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A treasure hunter who seized gold worth up to £260million from a shipwreck is facing jail after three years on the run.

Tommy Thompson led a 1988 expedition to the SS Central America, the so-called Ship of Gold which sank laden with 21 tons of the precious metal off the Carolina coast in 1857.

But instead of the would-be Indiana Jones sharing the wealth, he allegedly ran off with the profits - leaving scores of angry investors.

He reportedly sold much of the haul for around £36million in 2000, but investors claimed the gold was worth up to £260million in a civil court case.

Now Thompson, 62, is facing jail rather than spilling the shipwreck's secrets by testifying in the case - including exactly how much the gold was worth.

(Image: Wikipedia)

As the pressure mounted Thompson and his girlfriend-assistant Alison Antekeier, 47, started using fake names and paying only in cash from 2005, prosecutors claim.

Then, in 2012, they became fugitives after failing to appear at a court case brought by the investors.

The pair fled their multi-million dollar house in Vero Beach, Florida, after being confronted over unpaid rent by handyman James Kennedy.

He later went into the house and found several $10,000 cash wads hidden in pipes buried underground, the prosecutors claimed.

(Image: Delaware County jail)

He also found a book called How To Be Invisible which had a bookmark placed on the page which said: "Use cash always and don't get bank accounts".

"In the house were approximately 12 cell phones that were all active," the prosecutors' complaint added.

"Thompson keeps his life very compartmentalised by using a different phone for a different purpose and contact.

"Thompson does not leave the phones on, but rather lets the messages pile up for weeks."

Officers finally tracked down the fugitive and his girlfriend in January at a hotel in Boca Raton, Florida.

It was claimed they had been at the hotel for more than a year, paying cash for their room under a false name.

(Image: Rex)

Yesterday the pair both pleaded guilty to contempt of court, according to prosecutors in Columbus, Ohio.

The charges - which were brought for the pair's failure to appear in court in 2012 - carry a maximum penalty of life in jail and a fine of $100,000 (£67,000).

But both have had plea bargain arrangements which were not made public in online records.

The Columbus Dispatch claimed Thompson's plea bargain will force him to turn over $425,380 in cash that was found in his Florida hotel room - and in exchange he will be jailed for no more than two years.

Antekeier's jail term would be no more than a year, the newspaper claimed.

U.S. Marshal Peter Tobin said in a statement: "Thompson and Antekeier were very sophisticated in avoiding capture and had access to nearly unlimited funds, enabling them to stay completely off the radar for years."