Ex-lawmaker Traficante tells of his 'tough' life in prison

Associated Press  -  Friday, September 11, 2009

A former Ohio congressman who was freed after seven years in federal prison said he was put in jeopardy behind bars because of his views.

James Traficant spoke in an interview to be broadcast Thursday night on the Fox News show "On The Record With Greta Van Susteren."

Traficant, 68, said life behind bars was "tough" and that it wasn't long before he was in "the hole."

He said he was "put in a position to be hurt" at the federal prison in Allenwood, Pa., because it had many illegal immigrants unhappy with his idea of having troops patrol the Mexican border.

The nine-term Democrat from Youngstown was released from a medical prison in Rochester, Minn., last week after serving time for racketeering, bribery, obstruction of justice and tax evasion.

Traficant said his days at Allenwood were followed by time at the upstate New York Ray Brook prison, which he refers to as a "medium-high" security prison nicknamed "The Gladiator School."

"There's a lot of violence. ... Most political figures go to some camps in country clubs. I didn't," he said.

Traficant said he spent the bulk of his time in Rochester with a "lot of good guys."

"I understood the dynamics of prison life," he said. "And now what you have is, they want to keep the prisons open, keep the jobs going. They're putting 20, 30 years on some of these young people, and it's out of hand."

Traficant was elected nine times to Congress, often with more than 70 percent of the vote. He even got 15 percent of the vote in a congressional race held while he was behind bars.

He said he doesn't care about what anyone did to him or does to him in the future.

"I'm going to say what I think is right, I'm going to do what I think is right," he said. "And if it offends some people, then so be it. You see, because I'm still, I guess, the same jackass I was."

At a weekend "welcome home" event for Traficant in suburban Youngstown, he said the government had to "cheat" to convict him, reiterating his trial defense that the government was out to get him.