Supreme Court veteran Goldstein wins release again in tax crimes case

By David Thomas

Feb 13 (Reuters) - A federal judge on Thursday ordered Tom Goldstein's release from jail, three days after the prominent Washington lawyer and appellate law expert was arrested and detained for allegedly violating pretrial release terms in a tax prosecution tied to his high-stakes poker playing.

Chief U.S. Magistrate Judge Timothy Sullivan in Greenbelt, Maryland said there was not enough evidence that Goldstein concealed recent cryptocurrency transactions from the court to keep him incarcerated, though the judge said he suspected that Goldstein engaged in such transfers.

The judge after a hearing imposed new release conditions on Goldstein, requiring his internet usage to be monitored and forbidding him from spending, receiving or transferring any cryptocurrency.

Sullivan said he found it likely that Goldstein may have access to unidentified funds that would allow him "to flee from prosecution in this case."

Goldstein, publisher of the website SCOTUSblog who has argued more than 40 U.S. Supreme Court cases, was indicted last month on 22 counts of tax evasion and other tax crimes allegedly connected to his side career as a poker player.

The indictment said Goldstein won and lost millions of dollars in individual poker matches and made improper payments through his law firm to cover debts.

He pleaded not guilty on January 27 and was granted pretrial release.

Attorneys for Goldstein did not immediately respond to requests for comment on Thursday. A spokesperson for the Maryland U.S. attorney's office declined to comment beyond confirming Goldstein was released.

Prosecutors earlier this week alleged that Goldstein had transferred millions of dollars in cryptocurrency through concealed accounts in the days following his initial release, leading to Goldstein's second arrest and detention on Monday.

Goldstein argued in court papers this week that the crypto transfers were made in 2023 and that he did not own the accounts in question.

Evidence supplied by Goldstein cast "sufficient doubt" on the government's allegations to warrant his release, Sullivan said in a six-page order on Thursday, but he said Goldstein had not disproved the government's allegations.