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Paul B. Carpenter

Democratic

Picture of Paul B. Carpenter
Date Party Office Votes Result
11-03-1964 Democratic CD-35 90295 Loss
11-05-1974 Democratic AD-71 37060 Win
11-02-1976 Democratic SD-37 119047 Win
11-04-1980 Democratic SD-37 104374 Win
11-06-1984 Democratic SD-33 108530 Win
11-04-1986 Democratic SBOE4 797399 Win
11-06-1990 Democratic SBOE4 561379 Win
 

Candidate Biography:

Paul Bruce Carpenter
Born: February 24, 1928 in Iowa
Married: Janeth (div. 1986), Doris Morrow (girlfriend)
Children: Julie Stevenson and Jana Carpenter Koklich
Military Service: USN
Died: January 24, 2002 in San Antonio, Texas

1982: Primary Candidate for US Senator (Lost; 15.1%)
1987: Resigned from the State Senate on January 5.
1991: Removed from office at the Board of Equalization on...

  • Legal Troubles: Carpenter was convicted of corruption charges as a result of the Shrimpscam investigation. In 1992, "Carpenter had been waiting outside Lompoc prison with his toothbrush and a cellular phone as his attorney called with word that an earlier federal extortion and racketeering conviction had been overturned on appeal." Carpenter was reconvicted in 1993, but became a fugitive, fleeing to Costa Rica to avoid sentencing. In a letter to U.S. District Judge Edward Garcia regarding his flight, Carpenter stated; "I find my drive for survival stronger than my sense of obligation to your legal system."
    He was arrested by Costa Rican national police in April 1994, and fought extradition to the US, eventually losing.  He served in prison from 1994 to 1999. The Shrimpscam investigation also led to convictions for State Senator Joseph B. Montoya, and Assemblymen Pat Nolan and Frank Hill.
  • His Federal Bureau of Prisons Register number was 04966-097 and he was released on 08-04-1999.

Source: "CARPENTER TELLS OF FLIGHT FROM JUSTICE" by Peter Hecht, The Sacramento Bee (April 17, 1994)
Source: California Blue Book (1975)
Source: California Assembly Handbook (1979)