Appellate Attorney Thomas Goldstein Sentenced to Six Years for Tax Evasion and Mortgage Fraud

Published Nov. 6, 2026. Case status is current as of that date.

A high-profile appellate lawyer was sentenced after a federal jury found he cheated on taxes and lied to mortgage lenders. On July 24, 2026, the U.S. Attorney's Office for the District of Maryland announced that Thomas C. Goldstein, 56, of Chevy Chase, Maryland, who argued more than 40 cases before the U.S. Supreme Court and co-founded SCOTUSblog, had been sentenced to six years in prison [1].

Status: A federal jury convicted Goldstein in February 2026. U.S. District Judge Lydia Kay Griggsby imposed six years in prison, five years of supervised release, $3,103,427 in restitution, and an indeterminate forfeiture amount, and remanded him into custody [1].

What the trial evidence showed

According to evidence presented at trial, as summarized by the U.S. Attorney's Office [1]:

1. Between 2016 and 2023, Goldstein was sole owner of Goldstein & Russell, P.C., and a high-stakes poker player.
2. He stopped paying taxes on time and engaged in a scheme to evade taxes for 2016, including concealing millions in poker results, diverting law-firm fees to personal accounts for poker debts, and falsely classifying payments as legal-fee expenses on firm books.
3. In 2021, he submitted false mortgage applications to two lenders for a $2.6 million Washington, D.C., home, omitting more than $14 million in promissory-note liabilities and taxes owed to the IRS. False statements to one lender enabled a $1.98 million loan.

The person sentenced

Thomas C. Goldstein, 56, Chevy Chase, Md. Convicted of tax evasion; assisting with preparing false tax returns; willfully failing to timely pay taxes; and making false statements to mortgage lenders. Sentence: 6 years prison; 5 years supervised release; restitution $3,103,427 [1].

Red flags for mortgage applications

These are general warning signs, not claims about any lender in this case.

• Omitting large debts or tax liabilities on a mortgage application.
• Using business accounts to pay personal gambling or lifestyle debts while mislabeling the payments.

What to do

• Report mortgage fraud to the FBI at ic3.gov and tax fraud to the IRS.
• Lenders can contact FHFA-OIG or their regulator.

Case status (as of Nov. 6, 2026)

Defendant	Court	Status	Source
Thomas C. Goldstein, 56, Chevy Chase, Md.	U.S. District Court, D. Md. (Judge Lydia Kay Griggsby)	Jury convicted Feb. 2026; sentenced July 24, 2026 to 6 years + 5 years supervised release; restitution $3,103,427	[1]

Statuses can change, including through appeal.

Sources

1. U.S. Attorney's Office, District of Maryland, "Prominent Attorney Sentenced to Prison for Tax Evasion and Mortgage Fraud," July 24, 2026. https://www.justice.gov/usao-md/pr/prominent-attorney-sentenced-prison-tax-evasion-and-mortgage-fraud