Paul Bruce Carpenter (February 24, 1928 – January 24, 2002) was an American psychologist and politician.

Early life

Born in

Sioux City, Iowa Sioux City () is a city in Woodbury and Plymouth counties in the northwestern part of the U.S. state of Iowa. The population was 85,797 in the 2020 census, making it the fourth-largest city in Iowa. The bulk of the city is in Woodbury County, ...

, Carpenter attended the

University of Iowa The University of Iowa (UI, U of I, UIowa, or simply Iowa) is a public university, public research university in Iowa City, Iowa, United States. Founded in 1847, it is the oldest and largest university in the state. The University of Iowa is org ...

and received a doctorate degree in experimental psychology from

Florida State University Florida State University (FSU) is a public research university in Tallahassee, Florida. It is a senior member of the State University System of Florida. Founded in 1851, it is located on the oldest continuous site of higher education in the st ...

. He moved to

Orange County, California Orange County is located in the Los Angeles metropolitan area in Southern California. As of the 2020 census, the population was 3,186,989, making it the third-most-populous county in California, the sixth-most-populous in the United States, a ...

in 1960 and worked as a psychologist.

Political career

He was involved with the

Democratic Party Democratic Party most often refers to: *Democratic Party (United States) Democratic Party and similar terms may also refer to: Active parties Africa *Botswana Democratic Party *Democratic Party of Equatorial Guinea *Gabonese Democratic Party *Demo ...

. From 1974 to 1976, Carpenter served in the

California State Assembly The California State Assembly is the lower house of the California State Legislature, the upper house being the California State Senate. The Assembly convenes, along with the State Senate, at the California State Capitol in Sacramento. The A ...

. He then served in the

California State Senate The California State Senate is the upper house of the California State Legislature, the lower house being the California State Assembly. The State Senate convenes, along with the State Assembly, at the California State Capitol in Sacramento, Cal ...

from 1976 to 1986. In 1982, Carpenter ran for the Democratic Party nomination for U.S. Senate, but lost to then-governor

Jerry Brown Edmund Gerald Brown Jr. (born April 7, 1938) is an American lawyer, author, and politician who served as the 34th and 39th governor of California from 1975 to 1983 and 2011 to 2019. A member of the Democratic Party, he was elected Secretary of S ...

. Carpenter also served on the

California Board of Equalization The California State Board of Equalization (BOE) is a public agency charged with tax administration and fee collection in the state of California in the United States. The authorities of the Board fall into four broad areas: sales and use taxe ...

from 1987 to 1990. Despite being convicted of corruption charges in 1990, he won re-election to the board but was barred from serving because of the conviction. Carpenter led his Senate caucus' election fund-raising work from 1980 to 1985, which led to accusations of corruption. In 1990, Carpenter was convicted of racketeering, conspiracy, and extortion as part of the

BRISPEC sting operation The Bribery and Special Interest (BRISPEC) sting operation was a sting operation conducted by the Federal Bureau of Investigation that investigated corruption in the California State Legislature from 1986 to 1988. The operation, later known as Shrim ...

. He fled to

Costa Rica Costa Rica (, ; ; literally "Rich Coast"), officially the Republic of Costa Rica ( es, República de Costa Rica), is a country in the Central American region of North America, bordered by Nicaragua to the north, the Caribbean Sea to the no ...

before sentencing - which he claimed was for prostate cancer treatment - and was subsequently extradited to the

United States The United States of America (U.S.A. or USA), commonly known as the United States (U.S. or US) or America, is a country primarily located in North America. It consists of 50 states, a federal district, five major unincorporated territorie ...

. He served his prison term from 1995 until 1999.

Later life

Carpenter's only child, Jana Carpenter-Koklich (born January 1, 1960), went missing from her home in Lakewood, California in August 2001 and has never been found. Her husband Bruce Koklich was later convicted of her murder. For many years, Carpenter lived in

Cypress, California Cypress is a city in northwestern Orange County within Southern California. Its population was 50,151 at the 2020 census. History The first people living in the area now known as Cypress were the Gabrieleno, a Native American tribe of the Ton ...

. Carpenter died of cancer in 2002 at his home in

San Antonio, Texas ("Cradle of Freedom") , image_map = , mapsize = 220px , map_caption = Interactive map of San Antonio , subdivision_type = Country , subdivision_name = United States , subdivision_type1= State , subdivision_name1 = Texas , subdivision_t ...

, where he had been living since 1999.Paul Carpenter, 73; Former Legislator Went to Prison
/ref>

References

External links

Join California Paul B. Carpenter
1928 births 2002 deaths People from Cypress, California Politicians from Iowa City, Iowa People from San Antonio University of Iowa alumni Florida State University alumni 20th-century American psychologists Democratic Party California state senators Democratic Party members of the California State Assembly California politicians convicted of crimes 20th-century American politicians {{California-CASenate-stub