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Here's Nat Geo's 45-sec promotional video for Cursed Gold: A Shipwreck Scandal, scheduled for Aug 21.
Cursed Gold: A Shipwreck Scandal - National Geographic’s upcoming documentary on Tommy Thompson and the SS Central America.
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Ginger Dunn
Tenderfoot
I'd never heard of Tommy Thompson or the SS Central America prior to watching the Nat Geo special on September 1, 2024. By the end of the program, I knew exactly what happened to Tommy Thompson.
I won't go into great effort trying to convince anyone here. At a glance, it seems there are some people with strong opinions about Mr. Thompson's alleged culpability.
The fact of the matter is, Tommy Thompson never stole anything from anyone.
I'm using my real name here, because I hope anyone who wants to know the truth about Mr. Thompson will connect the dots. There is enough about me in public record to reveal/prove significant patterns.
I've been a small business owner since 1996. My husband and I own restaurants in Myrtle Beach, South Carolina and Columbus, Ohio.
In 2021, I was ambushed in a South Carolina courtroom by my spouse and a third party from Columbus, Ohio. Along with a small army of crooked attorneys, judges, accountants, and others, this group has engaged in 3 years of predatory litigation to steal my 50% of our family-owned businesses and to hide their own previous years of embezzlement and other crimes.
To the point regarding Mr. Thompson...
South Carolina is one of only two states that allows legislators to pick judges (Virginia is the other). Due to committee head assignments and seniority in the SC General Assembly, this means two criminal defense attorneys (head of the SC House Representatives & head of the SC Senate Judiciary Committee) effectively seat all but the lowest level judges in the state. As a result, the South Carolina judicial branch is corrupted from the inside out which effectively means law enforcement and the other two branches are corrupted as well.
Civil contempt is the blunt weapon used for all manner of harm in litigation. It is the weapon that has kept Tommy Thompson from oversight of his own businesses. It is the weapon that allowed the very people who brought suit to force the company into receivership. Imagine my surprise when I looked up the judge responsible for Mr. Thompson's incarceration to learn the same Judge Marbley in Columbus Ohio currently oversees yet another fraudulent litigation connected to our family owned businesses.
Ask yourself this question... If the court truly believed Tommy Thompson knew the whereabouts of these coins and simply refused to cooperate, this matter could be settled definitely through a simple polygraph. Even an "inconclusive" result would mean the court would be compelled to release Mr. Thompson. Unless Thompson failed a lie detector test, there would be no grounds to jail him for contempt. There is no coercive effect for incarceration if the litigant does not have the information being demanded.
I know this is what has been done to Mr. Thompson because I have experienced it first hand.
Prior to 2021, I had zero experience with litigation and nearly no knowledge of politics or government. Because I've learned all of this from scratch, I know what the law actually says, not how it has been twisted in practice. I identify with Mr. Thompson as a fellow process miner. Knowing I needed to understand the process of how this level of legal corruption had been achieved, and after exhausting all the known avenues for relief from harm caused by what I first thought were incompetent attorneys and judges, I focused on finding cases like mine (pre-meditated, pre-decided, staged only for the purpose of creating legal fees, stealing assets and property, discrediting the targeted litigant, creating false evidence/documents, and inflicting maximum emotional damage). I began cataloging these cases because I knew my own circumstances would prove difficult for others to believe. I have more than 50 of these cases in different courts, in different states, with many spanning over decades like Mr. Thompsons.
For two solid years I've researched every waking minute. When one is constantly held in contempt and threatened with a year in jail, one becomes highly motivated to problem solve. When one has dedicated an entire life to raising good children and protecting their future, protecting all our children's futures... well, I can't go about and pretend I haven't seen the court inflicted horrors I've seen.
What I've discovered is nearly impossible to believe, even for me. The same corrupt attorneys follow the same corrupt protocols. Though debtor's prison was outlawed in the late 1800's, they currently get around the law by citing contempt of the court Order, instead of addressing the debt itself. For me and Mr. Thompson and so many others, the "debt" is information, and the information demanded is knowledge we don't have or that the other party already has, so the "purge" requirement can never be satisfied.
Next, colluding attorneys arrange a contempt hearing in the litigant's absence. This is accomplished primarily by the targeted party's own attorney. The narrative that Mr. Thompson fled to Florida to avoid answering to the court or that he absconded with funds is absurd.
All the predatory litigations tied up any potential profit distribution to investors, and then, by design, the investors filed suit when no profit was distributed. It appears Thompson barely broke even with the sale of the first batch of gold. This is a pattern in all these kinds of litigations. Attorneys write Orders (make no mistake - judges sign their name on a dotted line - they don't write these orders), Orders that make it seem as if the targeted litigant is flush with funds, but then they make sure the attorneys and debtors take everything down to nearly break even.
The false narrative about Mr. Thompson was framed by the Columbus Dispatch and the judges and attorneys in the same pockets which were further lined after Ira Kane was appointed receiver.
On every single occasion, in every single one of these cases I've found, the targeted litigant is the LEAST greedy, most upstanding party in the entire mix. Each one is ALWAYS the party who cares about money the least.
If they (we) were bent toward greed in any capacity whatsoever, there would be no need for others to go to such lengths to steal. The targeted litigant would simply play ball with the corrupt actors who would then help cover up the crime as they all stole from someone else.
For someone like Mr. Thompson who is more interested in the exploration and science, who was so determined and inventive he found and raised a treasure when no one else had even come close, being locked in a jail cell and forced to view page after page of vicious lies about himself would be a special kind of torture.
How much he must long to be on the open water. I know I long for it. I long not to be hunted and threatened every day of my life. I long for the time before I knew I was not safe in my own country, before I knew my children do not have the civil liberties I believed were the birthright of all Americans.
To me, Tommy Thompson is an American National Treasure. He embodies the spirit of exploration, hard work, entrepreneurship, and ingenuity that I believed were the foundation of our country. Tommy Thompson is America's Lost Gold. The time and resources the courts have taken from him is treasure he can never get back. The time the courts have taken from me and my children can never be replaced.
Attorneys use civil contempt to destroy lives because there is profit for attorneys and others. They have privatized prisons, so there are inmate quotas to fill, kickbacks to claim. The courts and others are INCENTIVIZED to jail innocent people. I've been told as many as half the incarcerated in county jails are there for late or missed child support payments. We are not supposed to have debtor's prisons. This is illegal. It destroys lives and does nothing to help the people who rely on support for minor children. When someone loses their job for being incarcerated, they are LESS LIKELY to ever get caught up on payments.
The court assisted in Tommy Thompson being hunted like an animal. They drove him to near complete breakdown after YEARS of unimaginable litigation trauma. Thompson was already in Florida when the 2012 hearing where he was found in contempt was scheduled. If he'd had an attorney who worked for him and Thompson was too ill to travel, his attorney could have arranged a teleconference.
If Thompson's attorney had worked for him, any number of solutions could have been found. They did it that way specifically to get the bench warrant which led to the receivership, which led to the Columbus Dispatch (or it's successor) gaining control of the subsequent salvage. I'm sure all can agree, control of the subsequent salvage effort was/is worth a helluva lot more than whatever percentage of the guesstimated value of the "missing" coins.
Tommy Thompson is being illegally held right now. The case for which he is supposedly being held in contempt WAS RESOLVED MORE THAN FIVE YEARS AGO. The whole thing is absurd, an absolute tragedy.
I won't go into great effort trying to convince anyone here. At a glance, it seems there are some people with strong opinions about Mr. Thompson's alleged culpability.
The fact of the matter is, Tommy Thompson never stole anything from anyone.
I'm using my real name here, because I hope anyone who wants to know the truth about Mr. Thompson will connect the dots. There is enough about me in public record to reveal/prove significant patterns.
I've been a small business owner since 1996. My husband and I own restaurants in Myrtle Beach, South Carolina and Columbus, Ohio.
In 2021, I was ambushed in a South Carolina courtroom by my spouse and a third party from Columbus, Ohio. Along with a small army of crooked attorneys, judges, accountants, and others, this group has engaged in 3 years of predatory litigation to steal my 50% of our family-owned businesses and to hide their own previous years of embezzlement and other crimes.
To the point regarding Mr. Thompson...
South Carolina is one of only two states that allows legislators to pick judges (Virginia is the other). Due to committee head assignments and seniority in the SC General Assembly, this means two criminal defense attorneys (head of the SC House Representatives & head of the SC Senate Judiciary Committee) effectively seat all but the lowest level judges in the state. As a result, the South Carolina judicial branch is corrupted from the inside out which effectively means law enforcement and the other two branches are corrupted as well.
Civil contempt is the blunt weapon used for all manner of harm in litigation. It is the weapon that has kept Tommy Thompson from oversight of his own businesses. It is the weapon that allowed the very people who brought suit to force the company into receivership. Imagine my surprise when I looked up the judge responsible for Mr. Thompson's incarceration to learn the same Judge Marbley in Columbus Ohio currently oversees yet another fraudulent litigation connected to our family owned businesses.
Ask yourself this question... If the court truly believed Tommy Thompson knew the whereabouts of these coins and simply refused to cooperate, this matter could be settled definitely through a simple polygraph. Even an "inconclusive" result would mean the court would be compelled to release Mr. Thompson. Unless Thompson failed a lie detector test, there would be no grounds to jail him for contempt. There is no coercive effect for incarceration if the litigant does not have the information being demanded.
I know this is what has been done to Mr. Thompson because I have experienced it first hand.
Prior to 2021, I had zero experience with litigation and nearly no knowledge of politics or government. Because I've learned all of this from scratch, I know what the law actually says, not how it has been twisted in practice. I identify with Mr. Thompson as a fellow process miner. Knowing I needed to understand the process of how this level of legal corruption had been achieved, and after exhausting all the known avenues for relief from harm caused by what I first thought were incompetent attorneys and judges, I focused on finding cases like mine (pre-meditated, pre-decided, staged only for the purpose of creating legal fees, stealing assets and property, discrediting the targeted litigant, creating false evidence/documents, and inflicting maximum emotional damage). I began cataloging these cases because I knew my own circumstances would prove difficult for others to believe. I have more than 50 of these cases in different courts, in different states, with many spanning over decades like Mr. Thompsons.
For two solid years I've researched every waking minute. When one is constantly held in contempt and threatened with a year in jail, one becomes highly motivated to problem solve. When one has dedicated an entire life to raising good children and protecting their future, protecting all our children's futures... well, I can't go about and pretend I haven't seen the court inflicted horrors I've seen.
What I've discovered is nearly impossible to believe, even for me. The same corrupt attorneys follow the same corrupt protocols. Though debtor's prison was outlawed in the late 1800's, they currently get around the law by citing contempt of the court Order, instead of addressing the debt itself. For me and Mr. Thompson and so many others, the "debt" is information, and the information demanded is knowledge we don't have or that the other party already has, so the "purge" requirement can never be satisfied.
Next, colluding attorneys arrange a contempt hearing in the litigant's absence. This is accomplished primarily by the targeted party's own attorney. The narrative that Mr. Thompson fled to Florida to avoid answering to the court or that he absconded with funds is absurd.
All the predatory litigations tied up any potential profit distribution to investors, and then, by design, the investors filed suit when no profit was distributed. It appears Thompson barely broke even with the sale of the first batch of gold. This is a pattern in all these kinds of litigations. Attorneys write Orders (make no mistake - judges sign their name on a dotted line - they don't write these orders), Orders that make it seem as if the targeted litigant is flush with funds, but then they make sure the attorneys and debtors take everything down to nearly break even.
The false narrative about Mr. Thompson was framed by the Columbus Dispatch and the judges and attorneys in the same pockets which were further lined after Ira Kane was appointed receiver.
On every single occasion, in every single one of these cases I've found, the targeted litigant is the LEAST greedy, most upstanding party in the entire mix. Each one is ALWAYS the party who cares about money the least.
If they (we) were bent toward greed in any capacity whatsoever, there would be no need for others to go to such lengths to steal. The targeted litigant would simply play ball with the corrupt actors who would then help cover up the crime as they all stole from someone else.
For someone like Mr. Thompson who is more interested in the exploration and science, who was so determined and inventive he found and raised a treasure when no one else had even come close, being locked in a jail cell and forced to view page after page of vicious lies about himself would be a special kind of torture.
How much he must long to be on the open water. I know I long for it. I long not to be hunted and threatened every day of my life. I long for the time before I knew I was not safe in my own country, before I knew my children do not have the civil liberties I believed were the birthright of all Americans.
To me, Tommy Thompson is an American National Treasure. He embodies the spirit of exploration, hard work, entrepreneurship, and ingenuity that I believed were the foundation of our country. Tommy Thompson is America's Lost Gold. The time and resources the courts have taken from him is treasure he can never get back. The time the courts have taken from me and my children can never be replaced.
Attorneys use civil contempt to destroy lives because there is profit for attorneys and others. They have privatized prisons, so there are inmate quotas to fill, kickbacks to claim. The courts and others are INCENTIVIZED to jail innocent people. I've been told as many as half the incarcerated in county jails are there for late or missed child support payments. We are not supposed to have debtor's prisons. This is illegal. It destroys lives and does nothing to help the people who rely on support for minor children. When someone loses their job for being incarcerated, they are LESS LIKELY to ever get caught up on payments.
The court assisted in Tommy Thompson being hunted like an animal. They drove him to near complete breakdown after YEARS of unimaginable litigation trauma. Thompson was already in Florida when the 2012 hearing where he was found in contempt was scheduled. If he'd had an attorney who worked for him and Thompson was too ill to travel, his attorney could have arranged a teleconference.
If Thompson's attorney had worked for him, any number of solutions could have been found. They did it that way specifically to get the bench warrant which led to the receivership, which led to the Columbus Dispatch (or it's successor) gaining control of the subsequent salvage. I'm sure all can agree, control of the subsequent salvage effort was/is worth a helluva lot more than whatever percentage of the guesstimated value of the "missing" coins.
Tommy Thompson is being illegally held right now. The case for which he is supposedly being held in contempt WAS RESOLVED MORE THAN FIVE YEARS AGO. The whole thing is absurd, an absolute tragedy.
Last edited:
Darren in NC
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Wow, Ginger. Thanks for sharing. So do congressmen turn a blind eye to these matters? Lobbying and such?
Ginger Dunn
Tenderfoot
Yes. Lawyer/Legislators willfully turn a blind eye and the non-lawyer politicians cannot challenge the status quo without getting sued..
The SC General Assembly has a higher percentage of lawyer/legislators than any other state. It also has the lowest per capita bar membership, which I'm told helps facilitate the abounding anti-trust violations. For example, it's easier to form monopolies on goods and services when there are fewer choices in the marketplace. When there are only a handful of business attorneys in your small town, and they all work together, have worked together for many years, there is never a truly adversarial court action. It's all theater.
I've petitioned the SC Attorney General's Office, my 15th Circuit Solicitor's Office, local Sheriff, local Clerk of Court, the SC Office of Disciplinary Counsel, the SC Judicial Merit Selection Commission (9 of the 10 members are practicing criminal defense attorneys) , and the SC Department of Licensing, Labor, and Regulation.
I've contacted the IRS, the SBA, and the FBI (twice), I've attempted to file as a pro se litigant with the SC Court of Appeals, the SC Supreme Court. They've written rules of procedure which make it impossible for a self-represented litigant to get information. Attorneys in South Carolina are SELF-REGULATED (read: not regulated whatsoever).I There are simply no consequences when they don't follow the law. It must be a spectacular crime before there's a chance of an attorney being held accountable.
I've contacted the SC Law Enforcement Division, SC Secretary of State, and SC Congressman Lindsey Graham. I've even testified twice before the SC House of Representatives, once before a House Ad-Hoc Committee on Judicial Reform and again before the SC House Constitutional Committee regarding the same.
At every level, I go through the same process. Phase 1: I psyche myself up to believe there may be someone who isn't corrupt, someone who might help. I try not to prejudge, try not to be argumentative, try to be professional. Phase 2: I get hurt yet again. Phase 3: I ask myself if the person or agency is corrupt or simply incompetent (the answer has always been the former). Phase 4: I lick my wounds, recover as best I can, then get up and try again.
The same lawyers who make the laws in South Carolina also practice before the same judges they put on the bench. It's an ouroboros of injustice.
Once a litigant has been marked this way, the agenda is nothing less than complete annihilation. It's clear to me this is what happened/is still happening to Tommy Thompson. And don't get me started on the psychological warfare, tech issues, cyber stalking, and all the rest. There seems to be direct correlation between the resources employed to do harm and the amount of assets on the table. Given the value of Thompson's treasure, I'd wager he's suffered as much litigation related terror as any human being in the history of the world.
The harm would continue for Thompson as it would be next to impossible to find effective legal representation while in jail. It appears Rick Robol is a stand up guy as the court prevented him from representing Thompson back in 2011 just before the contempt ball truly got rolling. Robol was heavily sanctioned and ultimately had to resign practicing in both Ohio and Virgina. Based on these facts, I'd say Robol attempted to stand up for Tommy and suffered severe consequences as a result. All Thompson's communications in jail would be monitored, so any attorney who might be able to help would likely be blocked from making the connection.
At the end of the day. Thompson is being falsely imprisoned. He has been for more than 9 years. Interestingly, the record for longest incarceration for civil contempt is reportedly held by H. Beatty Chadwick, an attorney who was incarcerated for 14 years because they claimed he withheld 2.5M in funds during his own divorce proceedings. While I don't trust any lawyers, I tend to believe Chadwick was targeted based on the fact that, upon digging, I found the reference to the missing funds that stated Chadwick invested $5,000 that was somehow potentially supposed to pay out exponentially to the absurd 2.5 million amount. Whatever may be true or not true, the facts were never confirmed. The accountants hired to search for the "missing" money, never found evidence it ever existed. Still, Chadwick did 14 years because of it. Highly notable: when lower court judges ruled that Chadwick must be released, it was then Court of Appeals Judge Samuel Alito (current controversial US Supreme Court Justice) who reversed the lower court's decision to ensure Chadwick remained incarcerated. This precedent set by Alito is continually cited in civil contempt cases to this day. It's a precedent which keeps people like Thompson and a large population of predominantly young black men incarcerated for "contempt" based on debt owed for late child support payments.
Because judges claim absolute immunity from prosecution, they can do anything they wish without fear of consequence. They can literally get away with murder. Make no mistake, this is slow motion homicide.
I believe Tommy Thompson is still alive because it's more profitable for lawyers and others to keep him in a prolonged state of incarceration limbo. According to previous rulings, Thompson is entitled to vast funds. The court can't take that away without revealing glaring theft. They can, however, keep Thompson wrongly incarcerated, fine him daily, and create legal fees through useless hearing after useless hearing. Even when a litigant is self-represented in court, a judge can simply order the targeted party to pay the opposing party's legal fees. It's a never-ending revenue stream, a cash cow for attorneys and all the "experts", etc. they hire.
If Mr. Thompson left this mortal coil, the matter would most likely be moved to probate court. There would be estate taxes, etc. which would shift the access/flow of funds from the current beneficiaries to additional third-parties including the IRS.
In my greatest imaginings, Mr. Thompson and the rest of us so targeted would be vindicated. We'd be made as whole as may be possible, and the exposure of such egregious crimes would upend the system and prevent future harm.
In a situation where one can't reconcile the scope of harm done, it might be something like a salve to know the suffering was worth something, that it opened doors to fundamental change in the American justice system.
If all of this intentional harm resulted in protection for those most often targeted by corrupt attorneys: children, the elderly, the disabled, veterans, minorities, women, and the morally upright citizens who will not consent to stealing from the government and others through predatory litigation, then maybe a measure of peace might be found.
We won't know until the last chapter is written. Until then, I hope Tommy Thompson continues to endure.
For me', Thompson's a compass point, a touchstone. If he can weather such storms, then so can I.
The SC General Assembly has a higher percentage of lawyer/legislators than any other state. It also has the lowest per capita bar membership, which I'm told helps facilitate the abounding anti-trust violations. For example, it's easier to form monopolies on goods and services when there are fewer choices in the marketplace. When there are only a handful of business attorneys in your small town, and they all work together, have worked together for many years, there is never a truly adversarial court action. It's all theater.
I've petitioned the SC Attorney General's Office, my 15th Circuit Solicitor's Office, local Sheriff, local Clerk of Court, the SC Office of Disciplinary Counsel, the SC Judicial Merit Selection Commission (9 of the 10 members are practicing criminal defense attorneys) , and the SC Department of Licensing, Labor, and Regulation.
I've contacted the IRS, the SBA, and the FBI (twice), I've attempted to file as a pro se litigant with the SC Court of Appeals, the SC Supreme Court. They've written rules of procedure which make it impossible for a self-represented litigant to get information. Attorneys in South Carolina are SELF-REGULATED (read: not regulated whatsoever).I There are simply no consequences when they don't follow the law. It must be a spectacular crime before there's a chance of an attorney being held accountable.
I've contacted the SC Law Enforcement Division, SC Secretary of State, and SC Congressman Lindsey Graham. I've even testified twice before the SC House of Representatives, once before a House Ad-Hoc Committee on Judicial Reform and again before the SC House Constitutional Committee regarding the same.
At every level, I go through the same process. Phase 1: I psyche myself up to believe there may be someone who isn't corrupt, someone who might help. I try not to prejudge, try not to be argumentative, try to be professional. Phase 2: I get hurt yet again. Phase 3: I ask myself if the person or agency is corrupt or simply incompetent (the answer has always been the former). Phase 4: I lick my wounds, recover as best I can, then get up and try again.
The same lawyers who make the laws in South Carolina also practice before the same judges they put on the bench. It's an ouroboros of injustice.
Once a litigant has been marked this way, the agenda is nothing less than complete annihilation. It's clear to me this is what happened/is still happening to Tommy Thompson. And don't get me started on the psychological warfare, tech issues, cyber stalking, and all the rest. There seems to be direct correlation between the resources employed to do harm and the amount of assets on the table. Given the value of Thompson's treasure, I'd wager he's suffered as much litigation related terror as any human being in the history of the world.
The harm would continue for Thompson as it would be next to impossible to find effective legal representation while in jail. It appears Rick Robol is a stand up guy as the court prevented him from representing Thompson back in 2011 just before the contempt ball truly got rolling. Robol was heavily sanctioned and ultimately had to resign practicing in both Ohio and Virgina. Based on these facts, I'd say Robol attempted to stand up for Tommy and suffered severe consequences as a result. All Thompson's communications in jail would be monitored, so any attorney who might be able to help would likely be blocked from making the connection.
At the end of the day. Thompson is being falsely imprisoned. He has been for more than 9 years. Interestingly, the record for longest incarceration for civil contempt is reportedly held by H. Beatty Chadwick, an attorney who was incarcerated for 14 years because they claimed he withheld 2.5M in funds during his own divorce proceedings. While I don't trust any lawyers, I tend to believe Chadwick was targeted based on the fact that, upon digging, I found the reference to the missing funds that stated Chadwick invested $5,000 that was somehow potentially supposed to pay out exponentially to the absurd 2.5 million amount. Whatever may be true or not true, the facts were never confirmed. The accountants hired to search for the "missing" money, never found evidence it ever existed. Still, Chadwick did 14 years because of it. Highly notable: when lower court judges ruled that Chadwick must be released, it was then Court of Appeals Judge Samuel Alito (current controversial US Supreme Court Justice) who reversed the lower court's decision to ensure Chadwick remained incarcerated. This precedent set by Alito is continually cited in civil contempt cases to this day. It's a precedent which keeps people like Thompson and a large population of predominantly young black men incarcerated for "contempt" based on debt owed for late child support payments.
Because judges claim absolute immunity from prosecution, they can do anything they wish without fear of consequence. They can literally get away with murder. Make no mistake, this is slow motion homicide.
I believe Tommy Thompson is still alive because it's more profitable for lawyers and others to keep him in a prolonged state of incarceration limbo. According to previous rulings, Thompson is entitled to vast funds. The court can't take that away without revealing glaring theft. They can, however, keep Thompson wrongly incarcerated, fine him daily, and create legal fees through useless hearing after useless hearing. Even when a litigant is self-represented in court, a judge can simply order the targeted party to pay the opposing party's legal fees. It's a never-ending revenue stream, a cash cow for attorneys and all the "experts", etc. they hire.
If Mr. Thompson left this mortal coil, the matter would most likely be moved to probate court. There would be estate taxes, etc. which would shift the access/flow of funds from the current beneficiaries to additional third-parties including the IRS.
In my greatest imaginings, Mr. Thompson and the rest of us so targeted would be vindicated. We'd be made as whole as may be possible, and the exposure of such egregious crimes would upend the system and prevent future harm.
In a situation where one can't reconcile the scope of harm done, it might be something like a salve to know the suffering was worth something, that it opened doors to fundamental change in the American justice system.
If all of this intentional harm resulted in protection for those most often targeted by corrupt attorneys: children, the elderly, the disabled, veterans, minorities, women, and the morally upright citizens who will not consent to stealing from the government and others through predatory litigation, then maybe a measure of peace might be found.
We won't know until the last chapter is written. Until then, I hope Tommy Thompson continues to endure.
For me', Thompson's a compass point, a touchstone. If he can weather such storms, then so can I.
Last edited:
Darren in NC
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So if the system is corrupt (and I do believe it is), then going through that system is pointless. The only way to fight it would be through the public court of opinion. And that requires a massive amount of awareness. How might this come to light via the media? Any sympathetic investigative reporters want to take on the good-ole-boy network?
rtp_guy
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Thanks for sharing your story, Ginger. Really interesting.
Darren in NC
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Ginger, see if you can get in touch with Joseph Cranny. He is a reporter already trying to expose the SC kangaroo system.
www.propublica.org
www.propublica.org
The Untouchables
South Carolina’s judges are some the most powerful, but least scrutinized officials in the criminal justice system, thanks in part to the state’s skewed selection system and the veil of secrecy surrounding complaints against them.
www.propublica.org
South Carolina: The State Where Judges Rule Themselves in Secret
Ethics complaints against South Carolina’s circuit judges are buried in an opaque system that shields the accused.
www.propublica.org
Darren in NC
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Tommy Thompson freed from contempt, but still serving more time.
www.cbsnews.com
Deep-sea treasure hunter jailed for 10 years for refusing to disclose location of gold coins finally scores legal win
Tommy Thompson's case dates to his discovery of the S.S. Central America, known as the Ship of Gold, in 1988.
www.cbsnews.com
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Thompson's 'missing' 500 coins... does anyone have a picture of what was 'minted from gold recovered'
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Just last week I discovered the Kinder book about the sinking of the Central America Steamship and the initial recovery spearheaded by Tommy Thompson. It was a fascinating read. Then I was curious about current status as I had no recollection of ever hearing about this story before and 15 tons of gold (one estimate) lost is a huge story. I was shocked to learn Mr Thompson has been in jail for over ten years and surprised to learn that one of his team, Bob Evans, appears to be in charge of secondary recovery efforts. Too bad I don't get Nat Geo as that story sounds interesting. Was trying to find an accounting of how much has actually been recovered and if recovery efforts are planned to continue far into the future.
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Physics guy
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Odyssey Marine Exploration started recovery of the remaining wreck in 2014.
SS Central America - Wikipedia
Colombiapictures
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Did the revenue pay for the cost of recovery?
Darren in NC
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Odyssey was paid for their recovery by Recovery Limited Partnership, supposedly 80% of what was recovered. I have no idea if their recoveries covered the expenses of RLP.
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I wanted to buy a double eagle from the wreck. Thousands of mint state 1857-S coins were found. The prices shot up really fast. They are going for $5K-$15K for a graded mint state now. About double what they are worth because they came from a famous treasure ship. I’m still drooling. This one is on eBay and is a real beauty!
Darren in NC
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He got out! But in poor health, last I heard.
www.cbsnews.com
Treasure hunter who refused to disclose location of shipwreck's 500 gold coins is released from prison after a decade
Tommy Thompson found 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.
www.cbsnews.com
Physics guy
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A really strange story. If he truly just couldn’t remember where the coins were he could have volunteered to take a polygraph instead of becoming a fugitive and living under an assumed name for three years. We’ll probably never know the whole story.
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I hope he recovers physically. I’m sure someone will keep an eye on him. Assuming he does have 500 double eagles, how could he turn them without getting caught? I’m assuming all of the coins brought up lately go to conservation then to grading company. I’ve not seen a single Central America coin for sale that wasn’t in a slab. So if a bunch of 1857-S double eagles show up not in slabs, it would be obvious. I think his only option is melting them. 500 $20s weigh around 50 lbs.
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