A once-celebrated Washington attorney known for arguing dozens of cases before the U.S. Supreme Court was taken into custody inside a Maryland courtroom Friday after receiving a six-year federal prison sentence in a tax evasion and financial fraud case tied to what his attorneys described as a severe gambling addiction.
Thomas Goldstein, 56, appeared before U.S. District Judge Lydia Griggsby in Greenbelt, Maryland, for a lengthy sentencing hearing that concluded with the judge ordering him to begin serving his sentence immediately. The decision marked a dramatic fall for one of the legal profession’s most recognizable appellate advocates.
Goldstein, a Democrat and co-founder of the widely read legal publication SCOTUSblog, had asked the court for a more lenient punishment. His legal team urged the judge to impose supervised release instead of prison, arguing that such an outcome would allow him to “repay his debts, address his gambling addiction and contribute to society.”
