Feds want to tap jailed pol's pension

CLEVELAND, March 20 (UPI) -- A federal prosecutor in Ohio wants some of imprisoned former U.S. Rep James Traficant's fine to come out of his pension.

The Ohio attorney general argues that funds in the Ohio State Employee Pension System cannot be garnished, the Youngstown Vindicator reported.

Traficant, D-Ohio, serving a sentence for racketeering and tax evasion, is scheduled to be released next year from a federal prison in Minnesota. Once he is out of prison, he becomes eligible for his congressional pension as well as $11,000 annually from Mahoning County.

At his sentencing in 2002, he was ordered to pay a fine of $150,000. He still owes $105,059.

Assistant U.S. Attorney Richard French filed the motion in Cleveland. The decision is in the hands of U.S. District Judge Lesley Wells, who presided over Traficant's trial.