The founding rabbi of a Poway synagogue who rose to national prominence after being wounded in an antisemitic shooting, and was then exposed as the perpetrator of multimillion-dollar fraud schemes, was sentenced Tuesday to 14 months in prison. At least a dozen people took Goldstein up on the tax-evasion scheme, resulting in at least $1.5 million in tax losses to the Internal Revenue Service, according to prosecutors. News of his crimes wasn’t made public until the following summer, when he pleaded guilty to tax and wire fraud. To prepare for sentencing, Goldstein took the unusual step of producing a documentary-like video to submit to the court to tell his side of the story. “I have fallen prey and worshiped the Golden Calf of money,” Goldstein wrote to the judge in a letter, referring to an Old Testament idol.

Source: Los Angeles Times January 05, 2022 18:05 UTC