The High Life
Billionaire under house arrest spends $33,000 on private jet weekend in Houston
After a weekend trip to see his dying mother in Houston, billionaire polo king John Goodman returned without incident to Palm Beach, where the H-Town native remains on house arrest at his multi-million dollar estate.
The Palm Beach County Sheriff's Office — which approved the visit provided that Goodman pay the tab — tells the South Florida Sun-Sentinel that the four-day getaway cost a total of $32,733. Here's a quick breakdown:
- $29,404 for a round-trip chartered flight
- $1,687 for hotel rooms
- $812 for a rental car plus $68 in gas
- $760 in meals
Let's do the math. In four days and three nights, Goodman took two $14,702 flights, enjoyed a $562 hotel room and rode around in an apparently rather sweet $270-a- day rental car.
The $760 in food — likely three dinners, two lunches and three breakfasts — shows a surprising amount of restraint, considering that the man's been trapped in his mansion for more than a year. But maybe John Goodman's not much of a breakfast eater, which could have meant a trio of $200 dinners and a few $80 lunches.
In spite of the luxury amenities, the costly journey to Houston was surely a painful time for Goodman, whose 85-year-old mother is battling cancer at St. Luke’s Episcopal Hospital with just days or weeks left to live.
Goodman has been holed up at his estate on a $4 million bond since spring of 2012, when a jury convincted him of DUI manslaughter in the death of 23-year-old engineering student Scott Wilson. The conviction was overturned because of the strange actions of one juror, who didn't reveal that his ex-wife had once been arrested on DUI charges.
