Woman Tells of Role in Alleged Kickback Deal : Trial: Testifying in Carpenter case, she says she made more than $160,000 in scheme with former Sen. Alan Robbins. Defense lawyer calls them the ‘devil and his disciple.’

SACRAMENTO —  Jennifer Goddard was a young, impressionable college student in 1972 when she met the dynamic state senatorial candidate whose friendship, some 20 years later, would leave her reputation tarnished.

Elected student body president at Valley College in Van Nuys at age 19, Goddard was flattered when Alan Robbins, then 29, sought her endorsement after passing out rape whistles on campus and taking part in a televised candidates debate that she moderated.

When he sent her flowers afterward, she was charmed.

So began a relationship that spanned nearly two decades until its abrupt end in 1990 when FBI agents raided the offices of Goddard’s public relations firm, searching for evidence that she aided Robbins in hiding bribery and extortion money.

In federal court testimony last week, Goddard offered her first public account of how she got caught up in an alleged 13-year money-laundering scheme with her former mentor. Defense lawyers described Robbins and Goddard as “two peas in a pod” and “the devil and his disciple.”

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Saying she was in a state of “complete denial” that she might be engaging in wrongdoing, Goddard testified that sometimes she felt misled by Robbins and at other times was a willing participant in the kickback deal--eventually outconning the con man and pocketing more cash than him.

In a clear, unwavering voice, Goddard, 40, told jurors in the federal corruption trial of former state Sen. Paul Carpenter and lobbyist Clayton R. Jackson that Robbins got at least $160,000 from the arrangement, and she got “probably more.”

Robbins, who earlier testified that he illegally directed campaign contributions from Jackson and Carpenter to Goddard to be used for his personal benefit, is finishing a two-year sentence after pleading guilty to corruption charges in 1991. He resigned his Van Nuys state Senate seat in disgrace.

Confronted by evidence federal agents amassed against her, Goddard agreed to testify against Robbins, Carpenter and others in exchange for immunity from prosecution.

“This was my first experience with the big guns and I was very frightened. This whole thing was very difficult,” she testified. “Alan was an attorney. I trusted him. I’d known him for a long time.”

Carpenter, of Downey, is charged with 11 counts of conspiracy, money laundering and obstruction of justice for mailing checks to the Goddard Co. and then allegedly trying to concoct a cover story. Jackson, who is accused of supplying the funds, faces 10 counts of racketeering, conspiracy and money laundering. Both have pleaded not guilty.

Unlike many other women in Robbins’ life--and testimony indicates there were many--Goddard built a relationship with the former senator on the basis of business dealings, however shady they turned out to be. Money, not romance, was the aphrodisiac that united them.

Although Robbins testified that Carpenter had assumed Goddard was a girlfriend, both Robbins and Goddard said they dated only briefly when she was 20, before he offered Goddard her first full-time job as a paid legislative intern.

Goddard earned her last college credits while working in Robbins’ Sacramento and North Hollywood offices for one year, graduated from USC and went on to join an entertainment industry public relations agency before striking out on her own.

When she sent Robbins a formal announcement trumpeting the new Goddard Co., Robbins did the favor in 1978 of sending Goddard her first big client--the Assn. of Collection Agencies, and he instructed her to bill the client $3,000 a month.

It was the first of at least seven “clients” Robbins referred to Goddard, all of whom sent her thousands of dollars for work she had long before finished or never performed.

That something was amiss began to dawn on Goddard after she sent her former boss--whom she called “Robbins” during much of her testimony--a gift basket of fruit and cheese to thank him. He refused it.

“He said, ‘You know what? I’ll call you when I want something,’ and that’s what he did . . . . That’s the way it started.”

Described by Robbins as “headstrong,” Goddard did not take long to display her shrewdness, and when Robbins instructed her to keep 20% of the money and set aside 80% for him, she kept half instead--without telling him.

“We did not keep accurate records, and I just retained more money,” she told jurors.

Over the years, Goddard paid out funds at Robbins’ direction--to his girlfriends, his limousine service, his masseuse, his housekeeper, his mother-in-law and art galleries so he could purchase artwork. The art included an Erte print for Robbins, a replica of an Egyptian statue from the King Tut exhibit for Robbins’ former wife and a sculpture for one of his girlfriends.

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Carpenter’s attorney, Charles Bloodgood, asked: “Was there a point in time when you felt like you were doing something wrong?”

“I didn’t focus on it, but it did cross my mind,” Goddard replied.

Along the way, Robbins advised Goddard to cover herself by filing false Internal Revenue Service forms indicating that the people who received checks did some work for her company. She then wrote off the payments as business deductions, she said.

Goddard--who has been married for 17 years to her high school sweetheart and has two children, 9 and 5--testified that she also led a legitimate professional life, doing public relations for a stable of clients including Blue Shield, AT & T, Kenny Rogers’ Western Collection clothing line and former Los Angeles Mayor Tom Bradley’s graffiti-removal program.

But Bloodgood, Carpenter’s lawyer, said in opening statements that Goddard is lying about never having done work for Carpenter, who sent her checks totaling $81,000. He was also critical of the government for granting her immunity.

“With all of these crimes she committed--50 or 100 federal felonies--are we going to make her pay for what she did? The government gave Jennifer Goddard a free ride,” Bloodgood said.

The trial resumes Monday with the defense scheduled to begin its case.