Congressional criminals:
(There are very few Republicans...)
Former Congressman Indicted On Federal Charges
First District Rep. Frank Ballance (D) Charged With Conspiracy, Fraud
September 3, 2004
RALEIGH, N.C. -- A federal grand jury handed down indictments against former First District Rep. Frank Ballance and his son Thursday afternoon on charges related to an investigation into the John A. Hyman Memorial Youth Foundation, Inc.
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wral.com
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Ohio congressman indicted on bribery, other charges
May 4, 2001
Rep. James Traficant, D-Ohio, was indicted Friday by a federal grand jury in Cleveland, law enforcement sources told CNN.
Rep. James Traficant, D-Ohio, faces a 10-count federal indictment.
The 10-count, 130-page indictment includes charges of bribery, tax evasion, racketeering, conspiracy and obstruction of justice, the officials said.
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archives.cnn.com
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Sep. 18, 1978
Congressman Flood is indicted
"I have been doing all the dirty work, and the old man has been getting all the gravy." So Stephen Elko reportedly complained to the FBI about his former boss, Daniel Flood (D), 74, a 30-year Congressman from Wilkes-Barre, Pa., and the flamboyant head of the powerful House Appropriations Subcommittee for Labor and HEW. Largely on the basis of Elko's testimony, a Los Angeles federal grand jury last week indicted Flood on three charges of perjury, including one stemming, from a statement he made denying receipt of $5,000 in bribes to help some now-defunct West Coast trade schools.
time.com
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Rostenkowski, 58 others pardoned
The surprise comes in Clinton's first batch of clemency decisions before leaving office.
©Associated Press
© St. Petersburg Times, published December 23, 2000
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WASHINGTON -- President Clinton freed three federal prisoners Friday and granted Christmastime pardons to 59 others, including a once-powerful congressman indicted for misusing taxpayer money and a presidential friend ensnared in the corruption inquiry of a former Cabinet member.
Those pardoned in what the White House described as the first batch of clemency decisions by the president as he prepares to leave office, included:
Dan Rostenkowski, a former Democratic chairman of the House Ways and Means Committee, while a congressman from Illinois.
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The president commuted the sentences of three prisoners to time served: former Missouri House Speaker Bob F. Griffin (d), who was serving time for bribery and mail fraud;
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Other prominent names that have been mentioned as possible recipients of presidential pardons include Webster Hubbell, once the No. 3 person in the Clinton Justice Department who was convicted of defrauding his law firm, and Susan McDougal, a partner with the Clintons in the Whitewater real estate venture, who was jailed for refusing to testify about Whitewater. Also mentioned is billionaire financier and philanthropist Michael Milken, who pleaded guilty to securities fraud.
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sptimes.com
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a New Jersey Congressman was indicted. Frank Thompson, Jr., a 13-term Democrat from Trenton, was convicted in the Abscam scandal.
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Only two United States Senators from New Jersey have actually served prison time: Harrison Williams, a four-term Democrat who was convicted in Abscam and resigned in 1981
politics.nexcess.net
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Rogues' Gallery
Posted Monday, Feb. 18, 1980
Representative Andrew Hinshaw, 56, California" Republican, was sentenced to one to 14 years in jail for soliciting and accepting bribes during his 1972 election campaign
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Representative Wayne Hays, 68, Ohio Democrat and chairman of the House Administration Committee, was investigated by the House Ethics Committee and the Justice Department on charges of financial improprieties as well as keeping his mistress, Elizabeth Ray, on his official payroll. He resigned in September 1976.
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June 1976. Representative Henry Helstoski, 54, New Jersey Democrat, was indicted for taking bribes from Chilean and Argentine aliens to introduce bills blocking their deportation.
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December 1976. Representative James Hastings, 53, New York Republican, was convicted and later sentenced to up to five years for taking kickbacks from congressional employees.
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August 1977. Tongsun Park, a Korean businessman, was indicted for bribery and later testified that he had made payoffs to 31 legislators. Eighteen-month congressional investigations of "Koreagate" led to little action. The only man actually imprisoned was former Congressman Richard Hanna, 65, California Democrat, who was sentenced to a 2½-year prison term. Otto Passman, 79, Louisiana Democrat, was brought to trial but acquitted. Charles H. Wilson, John McFall and Edward Roybal, all California Democrats, were reprimanded by the House, but Wilson and Roybal are still there.
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September-October 1978. Representative Daniel Flood, 76, Pennsylvania Democrat, was indicted for taking more than $50,000 in bribes. His trial ended in a hung jury. Flood, who has suffered a variety of illnesses, resigned his seat. A federal judge last week ruled him mentally competent to face retrial later this month.
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October 1978. Representative Joshua Eilberg, 59, Pennsylvania Democrat, was indicted for receiving illegal compensation. He lost his re-election race that fall and changed his plea to guilty at his February 1979 trial. He got a $10,000 fine and five years' probation.
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November 1978. Representative Charles Diggs Jr., 57, Michigan Democrat and founder and former chairman of the Black Caucus, was sentenced to up to three years for taking more than $60,000 in kickbacks from his employees. He was re-elected that same year.
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October 1979. Senator Herman Talmadge, 66, influential Georgia Democrat, was officially "denounced" by the Senate for misappropriating office funds and campaign donations for personal use. A federal grand jury is still investigating.
From the Feb. 18, 1980 issue of TIME magazine
time.com
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Ex-Congressman Charged in $10 Million Fraud Scheme
03/23/2001
PHILADELPHIA (Reuters) - A former congressman and state Democratic Party leader was indicted on Thursday for allegedly bilking $10.4 million from banks and individuals including his mother-in-law to cover huge business losses.
Edward Mezvinsky, 64, who represented an Iowa district in the House of Representatives from 1973 to 1977, was named in a 66-count indictment that says he lied to get loans from banks, filed false tax returns and embezzled money
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Crisp-haired, sharp-featured Congressman Frederick Nicholas Zihlman of Cumberland, Md., onetime glassblower, is called the "Mayor of Washington" because he is chairman of the House Committee on the District of Columbia. This committee, by its power to control local affairs through legislation, dominates the capital's real estate development. Last week Congressman Zihlman was indicted for using the mails to defraud
time.com
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INDICTED. WILLIAM JANKLOW, 63, Republican U.S. Congressman from South Dakota, on charges of felony second-degree manslaughter, for allegedly speeding through a stop sign and killing a motorcyclist; in Flandreau, S.D. If convicted, the former four-term Governor could face 10 years in prison and the end of his storied political career.
time-proxy.yaga.com
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Joseph McDade
Republican, Pennsylvania (1963-1998)
The Honorable Joseph McDade was the subject of an eight-year (!) Justice Department probe of allegations that he accepted nearly $100,000 of illegal contributions, gifts, and golfing trips from defense contactors and lobbyist friends.
congressionalbadboys.com
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Walter R.Tucker III
Democrat, California (1993-1996)
The Honorable Walter Tucker III was convicted in 1995 of extorting $30,000 in bribes and cheating on his taxes while he was mayor of Compton, California, in 1991-1992. He was caught on tape accepting cash and soliciting bribes from federal agents. And prosecutors said he sold his vote to support a $250 million waste-to-energy project in Compton.
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congressionalbadboys.com
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Charles C. Diggs, Jr.
Democrat, Michigan (1955-1980)
The Honorable Charles C. Diggs, Jr. was found guilty in 1978 for taking kickbacks from three of his congressional staffers; he was re-elected to office; then censured by the House, and finally resigned, then went to prison
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Michael Joseph "Ozzie" Myers
Democrat, Pennsylvania (1975-1980)
On October 3, 1980, the Honorable Michael "Ozzie" Myers became the first congressman, since the Civil War, to be expelled for Congress--and the first for official corruption. The vote was 376-30.
Several months earlier, Myers, then 37, was convicted of bribery and conspiracy for taking $50,000 in cash from an FBI undercover agent in the Abscam investigation. He got three years in the federal pen and fined $20,000.
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Frank Thompson, Jr.
Democrat, New Jersey (1955-1980)
The Honorable Frank Thompson was one of the most powerful Democrats of his time. On February 2, 1980, two FBI agents showed up at his home. Frank, you are a target of a federal bribery investigation. That $45,000 that an Arab sheik stuffed into a briefcase and then gave to you four months earlier, well actually that was fed money and that sheik was an undercover G-man. And by the way, said the Feds, we've got it all on video tape.
Thompson denied any bribe, and said he met with the sheik because he thought it would help New Jersey economic growth.
But the Feds and the federal jury weren't buying it.
Thompson and the Honorable John M. Murphy of New York went on trial in December 1980. Thompson was convicted of bribery and conspiracy, and Murphy of a lesser charge of conspiracy.
Thompson appealed, but lost, and in 1983 was sentenced to three years in the can. He served two years, was released, and then went to work as a consultant in Washington.
With his bribery case, Frank Thompson became a member of the ABSCAM five, and not coincidentally a member of the Congressional Prison Caucus.
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John Wilson Jenrette, Jr.
Democrat, South Carolina (1975-1980)
The Honorable John Jenrette, an up-and-comer in the Democratic party, was one of seven Congressmen caught in the FBI Abscam investigation of political corruption. In December 1979, he was filmed by the feds accepting a bribe and then convicted in December 1983, sentenced to two years in prison and fined $20,000. The following year, the U.S. Court of Appeals upheld his conviction. And, to leave no stone unturned, Jenrette took his case to the U.S. Supreme Court, and the Court let the conviction stand.
It didn't help having him on surveillance tape saying to an undercover agent, "I've got larceny in my heart." [For other pearls of wisdom, check the Quote Board].
Jenrette served 13 months in federal prison in Atlanta, then two more months in a halfway house in Florence, South Carolina.
Jenrette is a member of the Congressional Prison Caucus.
In January 1981, Jenrette's second wife, Rita, said she was seeking a divorce. Rita found $25,000 in $100 bills (much of it FBI bribe money) in her husband's brown suede shoes. Rita didn't help relations with the constituents back home when she once called the "cornballs."
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congressionalbadboys.com
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There is so much more. |
