Ten years ago this week, a federal jury ''beamed,'' former U.S. Congressman James A. Traficant, not up, but into, a federal penitentiary.
Wednesday marks a decade since Traficant became a convict.
The date was notable enough for the Associated Press to include it in its Today in History, which also marks the return of former President Ronald Reagan's return to the White House after 12 days in the hospital recovering from an assassination attempt.
Traficant was found guilty of 10 counts of bribery and racketeering after a 10-week trial in Cleveland, marked by his ridiculous antics inside the courtroom, including sharp quarrels with the prosecutor and judge. It was April 11, 2002.
He represented himself and was woefully undermatched against the prosecution, which presented to the 10-woman, two-man jury more than four dozen witnesses and reams of evidence to support their assertion he traded political favors for gifts and bribes.
About two months later, the U.S. House of Representatives expelled the disgraced lawmaker from Congress by a 420-1 vote.
Six days after that on July 30, 2002, the judge overseeing Traficant's corruption trial sentenced him to eight years in prison and fined him $150,000.
Fast forward to Sept. 2, 2009, and Traficant is a free man again. But instead of fading away quietly - which it appears now, he has done - Traficant went on Fox News, complete with his signature, 1970s-style skinny tie and vest and of course, his hairpiece.
And he didn't stop there. Traficant soon became a darling of the tea party, appearing at some of the local events, using the opportunity in public to rail on the Internal Revenue Service, his desire to dismantle it and repeal the U.S. Constitution's 16th Amendment.
There's also what would become a short-lived radio show in Cleveland. There is no information about Traficant on WTAM's website.
Then there was his proposal to locate an Indian casino complex in Lordstown. The latest movement on that project was in October 2010.
Then there was his half-hearted attempt at a return to public service.
Traficant ran for the 17th U.S. Congressional seat here in Ohio in 2010. He didn't campaign much, if at all. And he let his supporters do most, if not all, the work in the fight to get his name on the ballot.
See, his nominating petitions were rejected because he didn't provide enough valid signatures. His supporters appealed and did the work to show the signatures should have been counted.
Of course he lost, getting just 16 percent of the vote.
Since then, he's fallen off the radar, like he should have done three years ago.