Former Supreme Court Attorney and SCOTUSblog co-founder Tom Goldstein was convicted on 12 of 16 counts of tax-related crimes on Wednesday related to his high-stakes poker winnings.
A federal jury found Goldstein guilty of one count of tax evasion, four counts of aiding and assisting in the preparation of false tax returns, four counts of willful failure to timely pay taxes, and three counts of false statements on loan applications.
The six-week trial in Greenbelt, Maryland, included stories of globetrotting high-stakes games. Those tales saw the 56-year-old win and lose millions of dollars over several years.
Some of those who played against him and others who testified in court included Spider-Man actor Toby Maguire, poker pro Dan “Jungleman” Cates, billionaire banker Andy Beal, Andrew Robl, billionaire venture capitalist and entrepreneur Chamath Palihapitiya, and others.
Hiding Poker Winnings
Justice Department prosecutors said Goldstein failed to pay taxes or report those winnings in tax filings. Additionally, he deducted gambling losses as business expenses.
“He lied to everyone around him,” Justice Department prosecutor Sean Beaty said in closing arguments.
In the initial indictment in January 2025, authorities alleged that Goldstein played in high-stakes games in Macau in 2018. He returned to the US with a duffle bag filled with $1 million in cash. Prosecutors said he declared the money but failed to report the winnings on his tax return for that year.
The Justice Department further alleged he improperly used legal fees paid to his Maryland law firm for high-stakes poker and to pay gambling debts.
Goldstein’s attorney Jonathan Kravis argued that the defendant merely made errors and didn’t intentionally cheat on his taxes or knowingly make false statements. He said authorities didn’t thoroughly investigate the case and rushed to judgement, according to Politico.
“A mistake is not a crime,” Kravis said in court.
Lying To IRS Agents
During the trial, Goldstein took the witness stand and denied the charges against him. But he admitted he should have paid more attention to his tax returns and his law firm’s finances.
However, Justice Department prosecutor Sean Beaty said the former attorney intentionally cheated on his taxes and failed to report $50 million won in 2016. He also noted that the scheme came to light after an opponent who felt cheated told the IRS that year about a debt owed to Goldstein.
“It was a textbook tax-evasion scheme,” Beaty said. “And Mr. Goldstein executed that nearly flawlessly.”
Prosecutors also said Goldstein lied to IRS agents, and hid his gambling debts from accountants, staff members at his law firm, and mortgage lenders. Beaty noted that Goldstein spent much of his winnings on high-end watches, cars, and apartments.
“Poker. Travel. Cars. Watches,” he said. “All while you owed millions of dollars to the IRS.”
Goldstein now faces up to five years in prison for tax evasion, up to 30 years for the charges of making false statements to mortgage lenders, and potentially more years for the false tax returns and willful failure to pay taxes charges.
