Feds Allege Tom Goldstein is a Flight Risk Who Wants to Take on Andy Beal
As Tom Goldstein fights his release conditions ahead of sentencing in his tax and mortgage fraud case, prosecutors are asking for his detainment and alleging that the superstar lawyer and ultra-high-stakes poker player has become an increased flight risk.
Specifically, prosecutors with the US Department of Justice are pointing to Goldstein's overseas ties to wealthy gamblers, the unraveling of his marriage and previous comments about wanting to play Texas billionaire Andy Beal for tens of millions as evidence that he "poses a serious risk of flight in the face of just punishment."
Goldstein, who has long maintained his innocence even after being found guilty on most counts, called the government's allegations "deplorable and unfounded" and accused prosecutors of "invective and ad hominem attacks."
Lawyer Continues to Fight Case
On Friday, Goldstein, who was convicted in February on tax charges stemming from high-stakes heads-up poker matches, filed a motion to modify the conditions of his release to change his place of residence from his Washington DC home to either an apartment in Maryland or his parents' residence in South Carolina, citing his deteriorating relationship with his wife, Amy Howe, who is also his custodian amid sentencing.
"Unfortunately, Mr. Goldstein and Ms. Howe are no longer at a point where it makes sense for them to share a residence," his attorneys wrote in motion.
This followed an earlier motion by Goldstein last week requesting a retrial or full acquittal. In a 93-page motion, Goldstein argued that the jury's verdict is "directly traceable to a series of legal errors" and that "there was insufficient evidence on which a reasonable jury could convict."
Prosecutors didn't mince words in replying to Goldstein. In a withering filing, they said the former attorney "has not yet accepted reality" that "he is a criminal destined for prison."
"Goldstein’s strategy here is plain: put off sentencing as long as possible by drowning the Court with frivolous claims for post-trial relief and then demand release pending his appeal to the Fourth Circuit," prosecutors wrote in a Tuesday filing. "Goldstein currently imagines a world where he remains at large well into 2027, all in desperate hope that he is never punished for his crimes."
Prosecutors also opposed Goldstein's request to modify his release conditions, arguing that his weakening ties to the DC area make him an increased flight risk.
"The United States was already concerned about Goldstein’s risk of flight, but Howe’s unwillingness to continue serving as Goldstein’s custodian caused the government to reevaluate its position on Goldstein’s release pending sentencing."
Feds Point to Poker Comments About Andy Beal
Prosecutors, who have previously called Goldstein a flight risk, pointed to his ties to Malaysian gambling mogul Paul Phua, who was Goldstein's client, friend and financial backer, as well as his previous comments about Texas billionaire Andy Beal, who, he beat for $51 million beginning in 2023.
In an interview with The New York Times ahead of trial, Goldstein claimed he retired from law in 2023 to play poker against an unnamed southern businessman, who PokerNews later revealed to be heads-up legend Beal from The Professor, the Banker, and the Suicide King fame.
Goldstein went so far as to call playing Beal "a way I can make a quarter-billion dollars for the rest of my life." Prosecutors tried using those comments against him this week, arguing, amid his marriage ending and the likelihood that he will lose his equity in his DC home, that he "imagines a future for himself—far from DC—in which he milks a quarter of a billion
dollars from Andy Beal through poker."
"Goldstein’s future plans necessarily require him to reenter the orbit of Phua and others outside the United States so that he can build up a large enough financial stake to take a run at Beal," they wrote. "Facing years in prison, and having learned nothing from his prosecution and conviction, Goldstein has every incentive to leave the United States and get a head start on the next phase of his life."
Goldstein's attorneys dismissed these allegations in a Wednesday filing, arguing that the government "never attempts to explain how Mr. Goldstein would achieve such a feat while under home confinement, subject to ankle monitoring, with his passport in the possession of Pretrial Services, under a strict no-contact order, while his financial accounts and his computer usage are closely monitored."
"Nor does the government adequately explain why this far-fetched scenario is more likely
if Mr. Goldstein is subject to home confinement in a Washington, DC apartment or his parents home in South Carolina," they wrote.
There have been plenty of points of hostility ahead of, during, and after Goldstein's high-profile trial. Initially, in February, prosecutors requested that Goldstein be detained ahead of sentencing but later withdrew their request.
