Treasure hunter will be returned to Ohio
Tommy Thompson arrested here after two years in hiding.
After two years on the run and four West Palm Beach federal court appearances, treasure hunter Tommy Thompson is leaving Florida.
He will be sent back to Ohio where he skipped a 2012 civil court appearance. A judge then issued a criminal contempt warrant for his arrest.
Thompson, who was working as an oceanic engineer, found thousands of pounds of gold and silver off the coast of South Carolina in the late 1980s in the sunken SS Cen- tral America, which went down in 1857. The civil case started when Thompson allegedly stiffed his investors and his crew.
Thompson will waive his identity hearing and agree to be sent back to Ohio, his attorney said. Thompson, who struggled to answer the judge’s question in previous hearings, confidently answered all questions in the short appearance Thursday.
U.S. Magistrate Judge Dave Brannon did not set a timetable for the removal, but said he expects it will be done relatively quickly.
“I know that everyone wants you to be moved expeditiously,” Brannon said.
Aaron Cohen, who represented Thompson pro bono, said he doesn’t be- lieve there is any hidden gold in South Florida.
The whereabouts of some of the gold is still unknown, but suspicions flared when a U.S. Marshals deputy testified last week that Thompson and assistant Alison Antekeier had at least three storage facilities in Palm Beach County and one in Broward County. Cohen added that the storage areas could contain paperwork that would be relevant in the civil case.
Cohen described Thompson as a genius, but he said that two years on the lam has been tough on the man.
“I think he is putting the pieces together,” Cohen said of Thompson’s arrest. “I think it has been a rough life for him the past couple years.”
At his previous three appearances, Thompson complained of health problems that could become exacerbated when he’s sent north, but he did not mention any objections Thursday. Brannon has been firm in his position that Thompson needs to be sent back to Ohio.
Much of the time Thompson and Antekeier spent in Florida was in the a suburban Boca Raton Hilton Hotel.
The duo first checked into the hotel on May 31, 2013, under the name Patricia Clark, a fake identity for Antekeier, according to hotel records obtained from the Columbus Dispatch. She had a fake business identification card with that name. The card had a medical insignia and the title “Researcher IV.”
They paid nightly room rates that varied from $89 to $152, records indicate. Antekeier would pay cash sums up to $1,000 at a time, and extend their stay weeks to months at a time. They stopped paying state and hotel taxes after Nov. 29, 2013.
Antekeier reserved a second room on a second room for a 41-night stay from April 20, 2014, to May 31, 2014, but later changed it to a five-night reservation. The records do not indicate who stayed in the second room.
They also made 29 phone calls from the hotel room.
Thompson and Antekeier stayed in the hotel until they were arrested in late January by the Marshals, who also found at least $420,000 in cash.
Cohen said people in this situation usually are moved within 10 days. He said prosecutors told him that Antekeier hasn’t been moved yet, but Cohen expects them to be removed soon.
“I believe that his South Florida stay is over,” Cohen said.