A sweet deal for 'official' felons

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James A. Traficant Jr., the former Democratic congressman convicted of racketeering and taking bribes, is wiling away prison time painting colorful pictures but also able to collect a congressional pension of nearly $40,000 a year.

He is one of about 20 former senators and congressmen with felony rap sheets who can receive the taxpayer-financed benefit.

"They have lost their cases, lost all their appeals and still collect the check," said Rep. Mark Steven Kirk, an Illinois Republican who introduced a bill that would stop future congressional felons from pocketing retirement pay.

"Millions of taxpayer dollars have gone to felons," Mr. Kirk said.

A similar measure is being offered by Democratic Sens. Ken Salazar of Colorado and John Kerry of Massachusetts in an amendment to that chamber's ethics reform bill, which is expected to go to a vote tomorrow.

Other recent convicts include former Rep. Randy "Duke" Cunningham, a California Republican convicted of graft and imprisoned last year, and former Rep. Bob Ney, an Ohio Republican convicted last year of corruption charges tied to disgraced lobbyist Jack Abramoff. Cunningham is eligible for about $36,000 a year, while Ney is in line for a $29,000 annual pension, according to estimates from the National Taxpayers Union (NTU). Other estimates, from groups such as the Congressional Research Service, vary slightly.

Former Rep. Daniel Rostenkowski, an Illinois Democrat convicted in 1996 of mail fraud related to the House post office scandal and pardoned by President Clinton in 2001, this year will collect an estimated $125,000 congressional pension, according to NTU estimates.

Ney and Mr. Rostenkowski could not be reached for comment.

Prison officials said Traficant could not be contacted by telephone at the Federal Medical Center in Rochester, Minn., a prison that provides mental- health services; nor could Cunningham at the Federal Transfer Center in Oklahoma City, a temporary prison for inmates awaiting placement in the federal penal system.

Currently, only a conviction for treason or espionage results in a forfeiture of the pension.