- Whatever is on his head, however, is dead.
Former congressman/felon James Traficant isn’t quite ready yet to pack up his epicly bad hairpieces and fade into history.
Once revered in the Youngstown area, Traficant’s nearly two-decade career representing the Mahoning Valley’s 17th district came to an end in 2002 when he was expelled from Congress and subsequently sent to prison for a laundry list of corruption charges that make Frank Russo look like a slacker.
Traficant was released from prison last September and is now trying to regain his congressional seat, held since 2003 by Tim Ryan. Alas — in July, his petitions for a spot on the November ballot as an independent were rejected after 1,000 of his more than 3138 signatures were ruled invalid, making him 107 short of the required number.
This article appears in Aug 25-31, 2010.
