CLEVELAND, March 21 (UPI) -- The prosecution rested Thursday in the federal trial of Rep. James Traficant, D-Ohio, accused of taking bribes and kickbacks.
U.S. District Judge Lesley Wells denied a motion by Traficant to have the case dismissed. Traficant objected when the prosecution rested but Wells told him his objection was inappropriate.
Traficant, who is not a lawyer but is representing himself, maintains the government failed to produce any physical evidence to substantiate the charges.
Prosecutors called 55 witnesses over seven weeks, including former Traficant staffers and businessmen who testified they did free work for the congressman in exchange for help in Washington.
"I feel like an ant that's facing an elephant but the ant is telling the elephant to concede," Traficant told reporters outside the courtroom.
This is the second time Traficant, a nine-term congressman from Youngstown, has been targeted by federal prosecutors. In 1982 while Mahoning County sheriff, he beat racketeering charges by convincing a jury he was conducting his own mob investigation.
Nor is he the only Youngstown politician to be tried. Nearly 70 others have been convicted in recent years on federal bribery and racketeering charges.
