Billionaire John Goodman allowed private jet trip to visit ailing mother

John Goodman, center, talks with his attorneys Roy Black and Guy Fronstin during his sentencing hearing on May 11 in West Palm Beach, Fla. (AP Photo/The Palm Beach Post, Lannis Waters, Pool) John Goodman, center, talks with his attorneys Roy Black and Guy Fronstin during his sentencing hearing on May 11 in West Palm Beach, Fla. (AP Photo/The Palm Beach Post, Lannis Waters, Pool) Photo: Lannis Waters, Associated Press Photo: Lannis Waters, Associated Press Image 1 of / 105 Caption Close Billionaire John Goodman allowed private jet trip to visit ailing mother 1 / 105 Back to Gallery

As he awaits the retrial of his drunken driving manslaughter conviction, billionaire Houston native John Goodman will get to leave his Palm Beach mansion to visit his ailing mother in Houston, a Florida judge decided.

At an emergency hearing last week, Palm Beach County Circuit Judge Jeffrey Colbath agreed to allow Goodman to travel to Houston to visit his mother, 85-year-old Harriet Goodman, the Palm Beach Post reported.

She is being treated for cancer at St. Luke's Episcopal Hospital, according to CultureMap.

The industrialist initially was only approved to take a commercial flight accompanied by four deputies, but Palm Beach sheriff's officials have allowed him to be escorted aboard a chartered jet. He will be responsible for all travel costs, along with lodging and meal expenses, CultureMap reported.

The 49-year-old polo mogul was convicted in March 2012 of DUI-manslaughter and vehicular homicide, stemming from a hit-and-run automobile collision in 2010. He was driving a Bentley in Wellington, Fla., when he ran a stop sign and struck a car driven by Scott Patrick Wilson, 23.

Goodman left the scene after the collision and did not call 911. Wilson's Hyundai Sonata plunged into a canal, and he drowned while strapped in his seatbelt. Goodman sustained a broken wrist in the crash.

He was sentenced to 16 years in prison and fined $10,000. Under conditions of his release on bond pending appeal, Goodman agreed to be monitored 24 hours a day with a GPS device, his driver's license was revoked and he was prohibited from applying for a new passport.

He has remained under house arrest at his Florida mansion. A retrial is scheduled for next year.

The founder of International Polo Club in West Palm Beach, Goodman made headlines in 2011 when he adopted his 42-year-old girlfriend, Heath Ann Hutchins, in a ploy to protect some of his assets from being attached by Wilson's family, ABC News reported.

Goodman's ex-wife Carroll Goodman appealed the ruling, and a Miami appeals court overturned the adoption in March 2013.