Carl Christopher Perkins (born August 6, 1954) is an American lawyer and

politician A politician is a person active in party politics, or a person holding or seeking an elected office in government. Politicians propose, support, reject and create laws that govern the land and by an extension of its people. Broadly speaking ...

who served as the

United States representative The United States House of Representatives, often referred to as the House of Representatives, the U.S. House, or simply the House, is the lower chamber of the United States Congress, with the Senate being the upper chamber. Together they ...

from the 7th district of

Kentucky Kentucky ( , ), officially the Commonwealth of Kentucky, is a state in the Southeastern region of the United States and one of the states of the Upper South. It borders Illinois, Indiana, and Ohio to the north; West Virginia and Virginia ...

from 1984 to 1993. Perkins served as a

Democrat Democrat, Democrats, or Democratic may refer to: Politics *A proponent of democracy, or democratic government; a form of government involving rule by the people. *A member of a Democratic Party: **Democratic Party (United States) (D) **Democratic ...

. He was convicted on three federal felony corruption charges.

Biography

Perkins is the son of Carl D. Perkins, who represented Kentucky in the House of Representatives from 1949 to 1984. Perkins was born in

Washington, D.C. ) , image_skyline = , image_caption = Clockwise from top left: the Washington Monument and Lincoln Memorial on the National Mall, United States Capitol, Logan Circle, Jefferson Memorial, White House, Adams Morgan, ...

and graduated from

Fort Hunt High School Fort Hunt High School was a public secondary school near Alexandria, Virginia from 1963 until 1985, when it was converted to a middle school. Constructed at a cost of $2.5 million, Fort Hunt High opened its doors at 8428 Fort Hunt Road in 1963, t ...

Alexandria Alexandria ( or ; ar, ٱلْإِسْكَنْدَرِيَّةُ ; grc-gre, Αλεξάνδρεια, Alexándria) is the second largest city in Egypt, and the largest city on the Mediterranean coast. Founded in by Alexander the Great, Alexandri ...

Virginia Virginia, officially the Commonwealth of Virginia, is a state in the Mid-Atlantic and Southeastern regions of the United States, between the Atlantic Coast and the Appalachian Mountains. The geography and climate of the Commonwealth ar ...

in 1972. He earned his B.A. from Davidson College in 1976. In 1978, he earned a J.D. degree from the

University of Louisville The University of Louisville (UofL) is a public research university in Louisville, Kentucky. It is part of the Kentucky state university system. When founded in 1798, it was the first city-owned public university in the United States and one o ...

. He worked for some time as a lawyer in private practice. From 1981 to 1984, he was a member of the Kentucky House of Representatives. Perkins was elected simultaneously as a Democrat to the 98th and the

99th Congress The 99th United States Congress was a meeting of the legislative branch of the United States federal government, composed of the United States Senate and the United States House of Representatives. It met in Washington, D.C., from January 3, 1 ...

special election A by-election, also known as a special election in the United States and the Philippines, a bye-election in Ireland, a bypoll in India, or a Zimni election (Urdu: ضمنی انتخاب, supplementary election) in Pakistan, is an election used to f ...

to fill the vacancy caused by the death of his father. Perkins was reelected to the three succeeding Congresses (November 6, 1984 – January 3, 1993). The seat that he held, Kentucky's 7th district, was eliminated by redistricting and became Kentucky's 5th district and some counties in Kentucky's 4th district. He did not seek re-election to Congress in 1992 from the new 5th district, in part due to the

House banking scandal The House banking scandal broke in early 1992, when it was revealed that the US House of Representatives allowed its members to overdraw their House checking accounts without the risk of being penalized by the House bank, which was actually a clea ...

. In 1994, Perkins agreed to

plead guilty In legal terms, a plea is simply an answer to a claim made by someone in a criminal case under common law using the adversarial system. Colloquially, a plea has come to mean the assertion by a defendant at arraignment, or otherwise in response ...

on three

felony A felony is traditionally considered a crime of high seriousness, whereas a misdemeanor is regarded as less serious. The term "felony" originated from English common law (from the French medieval word "félonie") to describe an offense that resu ...

charges in connection with the House banking scandal. The following year, he was sentenced to 21 months in federal

prison A prison, also known as a jail, gaol (dated, standard English, Australian, and historically in Canada), penitentiary (American English and Canadian English), detention center (or detention centre outside the US), correction center, corre ...

for misusing hundreds of thousands of dollars in campaign contributions and improperly obtaining bank loans. He was also placed on three years' supervised

probation Probation in criminal law is a period of supervision over an offender, ordered by the court often in lieu of incarceration. In some jurisdictions, the term ''probation'' applies only to community sentences (alternatives to incarceration), such ...

, ordered to perform 250 hours of

community service Community service is unpaid work performed by a person or group of people for the benefit and betterment of their community without any form of compensation. Community service can be distinct from volunteering, since it is not always performe ...

, and told to complete any treatment for

alcoholism Alcoholism is, broadly, any drinking of alcohol that results in significant mental or physical health problems. Because there is disagreement on the definition of the word ''alcoholism'', it is not a recognized diagnostic entity. Predomi ...

deemed necessary by his probation officer. After his release from prison, Perkins attended

Louisville Seminary Louisville Presbyterian Theological Seminary, currently branded as Louisville Seminary, is a seminary affiliated with the Presbyterian Church (USA), located in Louisville, Kentucky. It is one of ten official PC (USA) seminaries, though it current ...

and became an

ordained Ordination is the process by which individuals are consecrated, that is, set apart and elevated from the laity class to the clergy, who are thus then authorized (usually by the denominational hierarchy composed of other clergy) to perform ...

Presbyterian Presbyterianism is a part of the Reformed tradition within Protestantism that broke from the Roman Catholic Church in Scotland by John Knox, who was a priest at St. Giles Cathedral (Church of Scotland). Presbyterian churches derive their nam ...

minister, serving a church in

Ezel, Kentucky Ezel (also Ecell and Ezell) is a census-designated place (CDP) in Morgan County, Kentucky, United States. It lies along U.S. Route 460, west of the city of West Liberty, the county seat of Morgan County. Its elevation is 945 feet (288 ...

.Former Congressman turns to different public ministry
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References

External links

* , - {{DEFAULTSORT:Perkins, Chris 1954 births American Presbyterian ministers Davidson College alumni Democratic Party members of the United States House of Representatives from Kentucky Kentucky lawyers Kentucky politicians convicted of crimes Living people Louisville Presbyterian Theological Seminary alumni Democratic Party members of the Kentucky House of Representatives People from Knott County, Kentucky University of Louisville alumni

Biography

See also

References

External links