A former Ohio treasure hunter is about to mark half a decade behind bars, for refusing to reveal the location of 500 missing gold coins in a historic shipwreck.
Investigating scientist Tommy Thompson has been jailed in federal prison since 2015 for contempt of court for lost loot.
“I don’t know where the gold is,” Thompson insisted in October, during his last hearing.
“I feel like I don’t have the keys to my freedom.”
Thompson’s legal saga stems from his 1988 discovery of the SS Central America, which sank in South Carolina in 1857, with thousands of pounds of precious metals on board.
A group of 161 investors had paid Thompson $ 12.7 million to find the so-called “Golden Boat” and later sued him, saying they never got any return.
In 2012, a federal judge ordered the treasure hunter to reveal the whereabouts of the coins, which are estimated to be worth between $ 2 million and $ 4 million.
Instead, Thompson fled to Florida, living for three years with a friend, until U.S. commissioners tracked him down to a Hilton hotel in West Boca Raton and arrested him in early 2015.
Thompson pleaded guilty to failure to appear and was hit with two years in prison and a $ 250,000 fine, though that criminal sentence has been delayed until the issue of gold coins is resolved.
As part of the claims agreement, Thompson must answer questions about the missing loot and must also “help” stakeholders find the coins.
He denied it several times, and on Dec. 15, 2015, Federal Judge Algenon Marbley found him in contempt of court and ordered him to remain in jail and pay a $ 1,000 daily fine until he responds.
Thompson, 68, has spent more than 1,700 days in jail and owes nearly $ 1.8 million in fines, and counting.
He has stated that he suffers from a rare form of chronic fatigue syndrome that has caused problems with his short-term memory.
Federal prosecutors say Thompson refuses to cooperate and that there is no relationship between his illness and his refusal to explain where the coins are.
Earlier this year, Marbley denied Thompson’s request for release because of concerns about the risk of contracting coronavirus behind bars.
Lawyers for investors who are still looking for his cash claim that Thompson is no more to blame than himself for his imprisonment.
“He would already be out of jail if he had simply complied with his court declaration agreement and collaborated in locating missing property when he was supposed to,” lawyer Steven Tigges said in a lawsuit.
With publishing cables