Former U.S. congressman sentenced for bribery, tax evasion

A U.S. district court in Cleveland has sentenced former congressman James Traficant to eight years in prison after his conviction on corruption charges.

The judge rejected an argument that Traficant had already been punished enough by being expelled from the House of Representatives.

Traficant, a Democrat, was elected to Congress for nine terms.

He was convicted in April of bribery, taking kickbacks and tax evasion.