Auctioneer files a list of items that were sold

The ex-congressman's daughter signed a form stating the items were hers to sell.
By PATRICIA MEADE
VINDICATOR CRIME REPORTER
CLEVELAND -- The net proceeds of Jim Traficant memorabilia sold at auction is $10,314, and the government wants it all.
Auctioneer Jeff Anglin filed a list Tuesday in U.S. District Court of the 80-plus items sold Dec. 1 in Brookfield. The auction brought in $13,049, of which Anglin kept a $125 hauling fee and $2,610 commission.
Anglin was required to file the list as part of a government action against him in a writ of garnishment. A similar garnishment was filed against Traficant's daughter, Elizabeth Traficant Chahine of Boardman, who consigned the items for sale.
The garnishment 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.
By signing the auction consignment form, Chahine, 30, certified that she was the owner of the goods, had the right to sell them and that they were free from all encumbrances. Most of the items came from Traficant's horse farm in Greenford.
Government property
Scratched off the list was a conference table, six chairs, end table and hall tree that the General Services Administration in Washington, D.C., collected from Anglin two days before the auction. U.S. Rep. Bob Ney, chairman of the House Administration Committee, said the nine pieces of furniture consigned for the auction are government property.
Anglin also mailed a copy of the list to Traficant at the Federal Correctional Institution at Allenwood in White Deer, Pa.
"Within 20 days after receipt of the answer in a garnishment, the debtor or [the government] may file a written objection to the answer and request a hearing," said William J. Edwards, first assistant U.S. attorney in Cleveland. "The party objecting shall state the grounds for the objection and bear the burden of proving such grounds."
A copy of the objection and request for hearing must go to all parties, and the court shall then hold a hearing within 10 days, Edwards said Tuesday.
Anglin's not going to dispute it as long as he has his commission, Edwards said.
Objection
Traficant, as the debtor, can file an objection saying the government is trying to claim money that belongs to his wife or daughter to pay his debts, Edwards said. Traficant's daughter could also file an objection, saying the items were hers to sell, the federal prosecutor said.
If there's no objection, the court would award the auction proceeds to the government without a hearing, Edwards said.
The case falls to U.S. District Judge Lesley Brooks Wells, who presided over Traficant's racketeering and tax evasion trial. Judge Wells imposed the fine and forfeiture when she sentenced Traficant.
Traficant has not made a payment, and the government has begun tacking on 1.67 percent interest, compounded annually.
Subpoenas, meanwhile, have also been issued to Traficant's wife, Tish Traficant, and daughter that require them to be at the U.S. attorney's office on Superior Avenue at 1:30 p.m. Dec. 17.
The subpoenas were issued by Richard J. French, an assistant U.S. attorney assigned to the civil division. French informed the women that depositions will be taken and that certain documents must be made available to the government.
The government is tracking ownership of personal and real property and income sources as a way of satisfying the ex-congressman's debt.
meade@vindy.com