James Traficant

James Anthony Traficant Jr. ( TRAF-ih-kənt; May 8, 1941 – September 27, 2014) was an American politician who served as a Democratic member of the United States House of Representatives from Ohio. A staunch economic populist known for his flamboyant personality, he represented the 17th congressional district, which centered on his hometown of Youngstown and included parts of three counties in northeast Ohio's Mahoning Valley. Traficant was expelled from the House on July 24, 2002, after being convicted of 10 felony counts, including taking bribes, filing false tax returns, racketeering, and forcing his congressional staff to perform chores at his farm in Ohio and houseboat in Washington, D.C. He was sentenced to prison and released on September 2, 2009, after serving a 7-year sentence. Traficant died on September 27, 2014, following a tractor accident at his farm in Green Township, Ohio. Traficant was one of the most conservative congressional Democrats in history, and both his personality and his political views have been argued to be a predecessor to Trumpism.