Capitol Alliance Consumed by Dark Side of Politics : Corruption: Former Sen. Robbins’ evidence formed backbone for indictment against powerful state lobbyist.

One was a cigar-chomping ex-football player whose ability to sway lawmakers made him one of the most successful lobbyists in the state capital. The other was a wisecracking senator whose mastery of the legislative process made him one of the state’s most powerful lawmakers.

The alliance they formed enabled them to engage in a pattern of corruption that for years allowed the lawmaker to collect thousands of dollars in bribes and gave the lobbyist virtual control of a seat in the Senate, a federal grand jury has charged.

In the end, their parting came not from angry words but self-interest. Former Sen. Alan Robbins agreed to turn state’s evidence against lobbyist Clayton R. Jackson in return for a lighter sentence on charges of racketeering, extortion, obstruction of justice, tax evasion and making false statements to banks.

The information Robbins fed to the FBI and U.S. attorney’s office, some of it from tape-recorded conversations, formed the backbone of an indictment released Friday that accused Jackson of racketeering and conspiracy to launder money and commit mail fraud.

In the sterile pages of the indictment, U.S. Atty. George O’Connell said, is the story of how the two political pals conspired to manipulate the legislative process to benefit Jackson’s clients and Robbins’ pocketbook; how over the years, they used Robbins’ chairmanship of the Senate Insurance, Claims and Corporations Committee as a tool for Jackson’s interests.

It is an interpretation of events that the prosecution has only half right, Jackson’s lawyers say. They say court proceedings will show that their client was Robbins’ victim--not his co-conspirator. They say they will reveal that Robbins tried unsuccessfully to use their friendship to entice Jackson into wrongdoing.

Donald Heller, Jackson’s Sacramento lawyer, said Robbins “tampered with the tape or erased the tapes” he made while cooperating with the government. “The tapes will set Jackson free. The tapes demonstrate that Robbins was extorting money from Jackson. Jackson never produced a dime.”

The relationship between the two men is a key issue for both sides. The prosecution will portray it is as a friendship of mutual benefit; the defense as one in which one man took advantage of the other.

From the beginning of their careers in Sacramento in the early 1970s, Robbins and Jackson were a natural pairing, say those who knew and worked with them. Both were extremely bright, came from families of modest means, grew up in Southern California and attended cross-town universities--UCLA for Robbins and USC for Jackson. Both became lawyers.

In their own way, they each cut a striking figure in the halls of the Legislature. Jackson, 6-foot-6 and heavyset, towered over lawmakers as he buttonholed them to promote his clients’ interests. The shorter, loquacious Robbins drew attention with his quick retorts and verbal jabs.

What must have drawn these two men together, their colleagues surmise, was a shared love for legislative gamesmanship. One lawmaker, who asked not to be identified, described Jackson as “almost a caricature of what the public thinks of as the deal-cutting back-room lobbyist.”

Of Robbins, another said: “Alan was a person who pushed the rules to the limit, more so I think than anybody else in the Legislature.”

But O’Connell and other federal investigators say Robbins and Jackson did not just push things to the limit; they went over the line.

“The use of bribes, the use of under the table payments, the deception of clients . . ,” said FBI Special Agent in Charge Richard Ross. “In this day and age I am sure every Californian would stand up and say: ‘Enough.’ ”

The indictments and other information that has leaked from the federal investigation paint a picture of just how far prosecutors believe the two men’s relationship carried them. The indictments say it caused Jackson to pay bribes--disguised as campaign contributions--to Robbins. And it caused Robbins to agree that in return for money, he would work to pass or kill legislation that was favored or opposed by Jackson’s clients.

O’Connell describes Jackson’s clients as being generally unsuspecting and says prosecutors believe that the lobbyist acted alone and without his clients’ knowledge.

According to the indictments, the acts of bribery or attempted bribery began in 1986 and continued through 1991, during a period when Jackson and Robbins, both 50, were at the pinnacle of their power. The indictments do not divulge how Robbins fulfilled his end of the bargains, only that he agreed to do something to help kill or pass bills in which some of Jackson’s clients had an interest.

But a typical scheme, prosecutors say, was played out in 1986 when Jackson arranged for Robbins and the Senate leadership to get large campaign contributions from GTECH, a Rhode Island-based corporation that has a multimillion-dollar contract to run the California lottery’s computer-operated games.

The $13,500 that was Robbins’ share, they said, was a bribe that he was expected to repay by helping defeat a bill that would have required the lottery to buy all tickets for its instant or Scratcher games from California companies. The bill died on the Senate floor.

Craig Watson, GTECH’s vice president of marketing, said Friday that the company had no knowledge of Jackson’s action and had never instructed him to kill the bill--only to monitor it. “GTECH has engaged in no impropriety whatsoever,” Watson said.

The indictment said the GTECH contribution was only a beginning.

The same year, Robbins collected $4,000 from another Jackson client--the Food and Fuel Retailers for Economic Equality, an organization representing convenience stores and service stations. In return for the contribution, the indictment said, Robbins agreed to help kill a bill opposed by the organization.

The measure, which sought to limit sales of alcoholic beverages at service stations, died in the Assembly.

The indictment said Jackson paid Robbins an unspecified amount to help a client who was a major combatant in what became known as “desert wars,” a fight over a proposal that would have given special treatment to a luxury resort planned near Palm Springs.

State records show that Jackson represented Marriott Corp., which opposed the 1988 measure because it benefited a rival developer who planned to build a five-hotel complex in the affluent city of Indian Wells. The bill was vetoed by former Gov. George Deukmejian.

The indictment also accused Jackson of offering Robbins a $250,000 bribe in 1991 if the senator would use his influence to transfer jurisdiction over workers’ compensation legislation from the Senate Industrial Relations Committee to the Senate Insurance Committee, which Robbins chaired. At the time, Jackson represented several insurance industry trade associations and insurance companies.

O’Connell said the bribe was never paid because “Robbins began cooperating with us and didn’t take the steps that were being sought.”

Since Jackson surfaced as a target of the investigation in late 1991, those who know him say that he has kept a lower profile in the Capitol, often lobbying lawmakers by telephone. Even so, his firm said it earned $2.1 million in 1992.

Over the years, Jackson had gained an edge on his competitors by building up a large list of clients, many of whom are major campaign contributors. “Clay recognized (that) you could convert that into influence,” said one lobbyist.

As the indictments were returned Friday against Jackson in Sacramento, his former ally Robbins was serving a five-year sentence in federal prison for the part he has said he played in corrupting state government.

In recent weeks, Robbins was brought to the El Dorado County Jail near Sacramento so he could help prosecutors put the finishing touches on their cases.

When he pleaded guilty, Robbins implicated former Sen. Paul B. Carpenter in a scheme with Jackson to launder campaign contributions to benefit Robbins.

On Friday, Carpenter was indicted in connection with the scheme and charged with obstruction of justice, conspiracy to commit mail fraud and money laundering.

As for Robbins’ sentence, O’Connell said prosecutors are considering whether to request a reduction in prison time. “I will say Mr. Robbins has been very cooperative and his cooperation has been helpful in making this case,” he said.