Treasure Hunter Still In Jail After 6 Years For Refusing To Reveal Location Of 500 Gold Coins Found In Shipwreck

A former deep-sea treasure hunter is still languishing in jail six years after refusing to reveal the location of 500 missing gold coins discovered in a historic shipwreck.

Tommy Thompson was held in contempt of court on December 15, 2015, for not disclosing the whereabouts of the coins, and has been behind bars ever since. He is also incurring a daily fine of $1,000, the Associated Press reported.

AP

Thompson's case dates back to the historic shipwreck of the S.S. Central America, also known as the Ship of Gold, in 1988. The gold rush-era ship sank in a hurricane off South Carolina in 1857 with thousands of pounds of gold aboard.

Thompson has continuously refused to cooperate with authorities attempting to locate the coins despite an investors lawsuit and a federal court order according to court records, prosecutors and the judge who held him in contempt.

AP

"He creates a patent for a submarine, but he can't remember where he put the loot," federal Judge Algenon Marbley said during a hearing in 2017, as per Newsweek.

But Thompson claims that he has already revealed all that he knows about the missing coins.

"Your honour, I don't know if we've gone over this road before or not, but I don't know the whereabouts of the gold," Thompson said during an October 2020 hearing when asked about the location of the coins. "I feel like I don't have the keys to my freedom."

AP

Federal law generally limits jail time for contempt of court to 18 months. But a federal appeals court in 2019 rejected ThompsonĄ¯s argument that that law applies to him, saying his refusal violates conditions of a plea agreement.

After technology problems cancelled Thompson's latest virtual hearing last week federal Judge Algenon Marbley scheduled a new hearing for Jan. 7.

For more from trending stories, click here.