The long-running case of a former deep-sea treasure hunter marking his sixth year in jail has hit yet another roadblock.
Defendant Tommy Thompson has been held in contempt of court since mid-December 2015. That’s when Columbus federal Judge Algenon Marbley found Thompson violated a plea deal by refusing to respond to questions about the whereabouts of 500 missing gold coins.
The coins were minted from gold recovered from the S.S. Central America, which sank in a hurricane off South Carolina in 1857. T
hompson says he’s already said everything he knows about them. The judge on Monday gave Thompson two months to find a new lawyer.
