A 73-year-old Ohio treasure hunter, Tommy Thompson, was released from prison on Saturday, March 13, 2026, after serving a decade for refusing to disclose the location of 500 gold coins recovered from the wreck of the SS Central America, a 19th-century steamship that sank in the Atlantic Ocean. Thompson’s release comes after a federal appeals court overturned a contempt of court order that had kept him incarcerated since 2015, according to reports from CBS News and Fox News.
Thompson initially located the shipwreck in 1988 and recovered thousands of gold coins, worth an estimated $70 million. He subsequently engaged in a lengthy legal battle with investors who funded the expedition, as well as insurance companies seeking salvage rights. The dispute centered on the distribution of the recovered treasure and Thompson’s refusal to reveal the whereabouts of a portion of the gold, specifically the 500 coins he maintained were not part of the original recovery.
The court had ordered Thompson to testify about the missing coins, but he consistently refused, citing his Fifth Amendment right against self-incrimination. This defiance led to the contempt of court charge and his subsequent imprisonment. According to AL.com, Thompson argued that revealing the location of the coins would incriminate him in potential criminal charges related to their concealment.
The appeals court’s decision to release Thompson hinged on a determination that his continued imprisonment was no longer serving a coercive purpose, as the information he possessed was unlikely to be recovered after such a prolonged period. The BBC reported that the court acknowledged the flaws in the legal proceedings that led to Thompson’s decade-long incarceration.
Despite his release, the location of the 500 gold coins remains unknown. Thompson has consistently maintained his silence on the matter, and it is unclear whether he intends to disclose the information in the future. The Deseret News reported that Thompson left prison without commenting to reporters. The fate of the missing treasure, and the legal claims surrounding it, remain unresolved.
