Treasure Hunter Who Found Famed Gold Rush Ship Released From Prison

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A former deep-sea treasure hunter named Tommy Thompson, who made one of the greatest shipwreck discoveries in American history by locating the S.S. Central America and its thousands of pounds of sunken Gold Rush treasure in 1988, has been released from federal prison after spending over a decade behind bars for refusing to disclose the whereabouts of some of the missing gold coins from the shipwreck.

Why it matters

Thompson's discovery of the S.S. Central America, a steamship that sank in 1857 with a massive haul of Gold Rush treasure, was hailed as one of the most significant shipwreck finds in history. However, his legal battles with investors and his refusal to reveal the location of hundreds of missing gold coins from the wreckage led to him being imprisoned for over a decade, raising questions about the rights of treasure hunters, the treatment of those who withhold information, and the enduring legacy of the California Gold Rush.

The details

After locating the S.S. Central America in 1988, Thompson became embroiled in legal battles with investors who accused him of cheating them out of millions from the sale of the recovered treasure. Thompson spent years as a fugitive before being sent to prison in 2015 for contempt of court, after he refused to disclose the whereabouts of 500 gold coins valued at $2.5 million that had gone missing. He maintained that the coins were turned over to a trust in Belize, and that the $50 million from the initial sale of gold mostly went toward legal fees and bank loans.

• In 1988, Tommy Thompson located the S.S. Central America shipwreck.
• In 2005, investors who backed Thompson's venture sued him, saying they had not received any money from the $50 million sale of the treasure.
• In 2012, an Ohio federal judge issued a warrant for Thompson's arrest after he failed to show up in court.
• In 2015, Thompson was sent to prison for contempt of court for refusing to answer questions about the location of the missing gold coins.
• In 2019, a federal appeals court rejected Thompson's argument that the law limiting jail time for contempt of court to 18 months applied to him.

What they’re saying

What’s next

The judge who originally held Thompson in contempt of court has agreed to end his sentence on the civil contempt charge, saying he is no longer convinced that keeping him in prison would produce an answer about the missing gold coins.