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Traficant deserves a break from feds
No, the headline is not a misprint. But neither is it a plea for early release for former congressman-turned-federal prisoner, James A. Traficant Jr.
Traficant is scheduled to get out of the penitentiary on Sept. 2, 2009. He has not sought a presidential pardon nor a commutation of his eight-year sentence.
So, what’s with the headline? It’s designed to draw attention to the United States Department of Justice’s latest attempt to exact $105,059 that Traficant still owes the federal government in a court fine. He had been ordered to pay $150,000, in addition to serving time behind bars.
The problem is that the Justice Department has targeted the ex-congressman’s state pension, which the Ohio Attorney General’s Office says is off-limits.
An assistant U.S. attorney, Richard J. French, has filed an application in federal court in Cleveland to obtain money from the Ohio Public Employees Retirement System.
But a lawyer from Attorney General Marc Dann’s office has filed a response noting that state public pensions cannot be garnished.
The matter is before U.S. District Judge Lesley Wells.
Traficant qualifies for a Public Employees Retirement System pension from his years as Mahoning County sheriff.
Extreme to a fault
The Justice Department’s insistence on going after the money is extreme to a fault — even for this writer, who has spent the past several years condemning the former congressman for using his public position for personal gain.
He was convicted of racketeering, bribery and tax evasion, among other charges, and was shown by federal prosecutors to be nothing more than a two-bit officeholder.
Indeed, the price tag for his criminality was about $45,000.
However, because of his history of attacking the Justice Department and the IRS during his tenure in Congress, federal prosecutors went after him with a vengeance.
Indeed, Traficant’s decision to defend himself was seen by the federal government as just another example of his total disregard for the rule of law.
While all the former congressman’s supporters — there are legions of them in the Mahoning Valley — felt that the eight-year prison sentence was too harsh, this writer argued that he got what he deserved.
By any measure, Traficant was one of the most gifted and talented politicians in the history of the region, and yet he could not separate himself from local hangers-on and could not shed the “everybody does it” mind-set.
Why, then, criticize the Justice Department for going after the former congressman’s money?
Because there is an inconsistency that bolsters this conclusion: Federal prosecutors are still bitter over Traficant’s behavior and aren’t willing to give him a break.
Blood money
It is revealing, however, that this is the same Justice Department that has allowed Valley mobster Lenine “Murder is business” Strollo to keep his blood money and gave developer J.J. “I bribed the congressman” Cafaro a slap on the wrist.
Strollo, who has been in federal custody for 12 years and snitched against the Mafia in this region and throughout the country, is scheduled to be released from prison this fall.
Cafaro, who admitted that he paid $13,000 in a bribe to Traficant, was convicted of a felony, but has not spent one day behind bars.
And yet Traficant has been locked up since 2002, and when he is released next year will still be on probation.
The federal government has gotten its pound of flesh. It does not need to go after the money Traficant still owes on the fine.
By urging the Justice Department to pull in its horns, this writer is not joining the pro-Traficant movement. Indeed, it’s time they faced the truth: Traficant was found guilty by a jury.
His decision not to seek a presidential pardon, which would require him to admit his guilt, shows that he still refuses to take responsibility for not only violating the public’s trust, but for bringing national shame on the Mahoning Valley.