First, i'm the one that placed the chest. The only reason you weren't banned instantly upon its discovery is that i was waiting to see if i had to ban both of you or just the one.

Not only was it Not the way you were going, But i was watching you the whole time. You and him were heading for the nether roof and were 15 blocks above and nearly 30 blocks away when you decided to back down the crude staircase you'd dug, made a beeline for the chest, and then returned to your previous staircase and continued looking for a spot to get on the roof.
afterwards, you proceeded to run an additional 4,000 blocks to the very edge of our map, spawned in above an ocean, and spent nearly 15 minutes swimming like an idiot before you remembered you had a boat.
at which point, the jack fellow TPed to you, and you landed ashore on a desert island.

During this instance, you proceeded to dig down, and around, directly into the closest ore patches and a bone fossil- this is 40 minutes after the nether incident, at which point you guys got back in your boat, and you tell your friend that whoever told you it was out there must of lied.
I dont know about you, but the general search of a nether fortress is almost entierly performed.. in the nether.

At this point, i cent remember if i logged out first of if you guys did, but i notified the staff of my discovery and for them to keep an eye on you and your friend.
During the later hours, certain unauthorized instances were discovered and the ips pertaining to them were banned. Yours was on that list.

So, yes, you have been proven guilty.

Even on the minute chance you weren't hacking (which is highly improbable), you would not be pardoned solely on the fact that your account was involved with illegal activity.

We will not be discussing this with you again.