A researcher has endured years behind bars for not revealing the location of missing gold coins in an unusual legal saga.
Once a respected researcher, Tommy Thompson, who turned to deep-sea treasure hunting, has been in contempt of court since December 2015, and has been accruing a daily fine of $1,000.
The situation traces back to his 1988 discovery of the S.S Central America.
Dubbed the Ship of Gold, the vessel sank off the coast of South Carolina in 1857 during the gold rush era.
Despite its discovery, Thompson has resisted collaborating with officials seeking 500 coins minted from the ship’s gold, resulting in significant legal troubles and an extended jail term.
Thompson has reportedly taunted authorities regarding the treasure’s location, previously claiming that the coins, worth approximately $2.5 million, were entrusted to a trust in Belize.
His actions have likely caused years of frustration, starting with his failure to attend a 2012 Ohio hearing regarding the coins.
Typically, federal law restricts contempt of court jail sentences to 18 months. However, a federal appeals court in 2019 denied his claim that this law applied to him. Officials stated that his lack of cooperation breached a plea agreement’s terms.
Gold rush era discoveries have fetched high prices over time. In 2022, one of the largest ingots from the S.S. Central America was sold at auction for $2.16 million.
This particular find was a Justh & Hunter ingot weighing 866.19 ounces.
Heritage Auctions in Dallas, which handled the sale, commented: “Given that Justh & Hunter bars recovered from the S.S. Central America numbered 86 ingots of varying sizes, their experience and integrity ranked them among the most trusted and well-run assay establishments of the momentous Gold Rush era.”
Recently, Thompson received a minor legal reprieve in this peculiar narrative.
U.S. District Judge Algenon Marbley stated he ‘no longer is convinced that further incarceration is likely to coerce compliance’.
Despite this, he ordered that Thompson immediately begin serving a two-year sentence related to a criminal contempt charge, which had been postponed when the civil contempt sentence was enforced.