This guy is tight lipped about his find, to the extreme!

[beachguy]

Treasure hunter who refused to disclose location of shipwreck’s 500 coins marks 6th year in jail

Tommy Thompson's case dates to his discovery of the S.S. Central America, known as the Ship of Gold, in 1988. The gold rush-era ship sank in a hurricane off South Carolina in 1857 with thousands of pounds of gold aboard, contributing to an economic panic.

www.foxnews.com

 

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[Red_desert]

Plus a $1,000 fine every day for not telling?

 

[ConceptualizedNetherlandr]

1) I never researched this ....

but B) They are demanding the location of coins .

He claims to not know. Has anyone established rights to this haul? Has the rest of the tons of gold already been plundered or are they seeking that?

One of our guys here must know all about this already and can make us wise.

I yield the floor

 

[lukdiver]

Plenty of articles about the 'Central America' and Tommy on TreasureNet. It was 'cursed' gold for him.

Treasure from the SS Central America ship wrecked in 1857

What do people write about all-gold treasure from the SS Central America shipwreck in 1857?

www.treasurenet.com

 

[MiddenMonster]

He claims to not know. Has anyone established rights to this haul? Has the rest of the tons of gold already been plundered or are they seeking that?

I think his mistake, at least as it relates to his continued incarceration was pleading guilty in the first place. This quote from the article indicates that:

"But a federal appeals court in 2019 rejected Thompson’s argument that that law applies to him, saying his refusal violates conditions of a plea agreement."

Had he not accepted the plea he probably would have been out by now and feeling the wind at his back and the spray in his face. It was just a failure to appear charge. When you plead out, the court can attach all kinds of stipulations and conditions to the plea. What has me scratching my head is that he says he said all he knows about the coins. Now he is either guilty of perjury or he's telling the truth. The government should either tag him for the perjury or accept that he doesn't know anything. It's fine if the government says they don't believe him. Now just prove he's lying. It's like they've put him in an "are you still beating your wife" kind of situation. I would also think that a good lawyer could spring him on some kind of a habeas corpus kind of argument.

 

[Salvor6]

The coins are in a bank in Belize.

 

[GoDeep]

Wasn't this the guy who stiffed his investors? As i recall, they were owed a percentage and he stiffed them and thats the underlying reason for his "troubles".

 

[Red_desert]

Original story I'd read back then said, he didn't pay divers and investors what they were supposed to get out of it.

 

[GoDeep]

Original story I'd read back then said, he didn't pay divers and investors what they were supposed to get out of it.

Yep, and then allegedly went and sold or hid the gold/proceeds from them, so they jailed him. It wasn't due to the big bad gov't wanting to take his treasure.

 

[beachguy]

I think his mistake, at least as it relates to his continued incarceration was pleading guilty in the first place. This quote from the article indicates that:

"But a federal appeals court in 2019 rejected Thompson’s argument that that law applies to him, saying his refusal violates conditions of a plea agreement."

Had he not accepted the plea he probably would have been out by now and feeling the wind at his back and the spray in his face. It was just a failure to appear charge. When you plead out, the court can attach all kinds of stipulations and conditions to the plea. What has me scratching my head is that he says he said all he knows about the coins. Now he is either guilty of perjury or he's telling the truth. The government should either tag him for the perjury or accept that he doesn't know anything. It's fine if the government says they don't believe him. Now just prove he's lying. It's like they've put him in an "are you still beating your wife" kind of situation. I would also think that a good lawyer could spring him on some kind of a habeas corpus kind of argument.

 

[WaveJunky757]

He must just really like jail. Like what was stated above, charge him
For perjury or accept he doesn’t know anything and prove he lied. He must have really pissed off the wrong high up type of person for this case to keep going the way it is. If he already pleaded guilty, charge him. Not sure what his/his lawyers angle is.... IF he knows where they are then he’s protecting someone (or protecting his own life by not snitching).

 

[ivan salis]

they will keep him in jail until he tells * if he robbed a bank he would get 20 years then its time served --and he would get rekeased --if he did not say where he hid his stash of loot they would tail him non stop --no way they wil release him to be able to "disappear" with any loot he has left --heck they could not find him when he waas staying in a high class hotel

 

[dersegler]

This guy must have defrauded investors causing legal woes. That aside I can understand why he remains tight lipped about the find.

 

[BennyV]

Didn’t they find a bunch of stuff when the found him. If I remember correctly cash bands for $100 bills, books on disappearing, and multiple IDs in different names? Kind of suspect if everything was done correct and legal.

 

[JohnWhite]

Oh well…The world is still turning…Investors were his big mistake…

Ed T