Ghantt went to Mexico leaving the money with his cohorts, thinking that he could get his share back when he needed it. ", Johnson said, "Yeah, that's it. The robbery was committed by David Scott Ghantt who was the vault supervisor and accomplices Kelly Campbell, Steve Chambers, Michelle Chambers, Michael Gobies, and other four members. "I'm busy," he said. Loomis has received $978,983.79, according to Sally Butcher, an assistant clerk in the federal courts of the Western District of North Carolina who specializes in criminal debt. The unsolved mystery of the Van Meter Visitor a winged creature! So that was kind of like this once-in-a-lifetime thing, Wydra said. She sounded incredulous. Asked the purpose of his visit, Johnson had replied, "To visit friends. Campbell used to work for Loomis and continued the friendship with Ghantt, eventually hooking him up with Chambers. He had since held one low-paying job after another. In the grand scheme of things, the prison sentence for stealing $20 million wouldn't be much worse than for stealing just $500,000 maybe a few extra years behind bars. These cookies will be stored in your browser only with your consent. https://www.charlotteagenda.com/67457/loomis-fargo-heist-masterminds-movie/, http://www.charlotteobserver.com/news/state/article104506876.html, https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/October_1997_Loomis_Fargo_robbery#Company, http://retroclt.blogspot.com/2014/07/loomis-fargo-heist.html, . The case resurfaced in the federal courts on Thursday, Sept. 1, when the U.S. Attorneys Office in Charlotte posted a public reminder in the case file of Loomis defendant Kelly Campbell that she had fallen behind in her restitution. Sunny. In 1994, they moved to Gastonia, North Carolina, where they had grown up, and David took a job driving a forklift. "I was unhappy with my life. David would simply empty the vault and deliver the money to the others. Chambers would then occasionally wire Ghantt money and see to his basic financial needs; when the heat was off, Ghantt was to re-enter the U.S. and the money would be split up among all of the co-conspirators. He worked close-by to where the van and over $3 million dollars had been ditched, and was friends with Steve Chambers. His collection case, which closes in November 2026, got credit for the couples $540,000 house on Cramer Mountain in Gaston County, Butcher says. Tips had led the FBI to begin monitoring Chambers (and his wifes) activities, but it was not until the FBIrecorded a phone callfrom Ghantt in Mexico that the final connection was made. The plan was to maintain a low profile and wait for things to cool off, allowing Ghantt to return to the states and collect his cut. These (Loomis) guys, not so much.. Campbell, a former Loomis employee and one of the original masterminds of the caper, has paid off less than $21,000 of the $4,701,694.18 she was docked. His eyes widened and he stopped breathing as he realized that something as mundane as a malfunctioning gate might ruin their entire plan. The bigger the amount, however, the bigger the damages to victims that likely will never be repaid: Amy Paynes collection account was closed in 2020 with her having paid $53,000 of the $274,000 she owed. A former FBI agent who helped crack the case sat down with Channel 9 Reporter Glenn Counts to talk about the clues that led to solving the crime, and how the group got caught. They kept several furnishings from the previous owners, including avelvet Elvis. Next month, Payne will back in the Charlotte federal courthouse, this time to be sentenced from weapons and methamphetamine trafficking charges. I pay (restitution to) thousands of people, but its in drips and drabs.. Why do we feel its so necessary to treat people like this, to say, OK, well just ruin the rest of your life because you made a bad decision., Punishment should not last a lifetime. Federal law stops government collection efforts 20 years after a defendant leaves prison. He said at first, they were very proud of what they had been able to do. She will never get beyond the debt. Some of that money is just gone. In the parking lot, David sat in his pickup truck smoking a cigarette and waving good-bye as the trainee drove home. Spunk. He couldn't understand the gap, why he wasn't more successful, why he couldn't at least match the financial stability of his father, who earned a comfortable salary driving a truck. Though much of the cash was already stacked on pushcarts in the vault, other stacks were on shelves or the floor, and they were heavy. Nathan, Steves cousin, was found in a mobile home the Chambers had abandoned. The case resurfaced in the federal courts on Thursday, Sept. 1, when the U.S. Attorneys Office in Charlotte posted a public reminder in the case file of Loomis defendant Kelly Campbell that she had fallen behind in her restitution. Steve Chambers would keep the rest. Conversations about stealing from the company weren't rare for Loomis employees. People dont seem to understand human nature. He says the Loomis case shows how the criminal justice system and the courts treat lower-income people differently. At 2:20 p.m., the phone rang; it was Kelly again. Twenty people were convicted of roles big and small in the massive 1997 armored-car warehouse heist in west Charlotte. >> PHOTOS: The Loomis Fargo heist, 25 years later Ghantt, his former co-worker Kelly Campbell and her friends Steve and Michelle Chambers, carried out the Loomis Fargo heist on Oct.. sole discretion of the site administrators and repeat offenders may Uh-oh, it looks like your Internet Explorer is out of date. After discussing his job, his marriage, and his everyday struggles, they joked about Loomis and about how easy it would be to steal from the place. And they could barely afford the minimum payments, given the power bills, phone bills, car insurance bills, and home payments they had to meet. Pink, Mr. Blue, Mr. Orange, Mr. Blonde. The bigger the amount, however, the bigger the damages to victims that likely will never be repaid: - Amy Paynes collection account was closed in 2020 with her having paid $53,000 of the $274,000 she owed. Many of the lesser players in the conspiracy have been the most effective in paying their debts. The plan was still on, but David remained steamed. Its like, me and you sat down, I have access to pie, you like pie, all I want is my share of the pie. You should definitely start your own blog, I highly recommend it. "Don't double-cross us," the woman on the phone told David Ghantt. Loomis Fargo heist: 25 years later Steve Chambers and his wife were living in a trailer and upgraded to what would today be a multi-million-dollar mansion at Cramer Mountain. But things didnt quite work out that way. Its a once-in-a-lifetime thing, and I went down and talked to them, got to meet Zach Galifianakis and the director, Ghantt said. There's just one hitch: Ghantt has entrusted the money to an oddball crew of accomplices who had wooed him into committing this massive theft in the first placeand who, he soon learns, are trying to take him out. - Husband and wife Steven and Michelle Chambers, whose conspicuous consumption of a luxury home, a BMW convertible, breast implants and a $600 wooden Indian, among other purchases, helped the FBI solve the crime, were assessed $3.81 million and $4.8 million, respectively. They involve Loomis armored car driver David Scott Ghantt. CHARLOTTE If you didnt live in the Charlotte area 25 years ago, you might not believe it. About the worst he had done as a teenager was stealing a construction company's Porta-Jon with a friend, tying it to the back of a pickup truck, and driving around for about fifteen minutes. Javascript is not enabled in your browser. Then, keeping with the plan, Ghantt took $50,000 (the maximum that could be taken across the border by law without further authorization) with him and left for Mexico, winding up at the popularYucatan Peninsularesort ofCozumel. Jeff Diamant was a reporter for the Charlotte Observer when the heist took place. The site features a collection of unexplained, strange and odd mysteries. While David Ghantt trusted Steve Chambers enough to leave his cut behind, Chambers had other plans. It was David who was hours away from committing the most daring act of his life, and she was going off about Steve being a serious guy? David Ghantt was just an average Joe with an average low-wage job. How he felt shorted by life. The reason David didn't know Steve's last name was so they couldn't identify each other to the police or FBI, should cops or G-men ever enter the picture. According to Butcher, Campbells last official payment came in June 2021 when the government appears to have seized a tax refund of $81.24. I ride motorcycles and fish -- normal guy, Ghantt told Counts. Its in the ether. "I'll need help moving the money, getting a new ID, and leaving the country," he told her. A customs inspector, asking routine questions of bus passengers, focused her attention on him when his answers reminded her of Tommy Flanagan, the pathological-liar character played by Jon Lovitz on Saturday Night Live. Ghantt reported to Chambers that his supply of money was running low, but Chambers sent Ghantt just $8,000. Authorities were notified of the robbery in the morning, when employees couldnt open the vault. Available on Compatible NOOK Devices and the free NOOK Apps. The stated plan was for her to move to Mexico to be with him after the theft. Unexplained Mysteries and Strange Things,Cool Interesting stuff has been online since early 2011. A parrot tattoo on her right ankle. In preparation for what lay ahead, David had backed an unmarked company Ford Econoline van near the vault entrance and opened the van's back door. Even with several vehicles, they underestimated how much space they would need and they had to leave $3 million behind. Afterward, everything became comical. They also found several stacks of money with Loomis bands still attached throughout all the homes searched. Sure to be in demand as the book has been made into a movie, Masterminds, to be released in August.Michael Sawyer, Pine Bluff, AR. Some of that money is just gone. Fourteen defendants were ordered to make restitution payments to Loomis Fargo totaling almost $19 million. Criminals dont usually get high-paying jobs after leaving prison. The October 4 shift was lasting longer than expected, due to delays involving pickups and deliveries. And they hit the jackpot -- FBI video shows agents recovering most of the stolen cash. In total, 24 people were convicted and all but one of the accused pleaded guilty. "Don't back out on us. In order to receive more evidence, the FBI decided to listen. Steve and Michelle Chambers, who had lived in a mobile home, bought a mansion in Cramer Mountain. She had attitude. Some of the biggest numbers remaining on the Loomis collection board, as is the case with Campbell, belong to those who played the biggest role in the crime: - David Ghantt, the Loomis employee who loaded all that money 2,800 pounds in all into the back of a company van before escaping to Mexico, has paid just under $50,000 of the $3.81 million he was assessed. 12) Loomis Fargo heist- The aftermath Ultimately, eight co-conspirators were indicted for the Loomis Fargo bank heist. These (Loomis) guys, not so much.. Investigators also found Ghantts pickup truck, abandoned at the warehouse. Later, they also arrested Nathans older brother. He hated his job and his bosses, he'd lost hope in his marriage, he wasn't going to advance at Loomis, and he couldn't afford to quit to enroll in college. Campbell used part of her share of the money to buy aToyota Siennaminivanin two cash installments. He knew his mother would be traumatized, shocked, and appalled. He and co-worker Kelly Campbell, 27, had developed a close relationship and were spending time together outside of work. The theft at the time the second-largest cash robbery in U.S. history has been the brunt of mocking movies and books, mostly on how the thieves, who had little money to begin with, could not control their spending habits once they did. This category only includes cookies that ensures basic functionalities and security features of the website. Steve Chambers and his wife were living in a trailer and upgraded to what would today be a multi-million-dollar mansion at Cramer Mountain. The plan was for Ghantt to commit the actual robbery and then quickly leave the country forMexico but to leave the bulk of the cash with Chambers. Current price is $11.49, Original price is $14.99. One number is working in Campbells favor. Chambers had broached the possibility of a robbery to Campbell earlier in the summer. She was five-foot-seven, had dirty-blond hair, and had worked with him for about a year at Loomis Fargo, until she left for another job in 1996. They hadn't slept together or even fooled around much, but he was ready to commit. Well they were in some sense celebrities, Gronquist said. I made a joke once that was the hardest Id ever worked for Wells Fargo -- yeah, its a lot of work, Ghantt said. David was supposed to be showing him the ropes of the job, which included cash pickups and deliveries. Her case closes in 2025. At that point, Kelly and David had known each other for two years. Two days later, when the FBI found the Loomis Fargo armored van, they discovered almost $3.3 million in cash left in the back of the van; it was later discovered that the thieves had miscalculated the sheer bulk of the small denomination currency, and that they simply left the cash that they could not take with them in the back of the van. He had stayed in a luxury hotel and paid for expensive food and activities such asscuba divingandparasailing. LETTER TO THE EDITOR: Is this really about the needs of the poor? CHARLOTTE (AP) During one overnight shift, a bumbling conspiracy of thieves just west of Charlotte stole more than $17 million from Loomis Fargo. A third surveillance tape was carelessly left behind, and the company was able to identify the man who robbed the vault as David Ghantt. Loomis, Fargo offered a $500,000 reward for his arrest and conviction. Necessary cookies are absolutely essential for the website to function properly. (LogOut/ A couple by the names of Steve and Shelley Chambers also became people of interest in the investigation due to their extreme sudden increase in spending. Ghantt had struck up a relationship with a fellow Loomis Fargo employee, Kelly Campbell; they continued to maintain contact even after Campbell left the company. The world is full of unexplained events, strange mysteries, and mysterious legends. Michelle Chambers received a few more months than Ghantt, because she had violated several bond conditions. And then I realized that a lot of people knew who I was and they had followed the case.. Before the robber left Loomis Fargo, he made a trip to the managers office to remove two surveillance tapes in order to conceal his identity. First, they tapped the Chambers phone, and began listening in on February 11th, 1998. JACKSONVILLE, Fla. This month marked 25 years since one of the biggest armored car heists in U.S. history. Since Ghantt was the supervisor, he sent his co-worker home first. He hired a hitman to take Ghantt out, tying up the ultimate loose end. Who was she to be pressuring him? Only a nickel on every dollar have been collected so far. Notifications from this discussion will be disabled. But you cant get blood from a stone, Johns said. If we work together, we can all have plenty of pie.. To the community, the Loomis Fargo heist was a big joke -- the largest hillbilly caper of all time. The plan to rob Loomis Fargo was spawned by Campbell and her friend Steve Chambers, during a casual bonfire at Chambers' home. FBI video shows the agency searching that home and finding drawers full of cash. My knee-jerk reaction was to be angry, and then the sarcastic ass side of me started laughing about it, Ghantt said. remove comments that contain spam, advertising, vulgarity, threats Yet their lives seemed far easier and better than his. They had met in December 1995 on one of her first days at Loomis. You have permission to edit this article. Twenty people were convicted of roles big and small in the massive 1997 armored-car warehouse heist in west Charlotte. Turns out, most of the thieves and their accomplices have been about as effective coming up with their court-ordered restitution as they were hiding their original crimes. What that says is, We will never forgive you for what youve done. document.getElementById( "ak_js_1" ).setAttribute( "value", ( new Date() ).getTime() ). After hanging up on her, David returned to work. The investigation ultimately resulted in the conviction of eight people directly involved, as well as sixteen others who had indirectly helped them. The FBI began to question past and current employees of Loomis Fargo. Aprs de nombreux seconds rles comiques au cinma, elle parvient percer en co-crivant et tenant le rle principal de la Learn how to enable JavaScript on your browser. A few of the Loomis restitution cases have already been closed either because the amount was paid in full or because the 20-year clock wound down. Thomas Grant, who served three years in prison for bank larceny, paid off restitution of $70,000; brother Eric Grant paid all of his $26,000; as did David Craig, $40,000; and Dennis and Sandra Floyd; $27,000. I actually loved reading through this post. In March 1997, after Loomis Fargo & Company has been robbed of $18.8 million in Jacksonville by company security guard Philip Noel Johnson, Steve Eugene Chambers and Kelly Campbell, a former employee of Loomis, decides to rob the company. Oh were not going to talk to anybody, theyre not going to be able to convict us, that bravado happens in the beginning and then it often gets worn down by the reality, Gronquist said. White-collar criminals are pretty good at hiding their money, she said. Not every agent has a case like that, he said. This technically made it abank robbery afederal offense. The police almost immediately called theFBI, since 95% of the money handled at the facility was owned by banks. "Just think about it," she said. This website uses cookies and some data tracking to improve your experience and serve adverts, We assume you're ok with this, you can opt-out if you wish. He added that he would be able to send the trainee home at about 6:00 p.m. and would then need about an hour to load the money from carts, shelves, and the floor into a Loomis company van. He realized his life wouldn't improve unless he did something drastic. The supervisor liked him and gave him the job. He had approached her inside the chain-link fence that surrounded the building and said with a flirty smile, "If you give me a cigarette, I'll be your friend. He and his wife, Michele, moved from theirmobile homeinLincoln Countyto a luxury house in the wealthy Cramer Mountain section ofCramerton. Burks was also ordered to serve 15 years in prison, limiting his ability to balance his books. The $17 million Loomis Fargo heist in Charlotte, North Carolina, was the second largest armored car robbery in U.S. history. Discover the truth behind unexplained ancient mysteries, UFO mysteries, secret locations and paranormal events. But being the vault supervisor at Loomis Fargo had one perk -- exposure to tons of cash. David Ghantt (Zach Galifianakis), an employee of Loomis Fargo, robbed his own vault, left the $17.3 million in cash with his co-conspirators, Kelly Campbell (Kristen Wiig) and Steve Chambers (Owen Wilson) and fled the country to Mexico. Theres no way to get it back, Butcher told The Charlotte Observer. Loomis Fargo employees could not open the vault the next morning, and called the police. They knew Steve Chambers had worked as an informant in the past, and were nervous he would smell out an undercover. They swept the surrounding counties, locating Kelly Campbell and Eric Payne in their homes. Only a nickel on every dollar have been collected so far. Not all of them, but some of them are going to forgive you, theyre going to overlook it., he said. Each cart, holding about $2 million, was taking David seven or eight minutes to stack, push, and empty into the van, and there were about eight cartloads' worth in the vault. In Gastonia, David would run into high-school classmates who had never struck him as especially smart. of violence, racism, anti-Semitism, or The loot would later be divided among David, Kelly, and Steve. His collection case closes in two years. Butcher says the federal courts in the Western District of North Carolina have never handled a case quite like Loomis. FILE - Kelly Campbell, one of the 21 people convicted for their involvement in the $17 million Loomis Fargo heist, awaits sentencing for her part in the theft at her mobile home near. He would then have the bulk of his share sent south of the border. uncanny, eerie, unnatural, preternatural, supernatural, unearthly, other-worldly, unreal, ghostly, mysterious, mystifying, strange, abnormal, unusual. There was no reason to leave anything, he felt. *FREE* shipping on qualifying offers. Tuesday marked 25 years since a group of buddies pulled off the third-largest money grab in U.S. history -- the Loomis Fargo heist. But you cant get blood from a stone,, Criminals dont usually get high-paying jobs after leaving prison. There are multiples of thousands of these things coming every year. But on Oct. 4, 1997, that no longer mattered and Ghantt took off with $17.3 million. The Star-Ledger, 06/15/2015On October 4, 1997, an amateurish gang robbed Loomis, Fargo & Co. in Charlotte, NC of $17 million, the second largest heist in U.S. history. 2023 Cox Media Group. Agents raided safe deposit boxes, where they recovered more than $11 million. Ghantt was the vault manager and was surrounded. [DOWNLOAD: Free Action News Jax app for alerts as news breaks]. In addition to their extravagant spending, Michelle Chambers made the mistake of loudly asking a bank teller how much cash she could deposit in her account without it being reported to the feds, and then said, its not drug money.. Husband and wife Steven and Michelle Chambers, whose conspicuous consumption of a luxury home, a BMW convertible, breast implants and a $600 wooden Indian, among other purchases, helped the FBI solve the crime, were assessed $3.81 million and $4.8 million, respectively. But they'd stayed in touch, and now they were poised to attempt a crime like almost no other. So we were able to figure out with all the denominations, it would require about 20 safe deposit boxes to store it all.. David knew this was important from having followed the recent news about a Florida man who had brazenly committed the biggest heist from an armored-car company in United States history, a loner named Philip Noel Johnson, who also had worked for Loomis. Growing up, David's family went to Disney World, sent him to religious school, and shopped at places he couldn't afford as a self-supporting adult. The theft at the time the second-largest cash robbery in U.S. history has been the brunt of mocking movies and books, mostly on how the thieves, who had little money to begin with, could not control their spending habits once they did. He also stole both existing sets of vault keys and hurried into the manager's office, where three TV security screens and two VCRs were visible. He was signed by the Minnesota Vikings as an undrafted free agent in 2002. Soon thereafter, he met Kelly Campbell, a co-worker at Loomis Fargo. she asked again. Criminals dont usually get high-paying jobs after leaving prison. Records show the government has garnished his Social Security checks. Why do we feel its so necessary to treat people like this, to say, OK, well just ruin the rest of your life because you made a bad decision., Punishment should not last a lifetime. Action News Jax facebook feed(Opens a new window), Action News Jax twitter feed(Opens a new window), Action News Jax youtube feed(Opens a new window), JSO K9 escapes kennel, bites three people in Jacksonville neighborhood, To know Nancy was to love Nancy: St. Johns County woman killed in suspected DUI crash, JSO says missing child alert results in deadly drowning, Senator proposes bill giving state emergency jurisdiction over custody of kids with trans parents, Florida woman accused of killing terminally ill husband released from jail.