Deep-Sea Treasure Hunter's Legal Battle and Continuing Incarceration

Tommy Thompson, who gained notoriety for unearthing the S.S. Central America—a ship laden with gold coins from the gold rush era—recently secured a legal setback for one of his charges. Although a federal judge annulled his long-standing civil contempt sentence, Thompson still must now serve a two-year jail term for a related criminal contempt charge, which was deferred while he was under the civil contempt ruling.

The source of this prolonged legal dispute dates back to Thompson’s 1988 discovery of the infamous shipwreck, a narrative steeped in history as the vessel sank during a hurricane in 1857 off the coast of South Carolina, carrying thousands of pounds of gold that once fueled an economic panic. The controversy deepened when Thompson refused to help authorities locate 500 coins, roughly estimated to be worth $2.5 million, claiming that these had been placed in a trust in Belize under undisclosed details.

Further complicating matters, Thompson had been held in contempt of court since December 15, 2015, a situation that led to daily fines amounting to $1,000 and an overall fine that eventually reached over three million dollars. His legal challenges intensified after missing a 2012 Ohio court hearing regarding the coins, which resulted in his arrest in Florida in 2015, followed by a guilty plea for skipping the hearing and the subsequent two-year prison sentence. Despite arguments concerning the limits on contempt of court jail time, a federal appeals court upheld the sentence by referencing conditions stipulated in his plea agreement.