A high-profile former Supreme Court lawyer has been sentenced to six years in federal prison after a jury found him guilty of tax evasion and lying to lenders, abruptly ending a career at the top of the US legal world.
High-Stakes Poker and Tax Fraud Bring Down Top Lawyer
Thomas Goldstein earned a reputation as one of Washington’s leading appellate lawyers, arguing more than 40 cases before the nation’s highest court and co-founding the popular SCOTUSblog. However, prosecutors said that behind his professional success was a parallel life of multimillion-dollar poker games and widespread financial misconduct.
The prison sentence, five years of supervised release, and a restitution order of more than $3 million were imposed by a federal judge in Maryland, reported The Washington Times. The verdict came after a trial, which concluded earlier this year, where jurors convicted him on multiple counts of tax violations and false statements in mortgage applications.
Evidence presented at trial shows Goldstein failed to report large amounts of income over several years, including proceeds from high-stakes gambling. He routed money through a variety of channels, including offshore accounts, and categorized personal losses as business expenses related to his law firm, prosecutors said. This enabled him to drastically reduce his reported income, while continuing to live the lifestyle to which he was accustomed.
Hidden Debts and Poker Losses Lead to Lawyer’s Prison Term
The case also included charges that Goldstein concealed large debts in applying for a home loan in Washington, D.C. Prosecutors said he omitted tens of millions of dollars in liabilities, creating a false financial profile for lenders.
Testimony during the proceedings revealed the extent of Goldstein’s involvement in elite poker circles, where he played in private games against wealthy opponents. Reportedly, these games had swings of tens of millions of dollars, and both resulted in big wins and big losses over time.
Goldstein’s lawyers asked the court to spare him jail time, saying his actions stemmed from a long-standing gambling problem and he would be better able to pay off his debts outside prison. They said some of the financial irregularities were mistakes, not fraud.
However, prosecutors painted a different picture, describing a scheme of calculated deception to sustain a lavish lifestyle. Goldstein, they said, was a trained lawyer who knew exactly what was required of him by the law.
Sentencing him, the judge said the offences were widespread and serious but acknowledged Goldstein’s earlier contributions to the legal profession.