US congressman guilty of ethics violations

Traficant accuses the US Government of a conspiracy

By Alex Van Wel BBC correspondent in Washington DC

A US congressman has been found guilty of ethics violations by his peers because of convictions for bribery, tax evasion and fraud.

Traficant could be thrown out of Congress and also faces a seven-year jail term

James Traficant could now be expelled from the House of Representatives, becoming only the second member of Congress to be thrown out since the Civil War.

Mr Traficant, a Democrat from Ohio, is well known to Americans for his flamboyant and abrupt style of politics.

But his luck ran out in April when a grand jury convicted him of racketeering.

'Conspiracy' claim

He had been accused of taking kickbacks from employees, destroying evidence, soliciting bribes and handing in false tax returns.

Undaunted by the conviction, he accused the US Government of masterminding a conspiracy against him.

And now, after hearing a congressional committee find him guilty of ethics violations, he has told reporters he will never resign.

"If I had any inkling of guilt or intent to commit a crime, I would," he said.

"But I want to go down on record and go to jail rather than admit to something I didn't do."

Awaiting sentence

Mr Traficant has complained about a US Government vendetta against him since he beat the Federal Bureau of Investigation in a bribery case in 1983.

He was a county sheriff at the time and used the victory to propel himself to Congress.

The committee from the House of Representatives is now deciding whether to call for his expulsion.

That has only happened once before, when Republican Michael Myers was thrown out 22 years ago following a conviction for bribery.

Mr Traficant is also still awaiting sentence for his conviction in April.

He is expected to be given around seven years in jail.