Jan 16 (Reuters) - Tom Goldstein, a top U.S. Supreme

Court attorney and publisher of the SCOTUSblog news website, was

indicted on Thursday in Maryland federal court for allegedly

failing to report millions of dollars he won in poker matches

and using his former law firm's accounts to pay his gambling

debts.

Goldstein, who was part of the team that represented former

Vice President Al Gore in Supreme Court litigation over the 2000

U.S. presidential election, is facing 22 different charges,

including tax evasion, preparing false and fraudulent tax

returns, and failing to pay his taxes, according to the

indictment.

Goldstein and a spokesperson for the Maryland U.S.

attorney's office did not immediately respond to requests for

comment. An editor of SCOTUSblog, which covers Supreme Court

news, did not respond to a similar request.

Federal prosecutors described Goldstein as a high-stakes

poker player. He allegedly borrowed millions of dollars to stake

poker matches, underreported his gambling winnings, and used

funds from his law firm, then known as Goldstein & Russell, to

pay off his debts.

Prosecutors also alleged that Goldstein had sham employment

arrangements with at least four women with whom he was

romantically involved, using firm funds to pay for their

salaries and their health insurance even though they did no work

for the firm.

Goldstein has served as a top appellate attorney for

"Fortnite" maker Epic Games in lawsuits against Apple ( AAPL ) and

Google.

At the Supreme Court, where he argued more than 40 cases,

Goldstein won a major victory for Google in 2021, when the

justices said the Alphabet unit's use of Oracle's software code

to build the Android operating system did not violate federal

copyright law.

Goldstein said in March 2023 that he was retiring from his

practice, and the law firm he co-founded was later renamed

Russell & Woofter. The firm's partners, Kevin Russell and Daniel

Woofter, did not immediately respond to requests for comment.