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Hearing set for jailed Ohio ex-treasure hunter

Posted at 11:11 AM, Mar 10, 2016
and last updated 2016-03-10 11:15:17-05

COLUMBUS, Ohio (AP) -- A federal judge in Ohio has scheduled a hearing for a former deep-sea treasure hunterwho was ordered jailed until he answers questions about the location of 500 gold coins recovered from a historic shipwreck.

The December order by Judge Algenon Marbley in Columbus came after he sentenced Tommy Thompson to two years in prison and fined him $250,000 for failing to appear before a judge three years ago to answer similar questions.

Thompson agreed in a plea deal to answer questions about the coins from the S.S. America, which sank in a hurricane off South Carolina in 1857. Marbley ruled Thompson violated that deal by refusing to answer the latest round of questions and fined him $1,000 a day until he cooperates.

A hearing is set for March 14.