Source: Cleveland Leader
Former U.S. Congressman James A. Traficant Jr., who represented Ohio's fourth district for two decades, has died. A spokesman for the family confirmed that Traficant died Saturday at St. Elizabeth Health Center in Youngstown.
The 73-year-old was involved in a serious tractor accident on Tuesday evening at his family farm in Greenford and had been in "very critical condition", according to his wife Trish. Traficant was driving a 1943 tractor which rolled over backward onto him while he was in the driver's seat, trapping him underneath the tractor.
A number of people close to the Traficant family have said that it is believed that he suffered a heart attack, which caused the tractor accident. It has also been said that he has shown no brain activity since the accident.
Traficant, a Democrat, served over 17 years in the U.S. House of Representatives until he was ousted in July 2002 after a federal jury convicted him of 10 felony counts, including racketeering, tax evasion, obstruction of justice, and bribery. Traficant was sentenced to seven years in prison and was released in September 2009, after which he hosted talk shows and even wrote a book.
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