Businesswoman Describes Alleged Money Laundering : Courts: Jennifer Goddard testifies about her ties to former state Sen. Robbins at a federal corruption trial.

Jennifer Goddard was a young, impressionable college student in 1972 when she met the dashing 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 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, looking for evidence that she aided Robbins in hiding bribery and extortion money.

In testimony that ended Wednesday, the woman whom defense lawyers described--along with Robbins--as “two peas in a pod” and “the devil and his disciple” offered up her first public account of how she got caught up in an alleged 13-year money laundering scheme with her former mentor.

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

In a clear, unwavering voice, Goddard 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 the promise of 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 innocent.

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

Although Robbins testified Carpenter had assumed Goddard was a girlfriend, both Robbins and Goddard said they dated only briefly when she was 20, before he offered her 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 her the favor in 1978 of sending her first big client--the Assn. of Collection Agencies, which he instructed her to bill $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 flatly 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 . . . I got him a gift in the ‘70s. That’s the way it started.”

Described by Robbins as “headstrong,” Goddard didn’t take long to display her shrewdness, and when Robbins instructed her to keep 20% of money and set aside 80% for him, she kept 50% 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 him, to his girlfriends, his limousine service, his masseuse, his housekeeper, his mother-in-law and art galleries so he could purchase artworks. The art included an Erte print for Robbins, an Egyptian statue from the blockbuster King Tut exhibit for Robbins’ former wife and a sculpture for one of his girlfriends.

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

“I never believed I would be in trouble because I was in complete denial,” Goddard testified. “I did not know filing (false Internal Revenue Service) 1099 (forms) was against the law; I didn’t know mailing checks to people who hadn’t worked for me was against the law.”

Goddard, 40, maintained a professional aura on the witness stand. Dressed Wednesday in a navy blazer and mustard-colored silk blouse, she earned laughter from attorneys and courtroom spectators for some of her witty replies, while looking every bit the executive.

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

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

“With all of these crimes she committed--she violated 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.