WASHINGTON (AP) — A prominent Supreme Court litigator who also published a popular blog about the U.S. Supreme Court was found guilty Wednesday of tax evasion and related charges over his secret lifestyle as an ultra-high-stakes poker player.
After a six-week trial in Greenbelt, Maryland, a federal jury found SCOTUSblog co-founder Thomas Goldstein guilty on 12 of 16 counts. The jury deliberated for about two days before convicting Goldstein of one count of tax evasion, four of eight counts of aiding and assisting in the preparation of a false tax return, four counts of willfully failing to pay taxes on a timely basis and three counts of making false statements on a loan application.
Goldstein was accused of failing to pay taxes on millions of dollars in gambling income. Justice Department prosecutors also accuse him of diverting funds from his law firm to pay gambling debts and falsely deducting gambling debts as business expenses.
Goldstein tried more than 40 cases before the Supreme Court before retiring in 2023. He was part of the legal team that represented Democrat Al Gore in a Supreme Court lawsuit involving the 2000 election that was ultimately won by Republican President George W. Bush.
Goldstein’s indictment sent shockwaves through the Washington, D.C., legal community a year ago, with many friends and colleagues unaware of the extent of his gambling.
“He lied to everyone around him,” Justice Department prosecutor Sean Beatty said during closing arguments in the trial.
Defense attorney Jonathan Kravis said the government rushed to verdict and failed to adequately investigate the case. Kravis told jurors that Goldstein made “honest errors” on his tax returns but did not evade taxes or intentionally make false statements on his tax returns.
“Mistakes are not crimes,” he said.
Beatty described Goldstein as “willfully evading taxes.” According to Beaty, Goldstein won about $50 million in poker winnings in 2016, including about $22 million he won while playing poker in Asia. Prosecutors said the tax evasion scheme “failed” when another gambler, feeling he had been cheated by Goldstein, notified the IRS of a debt owed to an attorney in 2016.
“This is a textbook tax evasion scheme,” Beatty said. “Mr. Goldstein executed this almost perfectly.”
The trial began on January 12 with testimony from “Spider-Man” star Tobey Maguire. Tobey Maguire was an avid poker player who recovered gambling debts from a billionaire with Goldstein’s help.
Goldstein defended himself and denied any wrongdoing. He has said he repeatedly instructed law firm staff and accountants to correctly describe his personal expenses. In a 2014 email, he told a company employee, “We always fully comply with the rules.”
Goldstein is also accused of lying to IRS agents and concealing gambling debts from accountants, employees and mortgage lenders. The indictment alleges that he omitted $15 million in gambling debts from a mortgage application in 2021 when he and his wife were looking for a new home in Washington, D.C.
“When he was getting out of his gambling debt, all he could think about was his wife,” Kravis said.