CLEVELAND — A contractor whose confession to prosecutors began the bribery and racketeering investigation of U.S. Rep. James A. Traficant Jr. was sentenced Tuesday to two years probation and six weeks home detention.

        Assistant U.S. Attorney Craig Morford said Tuesday that without the confession of contractor Anthony Bucci, Mr. Traficant's case would never have gone to trial.

        Mr. Traficant was convicted April 11 of 10 counts of bribery, racketeering and tax evasion and faces up to 63 years in prison. Under federal sentencing guidelines, Mr. Traficant is expected to get less than 20 years in jail.

        Mr. Traficant's sentencing is scheduled for June 27, but an attorney he hired Monday filed a motion Tuesday asking for a 60-day delay to study the case.

        Mr. Bucci pleaded guilty in May 1999 to mail fraud and tax conspiracy charges that carried a possible sentence of up to 21 months in jail. At the time, his plea agreement did not mention cooperation against other parties.

        In August 1999, Mr. Bucci told prosecutors he had been bribing Mr. Traficant.

        “At the time we met with Tony Bucci we had no case open on Congressman Traficant,” Mr. Morford said. Without Mr. Bucci, “there would have been no case against Traficant,” he said.

        Mr. Bucci ultimately testified in Mr. Traficant's trial that he forgave a $13,000 construction bill at Mr. Traficant's farm and did numerous chores and favors for Mr. Traficant in exchange for the congressman's intervention on his behalf with state and federal regulators.

        Mr. Bucci admitted during the trial that his paving company routinely broke labor rules and violated construction standards, and that Mr. Traficant prevented him from being punished by state and federal officials.

        Based on what Mr. Morford called Mr. Bucci's “extraordinary cooperation” in the Traficant case, U.S. District Judge Solomon Oliver agreed to reduce Mr. Bucci's sentence in the tax charge to home detention and probation. Mr. Bucci was granted immunity in the bribery case for his testimony against Mr. Traficant.

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