A deep-sea explorer renowned for uncovering a historic shipwreck has been released from prison after spending a decade behind bars. Tommy Thompson, 73, a treasure hunter from Ohio, was incarcerated due to his refusal to disclose the location of 500 gold coins retrieved from the famed wreck of the S.S. Central America, which sank in 1857.
Thompson gained fame after locating the shipwreck approximately 160 miles off the coast of South Carolina, lying at a depth of 8,000 feet. The S.S. Central America was carrying around 30,000 pounds of gold when it sank, resulting in the tragic loss of 435 lives and contributing to an economic panic in the United States at the time. His discovery in 1988 was hailed as one of the greatest shipwreck finds in American history.
Legal Troubles and Contempt Charges
After successfully retrieving a significant amount of treasure, Thompson sold part of the haul to a gold marketing group in 2000 for approximately $50 million. However, his investors, who had financed the multi-million dollar expedition, claimed they had not received any returns from the sale. In 2005, they filed a lawsuit against him, which led to a series of legal troubles.
Thompson went into hiding and became a fugitive after a federal judge in Ohio issued a warrant for his arrest in 2012 when he failed to appear in court. Authorities located him in a Florida hotel three years later, and he was subsequently held in contempt of court for refusing to answer questions about the whereabouts of the missing coins.
Despite federal law generally limiting contempt of court sentences to 18 months, Thompson remained imprisoned. In 2019, a federal appeals court dismissed his argument that the law should apply to his case, stating that his refusal to cooperate violated the conditions of a plea agreement.
Release from Prison
Thompson maintained that the coins, valued at approximately $2.5 million, were entrusted to a trust in Belize. He claimed that most of the proceeds from the sale of the initial gold batch went towards legal fees and bank loans. During a court appearance in 2020, he expressed his confusion regarding the coins’ location, stating, “Your honor, I don’t know if we’ve gone over this road before or not, but I don’t know the whereabouts of the gold. I feel like I don’t have the keys to my freedom.”
Last year, a judge ruled that Thompson was unlikely to provide any further information about the missing coins and ordered his release. After a decade of incarceration, the treasure hunter is now free, leaving behind a complex legacy entwined with mystery and legal battles.
