Gerrard Kaonga
A research scientist has served years in jail for failing to disclose the whereabouts of missing gold coins in a rather peculiar case.
Researcher-turned-deep sea treasure hunter Tommy Thompson has been held in contempt of court since December 2015 and to top things off, has been occurring a daily fine of $1,000.
This all stemmed from his discovery of the S.S Central America back in 1988.
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The ship, known as the Ship of Gold, sank during the gold-rush era back in 1857 off South Carolina.
Since its discovery, Thompson won’t cooperate with authorities who are trying to find 500 coins minted from some of the gold, which has landed him in quite a lot of trouble and his extended jail sentence.
Thompson has seemingly teased the authorities about the whereabouts of the treasure, and has previously said that the coins were valued at about $2.5 million and were turned over to a trust in Belize.
Thompson has likely been causing frustration for years, with him started by failing to appear for a 2012 Ohio hearing to discuss the coins.
This resulted in US marshals tracking him down to Florida and arresting him. In April 2015, he pleaded guilty to skipping that hearing and was given a two-year prison sentence.
In general, federal law limits jail time for contempt of court to 18 months. However, a federal appeal court in 2019 rejected his argument that that law applies to him. Authorities said that his refusal to cooperate violated conditions of a plea agreement.
Finds from the gold rush era have certainly racked up hefty price tags over the years. In 2022, one of the largest S.S. Central America ingots ever auctioned at auction was sold for $2.16 million.
This find was known as a Justh & Hunter ingot and came in at 866.19 ounce.
Dallas-based Heritage Auctions, who sold the piece, said: “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.”
Last week, a judge did give Thompson a slight win in this bizarre story.
U.S. District Judge Algenon Marbley said he 'no longer is convinced that further incarceration is likely to coerce compliance'.
However, he also ordered that the research scientist immediately start serving a two-year sentence he received for a related criminal contempt charge, a term that was delayed when the civil contempt term was imposed.