Click here to get free customized information delivered to you automatically via e-mail. Traficant was accused of selling his influence as a member of Congress, taking improper payments from staffers and ordering some staff members to perform manual labor on his farm.
Charges range from bribery to tax violations to obstruction of justice.
Charges range from bribery and tax violations to obstruction of justice and violations of the Racketeer Influenced and Corrupt Organizations Act. The indictment was returned by a federal grand jury in Cleveland following an investigation by the FBI and the Internal Revenue Service. Traficant will be summoned to appear in U.S. District Court in Cleveland within two weeks for arraignment, said a spokesman for the U.S. Attorney's office in Cleveland. Traficant has often taken on the powerful, even when they have included members of his Democratic Party. On the opening of the 107th Congress this January, Traficant broke party ranks and was booted out of the U.S. House of Representatives Democratic Caucus, leaving the congressman with no committee assignments.