Treasure Hunter Who Found $400 Million In Gold Pleads Guilty To Going On The Run

Tommy Thompson made history in 1988 when he discovered the gold in a famous shipwreck. He went on the run, though, after multiple investors who helped fund the effort sued.

A treasure hunter turned fugitive accused of cheating his investors out of the millions he scooped up from a shipwreck has pleaded guilty to skipping out on an order to appear in court more than two years ago.

This undated photo released by the Delaware County Sheriffs Office shows Tommy Thompson. At right, a billboard seeking the pair as fugitives.

Tommy Thompson and his girlfriend, Alison Antekeier, were arrested at a hotel in Vero Beach, Florida, in January after a worldwide search.

On Wednesday, the couple pleaded not guilty to criminal contempt for not appearing in federal court as ordered in 2012, the Associated Press reported.

Thompson was ordered to remain in custody, although U.S. District Judge Algenon L. Marbley, who accepted the pleas, agreed to release Antekeier pending sentencing.

In statement issued after their arrest, U.S. Marshal Peter Tobin said Thompson was "one of the most intelligent fugitives ever sought" by his agency, citing the vast financial resources at his disposal.

"This investigation and these arrests reflect great credit upon the Deputies of the U.S. Marshals Service and our agency as a whole," Tobin said at the time.

The arrest was just the latest chapter in a strange legal saga involving one of the most famous shipwrecks in U.S. history.

The SS Central America, also known as the "Ship of Gold," was a freighter that traveled from Central America to the East Coast.

In 1857, it sank in the Atlantic Ocean during a hurricane with 21 tons of gold in its cargo hold.

The shipwreck, which was the most famous of its century, helped contribute to the economic crisis known as the Panic of 1857.

More than a century later, in 1988, Thompson made history by discovering the shipwreck and recovering gold coins and bars worth up to $400 million.

However, Thompson was sued in both federal and state court by many of his investors — including the Columbus Dispatch — in the years since.

The investors claim they never saw a cent of the treasure after Thompson sold most of it.

In 2012, a federal judge issued an injunction against Thompson and ordered him to provide the location of the treasure and its profits.

After Thompson failed to show up for his court appearance, a judge issued a warrant for his arrest.

Thompson and Antekeier went on the run when a handyman recognized them as living at a home he serviced in Florida and reported them to authorities.

When authorities searched the home, they discovered that the couple had been effectively in hiding, living on cash and not using their real names in transactions.

Authorities also found thousands of dollars in cash that had been stuffed inside pipes and buried underground, along with a bank statement under the name Harvey Thompson with a $1-million balance.

Harvey was an alias of Thompson's, according to authorities.

Years later, the couple was eventually tracked down to the hotel in Vero Beach. Authorities did not immediately reveal what tipped them off.

A business associate of Thompson's told the Associated Press last year that the treasure hunter never stole any money, and that most of the roughly $50 million he made by selling the gold in 2000 went to loans and legal fees.

"He was a genius, and they've stolen his life," Gil Kirk said.

Skip to footer