CONGRESSIONAL RACE Juror stumps for Traficant

The juror said he wanted to help any way he could.
YOUNGSTOWN -- Leo Glaser, juror No. 8 at the racketeering trial of James A. Traficant Jr., is working for the ex-congressman's election.
Glaser, a design technician at FirstEnergy in Cleveland, said he reached out to Jim Bunosky, Traficant's campaign manager, last week at the Ravenna headquarters and offered to help in any way he could.
"I'll do whatever he wants -- go door to door, attend rallies, stand on street corners holding signs, having news conferences or talking to anyone who's willing to listen to my story," Glaser said.
Glaser, 54, of Independence, said that had Traficant's co-defendant, Richard E. Detore, testified at trial -- as he did to a U.S. House ethics subcommittee in July -- it would have provided reasonable doubt.
Detore, who declined to testify at trial, told the ethics committee that he was indicted because he refused to lie for the government about Traficant.
"As a juror, I felt I got cheated," Glaser said today.
He said, however, that based on the evidence presented, he stands by his guilty verdict. "The way it went down, there was no other verdict that was possible."
Traficant was convicted on all 10 counts he faced April 11. He is serving an eight-year sentence in a federal prison in Pennsylvania and running as an independent for the 17th District congressional seat.
Detore's trial is set for January. The Virginia engineer is accused of taking part in a scheme with J.J. Cafaro of Liberty to bribe Traficant.
Glaser's first appearance for Traficant's campaign was Tuesday evening in Girard. Glaser said he doesn't know where he'll appear next, that it's up to Bunosky.
Glaser said today that he believes Traficant was targeted by the government. "He was always a burr under their saddle."
The former juror said he has Traficant's address in Pennsylvania and would like to visit some weekend.