A US deep-sea explorer who spent 10 years in prison for refusing to disclose the location of valuable gold coins recovered from a historic shipwreck has been released, with the treasure still unaccounted for. Get today's headlines by email Tommy Thompson, a well-known salvager, was freed from federal custody on 4 March after completing a separate prison sentence, according to official records. His release comes decades after his discovery of a legendary 19th-century shipwreck known as the “Ship of Gold”. Discovery of a historic shipwreckIn 1988, Thompson led an expedition that located the wreck of the SS Central America, which sank off the coast of South Carolina in 1857. The vessel had been carrying more than 400 passengers and crew, along with approximately 30,000 pounds of gold when it went down in the Atlantic Ocean. Thompson’s team discovered the wreck roughly 7,000 feet below the surface, uncovering what was described as a vast cache of sunken treasure. The find was considered one of the most significant maritime discoveries of its kind. Legal battles and disappearanceDespite the scale of the discovery, Thompson later became embroiled in a prolonged legal dispute with investors who had financed the expedition. In 2005, they filed a lawsuit accusing him of withholding their share of the recovered treasure. At the centre of the dispute were around 500 gold coins, valued at approximately $2.5 million, whose whereabouts Thompson said he did not know. After failing to appear in court, Thompson went into hiding and was declared a fugitive. He was eventually located three years later in Florida, where he had been living under an assumed identity in a hotel. Imprisonment over refusal to cooperateFollowing his arrest, a federal judge held Thompson in contempt of court for refusing to answer questions about the missing coins. He was subsequently jailed and remained behind bars for a decade. Although US law typically limits imprisonment for contempt to 18 months, appellate judges ruled in 2019 that his case was an exception due to violations of a plea agreement. Throughout his detention, Thompson consistently maintained that he did not know where the coins were. He claimed the assets had been transferred to a trust based in Belize, and that earlier proceeds from the treasure had been used to settle debts and legal costs. Release without resolutionA judge later determined that continued imprisonment was unlikely to produce new information about the gold’s location, leading to the end of Thompson’s contempt sentence. He was then required to serve an additional two-year sentence for failing to appear at a court hearing in 2012. After completing that term, he was released. Despite years of legal action and imprisonment, the missing coins have not been recovered, and their location remains unknown. Join the discussion? Already a member? Adapted by ASEAN Now. Source 17 March 2026
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