Save them. I'll give [Traficant] one when he gets of jail, if he wants it," Ferrara said. "They're neat items, aren't they?"
Ferrara said he doesn't think Traficant is 100-percent guilty, or 100-percent innocent. People should remember the good he did, he said.
"Look at what he did over the 18 years he was in Congress," Ferrara said. "People should be forgiving."
Ferrara said his wife didn't accompany him to the auction. He said she wouldn't be surprised by his purchase of seven pews -- the carpets alone have value.
meade@vindy.com