Ex-congressman Traficant dies at 73

Former Rep. Jim Traficant (D-Ohio) died on Saturday, days after a tractor accident at his daughter’s farm left him in critical condition, according to multiple local news reports.

Traficant, 73, had been in critical condition since Tuesday night, when he was caught underneath a tractor that he was pulling after it flipped over on top of him. Officials told news outlets at the time that Traficant appeared to have been pulling the tractor into a barn when he lost control, hit a steel blade and the tractor rolled on top of him.

{mosads}Family spokeswoman Heidi Hanni confirmed Traficant’s death on Saturday to The Vindicator newspaper. 

Traficant was first elected to the House in 1984 and served 17 years in the lower chamber before being disgracefully expelled from Congress in 2002 — just the second member ever to be expelled from Congress since the Civil War. He then served seven years in prison for taking bribes, racketeering and tax evasion, before being released in 2009.

He mounted an unsuccessful return in 2010 as an independent, but lost to former aide Rep. Tim Ryan (D-Ohio).