Peter F. Paul

After being released from federal prison in California, Paul moved to Los Angeles.

In 1985, Paul was appointed President of the California Bicentennial Foundation for the Constitution and Bill of Rights, a foundation designated by the California state legislature and governor to direct California's role in the Bicentennial celebration of the Constitution and Bill of Rights.

In 1987, Paul's efforts on behalf of the Foundation were derided in the Los Angeles Times, in part because the commission was selling a book that described blacks using the slur "pickaninnies", and declared enslavers "the worst victims of slavery", and in part because Paul referred to the founding fathers of the United States as "39 sweaty old men arguing in Philadelphia", and his remark that most Californians weren't able to understand the 18th-century language in the constitution anyway.

In 1988, Chief Justice Warren Burger had commended Paul for his efforts in a letter that read in part, "We commend you for the many contributions you have made during the national commemoration of the Constitution's 200th anniversary."

Paul became a business manager for, or otherwise involved with several celebrities, including becoming manager for a time of romance-novel icon Fabio.

Stan Lee-related litigation

Paul has promoted lawsuits against Marvel Entertainment claiming that Stan Lee Media owns the rights to all the Marvel characters created by Stan Lee. These would include Spider-Man and The X-Men. Paul and his associates further claim that Stan Lee Media was never properly dissolved as a corporation, and that they control the company. Though courts have found that some Stan Lee Media characters were improperly transferred to Stan Lee's later company, Pow Entertainment, plaintiffs have not yet found traction with these broader claims, and Stan Lee himself has both publicly dismissed these claims and has engaged in a series of cross-suits with Stan Lee Media, Peter Paul, and his associates.

On March 3, 2008, Paul posted a message to his blog, subsequently reposted by one or more unknown parties verbatim on other websites, in which he claimed that Stan Lee helped disguise the origin of Paul's unreported donations to Hillary Clinton, and that he (Paul) has a video tape of Lee admitting to this subterfuge. Lee responded with a lawsuit against Paul, claiming defamation.

Securities fraud conviction and jail terms

On June 12, 2001, Paul was indicted on one count of violating SEC Reg. 10(b)5, for manipulating the price of the stock in Stan Lee Media. On August 3, 2001, Paul was arrested in Brazil and jailed, pending the outcome of extradition proceedings. Paul failed in his efforts to avoid extradition and, in September 2003, he was delivered to the Metropolitan Detention Facility in Brooklyn, New York, for arraignment and trial.

In August 2004, the SEC formally filed its complaint against Paul for the manipulation of Stan Lee Media's stock in violation of the antifraud provisions of Section 17(a) of the Securities Act of 1933, Section 10(b) of the Securities Exchange Act, and SEC Rule 10b-5. Paul pleaded guilty to the securities fraud charge. The government characterized his conduct as causing "losses to the investing public and financial institutions of approximately $25 million". In July 2005, he settled related civil charges, consenting to a permanent injunction against ever serving as an officer or director of any reporting company. He pleaded poverty and, as a result, was not asked to pay any fine. He then spent four years under house arrest, wearing an "ankle bracelet".

In July 2009, Paul accepted a plea bargain and was sentenced to ten years in prison, and ordered to pay over $11 million in restitution to Merrill Lynch and Spear, Leeds & Kellogg. He self-surrendered on September 30, 2009, but subsequently tried to have the plea bargain annulled, claiming that the judge coerced him into agreeing to the deal. In March 2011, the courts rejected this attempt, and Paul continued to serve his 10-year imprisonment term as inmate number 78802-012. He was imprisoned at the Federal Correctional Institution, La Tuna in Anthony, Texas, until he was paroled on December 24, 2014.