Traficant moved to Minn. Ex-rep now in a facility that provides medical care

The Supreme Court will decide in January whether to accept his appeal.
YOUNGSTOWN -- Ex-U.S. Rep. James A. Traficant Jr. has been transferred to the Federal Medical Center in Rochester, Minn., for an undisclosed physical or mental health condition.
Traficant, 63, of Poland, was moved Monday, Carla Wilson, federal Bureau of Prisons spokesman in Washington, D.C., said Wednesday. She said the reason for the move is not public record.
Wilson would only say that the prison facility in Minnesota provides medical services for inmates who have "serious or chronic" problems.
Conviction
Traficant, convicted of racketeering, bribery and tax evasion, received an eight-year sentence July 30, 2002, and has been in custody since then. The U.S. House of Representatives also expelled him.
Traficant had been at the Federal Correctional Institution in Ray Brook, N.Y., since March 11. Before that, he was incarcerated at the Federal Correctional Institution at Allenwood in White Deer, Pa.
While at Allenwood, Traficant received discipline, including being placed in lock-down isolation because he refused to work in the kitchen, according to Vindicator files.
As a result, in December 2003, his projected release was extended by 24 days, meaning the ex-congressman's behavior in prison failed to earn him "good time." His projected release is Aug. 10, 2009; it had been July 17, 2009.
A Web site, meanwhile, shows the Federal Medical Center in Rochester, Minn., was formerly the Rochester State Hospital. In 1983, the Bureau of Prisons bought the property.
The prison provides inpatient and outpatient medical, surgical and psychiatric care. The care includes diagnosing and treating all kinds of prisoners' health problems.
Appeal process
Traficant's Toledo lawyer, Richard M. Kerger, meanwhile, filed a petition with the U.S. Supreme Court that asks it to review the decision of the 6th Circuit Court of Appeals that upheld Traficant's conviction in Cleveland federal court. The document Kerger filed is called a "petition for writ of certiorari."
The U.S. Supreme Court has the petition scheduled for a conference discussion on Jan. 7. Kerger said Wednesday that he will then be notified of the court's decision -- whether it will review the decision of the lower court or not.
Kerger said the U.S. Supreme Court likely receives 10,000 to 15,000 such petitions each year and, of those, decides to take roughly 150 cases for review.
"If the court takes the case, it will be because they probably want to reverse it," Kerger said. "I would love to take this case [to the Supreme Court] but I'm not all that hopeful."
Kerger, in his petition to the U.S. Supreme Court, presented these two questions:
UIs a member of the House of Representatives twice placed in jeopardy in violation of the Fifth Amendment to the U.S. Constitution when prosecuted by both the House Ethics Committee and Justice Department for the same conduct? (The House of Representatives expelled Traficant based on trial evidence presented to the ethics committee, a week before the judge sentenced him).
UDid the juror selection plan for the Eastern Division, Northern District of Ohio [Cleveland federal court] give an unfair advantage to the government thereby denying Traficant the right to be tried by a jury of his peers? (No jurors from Traficant's district -- Mahoning, Trumbull and Columbiana counties -- were drawn for the trial).
Kerger said he hasn't seen Traficant "since he moved up north."
Each month, the government takes $770 from Traficant's federal pension and $50 from his prison-work earnings and applies the money toward his fine. The Poland Democrat, who served 17 1/2 years as 17th District representative, has an annual pension of roughly $40,000, which kicked in May 8, 2003, when he turned 62.
At sentencing, U.S. District Judge Lesley Brooks Wells ordered Traficant to pay a $1,000 special assessment, $150,000 fine and $96,000 forfeiture. The jury that found Traficant guilty determined that he owed $96,000 derived from cash bribes, gifts and services and a staffer's kickbacks.
The judge ordered that Traficant begin paying the fine while incarcerated.