A former deep-sea treasure hunter who spent more than a decade in prison after refusing to disclose the whereabouts of missing gold coins is now out of prison. Federal records show Ohio-born research scientist Tommy Thompson was released from prison last Wednesday.
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Doctors wish they wouldn'tThe World in PicturesChallenging your brain helps keep it healthy. Here's how to do itSome people tape their mouths shut at night. Doctors wish they wouldn'tColorectal cancer is rising in younger adults. Here's who is most at risk and symptoms to watch forCallers to Washington state hotline press 2 for Spanish and get accented AI English insteadAs pope seeks dialogue and diplomacy, 2 US cardinals reject US-Israeli war in IranSuecia investiga un carguero que habría transportado grano robado con tripulación rusaHegseth says today will be the 'most intense day of strikes inside Iran' Doctors wish they wouldn'tThe World in PicturesChallenging your brain helps keep it healthy. Here's how to do itSome people tape their mouths shut at night. Doctors wish they wouldn'tColorectal cancer is rising in younger adults. Here's who is most at risk and symptoms to watch forCallers to Washington state hotline press 2 for Spanish and get accented AI English insteadAs pope seeks dialogue and diplomacy, 2 US cardinals reject US-Israeli war in IranSuecia investiga un carguero que habría transportado grano robado con tripulación rusa | California Gold Marketing Group’s Dwight Manley examines a gold coin, recovered from the S.S. Central America steamship that went down in a hurricane in 1857, in a laboratory, Jan. 23, 2018, in Santa Ana, Calif. FILE – This undated file photo provided by the Delaware County Sheriff’s Office in Delaware, Ohio, shows Tommy Thompson. California Gold Marketing Group’s Dwight Manley examines a gold coin, recovered from the S.S. Central America steamship that went down in a hurricane in 1857, in a laboratory, Jan. 23, 2018, in Santa Ana, Calif. California Gold Marketing Group’s Dwight Manley examines a gold coin, recovered from the S.S. Central America steamship that went down in a hurricane in 1857, in a laboratory, Jan. 23, 2018, in Santa Ana, Calif. FILE – This undated file photo provided by the Delaware County Sheriff’s Office in Delaware, Ohio, shows Tommy Thompson. FILE – This undated file photo provided by the Delaware County Sheriff’s Office in Delaware, Ohio, shows Tommy Thompson. and spent more than a decade in jail after refusing to disclose the whereabouts of some of its missing gold coins is now out of prison, federal records show. Tommy Thompson, who in 1988 located what was known as the Ship of Gold off the coast of South Carolina, was released last Wednesday, according to federal Bureau of Prisons records reviewed by The Associated Press. Thompson, an Ohio-born research scientist, was hailed as a hero after finding the S.S. Central America and its thousands of pounds of sunken treasure that sat at the bottom of the Atlantic Ocean for more than 150 years. But in the decades that followed, he battled with investors who accused him of cheating them out of millions and then spent years on the run as a fugitive before being sent to prison overThe Central America was filled with a big haul from the California Gold Rush when it sank in a hurricane in 1857. Four hundred and twenty-five people drowned, and thousands of pounds of gold were lost, contributing to an economic panic. Investors who backed Thompson’s venture sued him in 2005, saying they had yet to receive any money from the $50 million sale of more than 500 gold bars and thousands of coins — just part of the ship’s booty. Thompson, who was living in Florida, went into seclusion and then later became a fugitive when an Ohio federal judge issued a warrant for his arrest in 2012 after he failed to show up in court. Authorities tracked Thompson to a Florida hotel three years later. The judge then held him in contempt and sent Thompson to prison at the end of 2015 for refusing to answer questions about the location of missing coins. Thompson, now 73, maintained that the coins — valued then at $2.5 million — were turned over to a trust in Belize and said the $50 million from the sale of the first batch of gold mostly went toward legal fees and bank loans. He remained locked up even though federal law generally limits jail time for contempt of court to 18 months. A federal appeals court in 2019 rejected Thompson’s argument that the law applied to him, saying his refusal violated conditions of a plea agreement. The following year, Thompson appeared by video for another hearing where U.S. District Judge Algenon Marbley again asked whether he was ready to address the whereabouts of the gold. “Your honor, 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 responded. “I feel like I don’t have the keys to my freedom.” Last February, Marbley agreed to end Thompson’s sentence on the civil contempt charge, saying he was no longer convinced that keeping him in prison would produce an answer. The judge then ordered Thompson to immediately start serving a two-year sentence for Dwight Manley, a California coin dealer who bought and sold nearly the entire fortune, said on Monday that Thompson paid a heavy price over what he said amounted to a business dispute. “Going to prison for 10 years over a business dispute is not America,” Manley said. “People kill people and get out in half the time.”
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