The St. Mary’s County Sheriff’s Office is reporting that a 62-year-old man died in a barn fire at his home in Chaptico, Md. It’s believed that the victim was actor Bobby J. Brown, who starred on “The Wire.”

MARYLAND (WBFF) — A prominent Supreme Court litigator who also published a popular blog about the nation’s highest court was convicted Wednesday of tax evasion and related charges stemming from his secretive lifestyle as an ultra-high-stakes poker player.

A federal jury found SCOTUSblog co-founder Thomas Goldstein guilty of 12 of 16 counts after a six-week trial in Greenbelt, Maryland. Jurors deliberated for approximately two days before convicting Goldstein of one count of tax evasion, four of eight counts of aiding and assisting in the preparation of false tax returns, four counts of willful failure to timely pay taxes, and three counts of false statements on loan applications.

Goldstein was charged with failing to pay taxes on millions of dollars in gambling income. Justice Department prosecutors also accused him of diverting money from his law firm to pay gambling debts and falsely deducting gambling debts as business expenses.

Goldstein argued more than 40 cases before the Supreme Court before retiring in 2023. He was part of the legal team that represented Democrat Al Gore in the Supreme Court litigation over the 2000 election ultimately won by Republican President George W. Bush.

Goldstein’s indictment a year ago sent shockwaves through the legal community in Washington, D.C. Many friends and colleagues didn’t know the extent of his gambling.

“He lied to everyone around him,” Justice Department prosecutor Sean Beaty said during the trial’s closing arguments.

Defense attorney Jonathan Kravis said the government rushed to judgment and failed to adequately investigate the case. Goldstein made “innocent mistakes” on his tax returns but didn’t cheat on his taxes or knowingly make false statements on his tax returns, Kravis told jurors.

“A mistake is not a crime,” he said.

Beaty described Goldstein as a “willful tax cheat.” Goldstein raked in approximately $50 million in poker winnings in 2016, including roughly $22 million that he won playing in Asia, according to Beaty. The prosecutor said the tax evasion scheme “fell apart” when another gambler, feeling cheated by Goldstein, notified the IRS about a 2016 debt owed to the attorney.

“It was a textbook tax-evasion scheme,” Beaty said. “And Mr. Goldstein executed that nearly flawlessly.”

The trial, which started Jan. 12, included testimony by “Spider-Man” star Tobey Maguire, an avid poker player who enlisted Goldstein’s help in recovering a gambling debt from a billionaire.

Goldstein, who testified in his own defense, denied any wrongdoing. He has said he repeatedly instructed his law firm’s staff and accountants to correctly characterize his personal expenses. In a 2014 email, he told a firm employee that “we always play completely by the rules.”

Goldstein also was accused of lying to IRS agents and hiding his gambling debts from his accountants, employees and mortgage lenders. He omitted a $15 million gambling debt from mortgage loan applications while looking for a new home in Washington, D.C., with his wife in 2021, his indictment alleges.

“He was thinking only of his wife when he left off the gambling debts,” Kravis said.

A 22-year-old assisted living employee accused of disguising himself in long female wigs and executing an 87-year-old millionaire philanthropist he treated nightly, is now also charged with shooting at a Maryland state trooper Tuesday while on the run.

The Montgomery County Department of Police’s Major Crimes Division confirmed during a news conference on Wednesday that Marquis Emilio James, 22, of White Marsh, Maryland, was arrested in connection with the Valentine’s Day homicide of 87-year-old Robert G. Fuller Jr. at the Cogir Potomac Senior Living Facility, and the shooting of a Maryland State Police trooper Tuesday during a traffic stop in West Baltimore.

James, who had been employed as a medication technician at the senior living facility since October, was allegedly seen on surveillance footage entering and exiting through a tampered courtyard door around the time Fuller was fatally shot in the head in his apartment.

Nothing appeared to have been taken from Fuller’s home during the crime, according to Montgomery County Police Chief Marc Yamada.

Investigators later determined the door’s alarm sensor had been disabled in January — on a day when James had been the only person seen using the door.

During a search, folded paper towels used to prop doors open on the day of the murder and again days later, were found by police.

Yamada said that days after Fuller’s death, James was found inside the facility after his shift ended, gave a suspicious explanation to other workers, triggered another exterior door alarm, and fled when a supervisor was going to be notified. 

The door he used to exit had also been tampered with, according to authorities.

At about 3:30 a.m. Tuesday, a Maryland State Police trooper pulled over James’ car to conduct a traffic stop after noticing he was missing license plates.

As the trooper approached the car, James, who was driving, suddenly opened the car door and fired two shots, said Maryland State Police Lt. Col. Steve Decerbo.

The bullets narrowly missed the trooper by inches, and he only sustained minor injuries.

“Without a doubt, our Maryland State trooper escaped an outcome that could have ended much differently,” Decerbo said.

James immediately drove away, and investigators later recovered a shell casing from the scene that matched ballistic evidence from Fuller’s murder, linking the two cases.

Montgomery County Police, Maryland State Police and the US Marshals took James into custody Wednesday afternoon in Rockville after a brief foot chase.

James is charged in Montgomery County with first-degree murder, which carries a maximum penalty of life in prison.

He is being held without bond, with a court hearing scheduled.

While conducting two search warrants in Baltimore County, investigators recovered “numerous” wigs and a mask, consistent with what appeared to be a disguise in surveillance footage.

Police initially said there was no clear description of the person’s gender or race, adding the suspect seen in the footage could be male or female due to the long wig.

Yamada added police “do not have a good sense of why” James allegedly shot and killed Fuller.

“Upon speaking with him, he said their relationship was very good, and he would never have hurt Mr. Fuller,” he said. “So we’re hopeful that as we get further in … we’re going to get a better sense of what was going on behind the scenes, what types of communications Marquis James had, [and] what he was searching on his electronic devices. We’re hopeful that that’s going to lead us to a better sense of why.”

Yamada would not confirm if James had a criminal record.

Maine State Rep. Bill Bridgeo, who met Fuller while working as city manager in Augusta, told NBC 4 Washington Fuller was a prominent attorney and a retired Navy Reserve officer.

Bridgeo told the local station Fuller donated millions to the community to build a new YMCA, hospital and expand a high school.