GREENBELT, MARYLAND — Thomas Goldstein was sentenced to six years in prison on July 24, 2026, after being convicted of evading a multimillion-dollar IRS tax debt and engaging in mortgage fraud. The 56-year-old co-founder of SCOTUSblog and former Supreme Court litigator received the sentence in Greenbelt, Maryland, where a jury found him guilty of 12 of 16 counts following a six-week trial that concluded in February 2026.

U.S. District Judge Lydia Kay Griggsby imposed the prison term and ordered Goldstein to serve five years of supervised release after his incarceration. The court also ordered him to pay over $3.1 million in restitution.

Goldstein was convicted of one count of tax evasion, four counts of aiding and assisting in the preparation of false tax returns, four counts of willfully failing to pay taxes, and three counts of mortgage fraud. The verdict followed an indictment in January 2025 that charged the Chevy Chase, Maryland resident with concealing income and falsifying loan applications.

Federal prosecutors recommended a prison sentence of just over eight years for Goldstein. They stated that Goldstein concealed more than $25 million in income between 2016 and 2023, resulting in over $9.5 million in unpaid taxes. Prosecutors said in their sentencing submission that his motivation was singular: pure, unrelenting greed.

Prosecutors said Goldstein funneled gambling income through offshore bank accounts, shaved millions off his true law firm income, and lied to lenders to maintain an exorbitant lifestyle that included Bentleys, globe-trotting vacations, and a $200,000 watch.

he stated that Goldstein diverted money from his law firm to pay gambling debts and falsely deducted those debts as business expenses. They accused him of lying to IRS agents and hiding his gambling liabilities from his accountants, employees, and mortgage lenders.

The mortgage fraud charges centered on Goldstein omitting a $15 million gambling debt from loan applications in 2021 while looking for a new home in Washington, D.C. with his wife. This omission formed the basis for three of the counts on which the jury convicted him.

Defense attorneys argued that sparing Goldstein from prison would allow him to repay debts and address his severe addiction to gambling. They characterized his actions not as calculated criminal enterprise but as the result of a compulsive disorder that undermined his professional judgment.

Defense lawyers said Goldstein should be retiring with significant life savings or, if he wanted to, continuing to practice law at the highest levels. Instead, he has spent many years gambling with money he did not have, and gambling away money that he won, to the detriment of himself and his loved ones.

Defense lawyers stated that Goldstein spent years gambling with money he did not have, noting his inability to compete with high-stakes opponents. They said he is not wealthy enough to sustain the losses of the billionaires he has played against, and he is not good enough at poker to win at the rate of professionals.

Goldstein maintains that his conduct was not illegal, despite the jury's verdict. During the trial, he testified that he repeatedly instructed his law firm’s staff and accountants to correctly characterize his personal expenses, denying any intent to defraud the government. The trial in Greenbelt, Maryland, included testimony from actor Tobey Maguire, who enlisted Goldstein's help in recovering a gambling debt from a billionaire.

Goldstein argued over 40 cases before the Supreme Court during his career. He retired from Supreme Court litigation in 2023 at age 52, ending a career that included serving on Al Gore's legal team in the litigation over the 2000 election. Goldstein previously served as a law clerk for Supreme Court Justice Harry Blackmun during the 1980s, according to his LinkedIn profile and SCOTUSblog’s official biographical archives.

In 2012, Goldstein faced disciplinary action from the Maryland Bar Association for failing to disclose a $2.3 million debt to his law firm, as documented in disciplinary records obtained by the Baltimore Sun.

Goldstein was quoted in a past interview as saying he always played by the rules. This past assertion contrasts with the federal prosecution's findings that he systematically evaded tax obligations and misrepresented his financial status to lenders.

he stated Goldstein's crimes were motivated by pure, uninhibited greed and his obvious disdain for the tax system. They argued that his status as an officer of the court required a higher standard of compliance with federal laws. He said the public can and should expect more from every attorney and officer of the court — let alone one of Goldstein’s status.