Traficant’s Reelection Hurt by Prison Transfer
U.S. marshals transferred former Rep. James A. Traficant Jr. from an Ohio jail to a federal prison in Pennsylvania, where he will serve eight years for bribery and racketeering.
Traficant had asked to be placed in an Ohio prison so he can run for reelection Nov. 5 from his Youngstown district. But the sentencing judge made no recommendation either way.
The Constitution states that a congressional candidate must be a resident of the state where he is seeking office.
Traficant will be held at the minimum-security Allenwood federal prison in central Pennsylvania.
The nine-term Democrat was convicted in April on 10 counts, including bribery, racketeering and tax evasion. Last month, he became the second congressman expelled from the House since the Civil War.
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