Ohio Rep. Traficant Indicted

W A S H I N G T O N, May 4 -- Ohio Rep. James Traficant, one of the most flamboyant figures in Congress, has been indicted by a federal grand jury on a variety of charges, including bribery, conspiracy and income tax evasion.

The Democrat, long a target of suspicion by a grand jury looking into mob activity in Youngstown, Ohio, had been expecting the indictment for some time.

Under the 10-count indictment, Traficant faces charges of conspiracy to violate bribery statutes, filing false income tax returns, and others for obstruction of justice, conspiracy to defraud the United States and racketeering.

In Youngstown, Traficant said this morning he had heard government investigators were pressing potential witnesses to tell them what they wanted to hear, regardless of the truth.

"They felt they were not only intimidated, that the U.S. attorneys tried to put words in their mouth," Traficant said.

Several of the bribery charges allege Traficant accepted free work on a farm and boat that he owned in exchange for intervening with federal and state authorities on behalf of contractors. Other counts charge the congressman had paid congressional staff working on his boat and doing chores on the farm during business hours.

The federal probe into organized crime and corruption in Traficant's district has led to nearly 80 convictions. Even the man who ran Traficant's district office is an admitted bag man for the Youngstown mafia in a city that has been overrun by crime since the 1950s.

Ironically, it was Traficant's 1983 acquittal on bribery charges that helped catapult him into Congress. Though he's no lawyer, Traficant represented himself and beat Justice Department charges that he took $163,000 in mob cash. Traficant, at the time a sherriff, convinced a jury that he was merely taking the cash as part of a sting operation he had set up.

But the acquittal made Traficant a folk hero, and he has been re-elected to Congress nine times. He is best known for his unusual haircut and outrageous floor speeches that he signs off with a trademark, "Beam me up, Mr. Speaker!"