Tommy Thompson treasure hunter legal victory
CaptainBlunt
Posts: 199 ✭✭✭
There have been many threads on this topic over the years, including the $50 Kellogg and Co restrikes struck from melted down Kellogg & Humberto gold bars recovered from the wreck of the SS Central America.
After nearly a decade in jail Thompson is to begin serving a 2 year sentence on a criminal contempt charge
Plus he has accumulated $3,335,000 in a civil contempt fine
Still it sounds like his freedom will come at some future date instead of his case sitting in limbo waiting for him to specifically disclose where he hid the gold. In the past, it was reported that he said the 500 coins (Kellogg & Co $50 restrikes) were placed in a trust in Belize
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Always sided with and hoped the best for him. Sort of like Black Bart or Joaquin Murrieta for some reason. Oh well, maybe he has an executive connection and can get a pardon?
Well, just Love coins, period.
Amazing dude. His determination to find and retrieve the SS Central America treasure was nothing short of amazing. Unfortunately he did not treat his investors fairly (to put it nicely), which was extremely disappointing and put a blemish on his reputation. Nevertheless, sad to see him in jail all these years, it's been too long.
It seems a techniquality was used to imprison him for the 10 years, as a contempt sentence was 18months. The new sentence is for an actual crime committed. This is my understanding.
Jim
When a man who is honestly mistaken hears the truth, he will either quit being mistaken or cease to be honest....Abraham Lincoln
Patriotism is supporting your country all the time, and your government when it deserves it.....Mark Twain
My understanding is has not been forthcoming about millions in treasure owned to investors. That is why he is in jail.
Agree. While the 10 year imprisonment seems excessive, I have zero sympathy for him. And I'm not sure anyone else here would if there weren't a coin connection. Is anyone upset that Bernie Madoff died in prison?
What did Bernie do other than mastermind the greatest ponzi scheme of all time. The retrieval of the SS Central America treasure was simply an amazing story. Thompson's team was the first to retrieve shipwreck artifacts and treasure from deep water. I don't think the sympathy is about a coin collection; it's more about the guy's achievement and maybe bewilderment how this brilliant guy went from hero to criminal. Coins do tell a story. I enjoy holding my $20DE from this shipwreck in my hand and think of the journey that it was on to make it in a PCGS slab. I enjoy watching video on youtube of actual footage of gold coins resting on the seabed and the recovery wondering if one of those coins could be the one i am holding in my hand. Look, the guy deserved to go to prison for cheating his investors, but far more hardened criminals for much worse crimes have been paroled serving less time. Now if i was one of the investors who was cheated there probably would not be a whole bunch of warm fuzzies!
https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=whYJ7qPPqiM
Here is the recovery video for those who have not seen it.
No sympathy.
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You say it's not the coins and then go on to n discuss the coins.
Actually Madoff was quite successful before his ponzi scheme: founded an investment group in 1960, became chairman of NASDAQ... That's why he was able to get all those people to give him money. I think the Madoff example is spot on. Success that turned to fraud. The only difference is that Madoff was more successful in both his career and his fraud.
Lol. I wasn't trying to win, exactly. But I just have zero sympathy for Thompson whose problems are self inflicted.
Either he's an idiot or he has far more loot stashed than they think. Why would you give up 10 years of your life, at his age, to try and hold on to $2 to $3 million in gold.
Why he did what he did, and then wasted his life away is just hard to explain.
Did he actually cheat his investors or was it a disagreement over terms of the deal ?
If the latter, then this would be a civil dispute, not a criminal offense.
This article is a fairly good recap of the story:
Edited to add the article is 4 years old, but it covers in fairly good detail how he ended up in jail
https://www.theguardian.com/us-news/2020/dec/14/tommy-thompson-treasure-jail-ship-of-gold
It's a contempt dispute with the Feds.
Courts take contempt very seriously. I was once on a jury with no complainant. He wanted to drop the charges but the court charged his partner with contempt for violating a restraining order and was seeking a 5 year prison sentence despite the complete lack of cooperation of the original complainant.
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Who maintains the possession of the $150 million(est) of ss central america treasure? Seems like he was awarded 92% in 1996, unless I'm wrong. Perhaps the disposition of the physical possession is a factor in his actions. Can't imagine anyone with possession of that fortune going to jail for 10 years to protect the whereabouts of a few manufactured gold slugs. JMO.
Jim
When a man who is honestly mistaken hears the truth, he will either quit being mistaken or cease to be honest....Abraham Lincoln
Patriotism is supporting your country all the time, and your government when it deserves it.....Mark Twain
I don't know. If he had $100 million, it seems like he could have paid off the investors and avoided this whole fiasco.
Hide in jail for 10 free years and pass go for $100 million?
Maybe Thompson felt that he didn't owe the investors or employees anything more ?
Was it ever judged in court that he did owe them something ?
Only "facts" I can find is about his jail time and new sentencing and that he was defrauding his original contributors/partners. Be nice if someone investigated and wrote a book/movie about this. I believe it would
be an interesting book/movie.
Jim
When a man who is honestly mistaken hears the truth, he will either quit being mistaken or cease to be honest....Abraham Lincoln
Patriotism is supporting your country all the time, and your government when it deserves it.....Mark Twain
Yes. But it was less than $20 million. That's why he was supposed to help the Feds recover the gold coins.
https://digitalcommons.mainelaw.maine.edu/oclj/vol21/iss1/10/
Edited to fix link
https://digitalcommons.mainelaw.maine.edu/oclj/vol21/iss1/10/
Pay the $13 million owed and spend 2 years or less in jail and pass go with $87 million
He also had 2 years on the lam to flee the country before they caught him but he didn't.
This covers the entire story of the SS Central America, the wreck, its crew and passengers, and the search for the ship and recovery. Really well written, it was hard to put it down, and meets one of my key requirements (pictures). The drama with Thompson afterwards was not covered.
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Thanks! I picked up a hardcover copy of it on ebay for cheap a moment ago.
My Carson City Morgan Registry Set
He went to jail for 'hiding' the find. I don't feel there is anything left to hide and he spent it all running his business.