James Traficant, former Ohio congressman expelled for corruption conviction, dies following tractor accident

James Traficant died at age 73 on Saturday following injuries he sustained in a tractor accident on Tuesday at his family farm, in Youngstown, Ohio, The Associated Press reports.

Traficant, a Democrat, spent 17 years in Congress before being expelled in 2002, three months after a federal jury convicted him of taking bribes and kickbacks. He was just the second person to be expelled from Congress since the Civil War.

As a congressman, Traficant garnered plenty of attention with his cowboy boots and polyester suits, along with a wild hairdo — that turned out to be a wig. His speeches on the House floor often ended with a signature slogan lifted from the Star Trek television series: "Beam me up."

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