Decade Behind Bars Over Missing Gold Coins: The Man Who Found America's Greatest Shipwreck Finally Walks Free

Tommy Thompson, the Ohio-born research scientist who made maritime history in 1988 by locating the S.S. Central America — a Civil War-era vessel carrying 30,000 pounds of California Gold Rush treasure — has been released from federal prison after more than a decade of incarceration, according to Bureau of Prisons records reviewed by the Associated Press. Thompson, now 73, first captured national attention when his team discovered the so-called 'Ship of Gold' resting more than 7,000 feet beneath the Atlantic Ocean off the South Carolina coast, more than 150 years after the vessel sank in a hurricane in September 1857, claiming 425 lives and an enormous federal gold shipment destined for eastern U.S. banks. The discovery was celebrated as a triumph of deep-sea exploration, yielding thousands of gold coins and hundreds of bars eventually sold for approximately $50 million. However, the story took a dark turn when investors who financed the expedition filed suit in 2005, alleging they received nothing from the sale proceeds. Thompson subsequently disappeared, was declared a fugitive in 2012 after failing to appear in court, and was eventually discovered in a Florida hotel living under a false identity. Imprisoned in late 2015 on civil contempt charges for refusing to reveal the location of approximately 500 missing gold coins — valued at $2.5 million — Thompson maintained throughout that the coins had been transferred to a Belizean trust and that legal fees consumed the bulk of the sale revenue. Legal experts noted his detention far exceeded the customary 18-month ceiling for contempt cases, with a University of Florida law professor describing the prolonged imprisonment as a 'miscarriage of justice.' The judge ultimately terminated the contempt sentence after concluding further confinement would yield no new information, before ordering Thompson to serve an additional two-year term for the 2012 court absence.