Thank you so much. Ghantt was working as a vault supervisor for Loomis Fargo in Charlotte in 1997, earning about $8 an hour and tired of his humdrum life. Money. Its in the ether. Their most important conversation occurred one afternoon in August 1997 after Kelly paged him at work. He realized his life wouldn't improve unless he did something drastic. One night in a small North Carolina town, a down-on-his-luck guard at Loomis Fargo manages to steal $17 millionliterally more than one ton of cash. Charlotte Observer"more than a crime story, and one that's worth reading." [DOWNLOAD: Free Action News Jax app for alerts as news breaks]. Available on Compatible NOOK Devices and the free NOOK Apps. Kelly called, using David's own cell phone, to ask where he was already, because she and the others were waiting outside for him. Ghantt met up with the other members of the plot and offloaded the cash. He is a graduate of Yale and has worked for the Connecticut Post, the Associated Press, and the Palm Beach Post. shaka wear graphic tees is candy digital publicly traded ellen lawson wife of ted lawson real kelly campbell loomis fargo heist 25 Feb/23 (No Ratings Yet) Ghantt reported to Chambers that his supply of money was running low, but Chambers sent Ghantt just $8,000. 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. Once they were in custody, the overwhelming task of clearing out possessions possibly purchased with the stolen money began. "I'll need help moving the money, getting a new ID, and leaving the country," he told her. However, Chambers had no intention of following those rules, believing the FBI would never connect him to Ghantt. Kelly Campbell, 29, a former company employee, entered guilty pleas earlier to bank larceny, money laundering and conspiracy to commit murder charges. Steve's a serious guy.". They located Steve and Shelley Chambers in their newly-purchased home at the top of a hill. If a prank seemed dangerous, David backed out. The inspiration behind the major motion picture Masterminds starring Zach Galifianakis, Owen Wilson, Kristen Wiig, and Jason Sudeikis! The phone calls began to get more intense when Steve and Eric got suspicious of a man who was running hismouth about them and the vault job over in Charlotte. But things didnt quite work out that way. For people earning $8.15 an hour David's salary the jokes came naturally. David and Kelly had driven to Rock Hill, South Carolina, and used the documents to obtain a fake ID that David would also rely on after the theft. He stayed at it until the vault was empty. So we were able to figure out with all the denominations, it would require about 20 safe deposit boxes to store it all.. 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. She will never get beyond the debt. The $17 million was stolen last Oct. 4 from the armored-car company's vault in Charlotte. ALSO READ: 14-year-old boy robbed at gunpoint while waiting for bus in east. The world is full of unexplained events, strange mysteries, and mysterious legends. David's share would be sent to Mexico, where he planned to hide and where he expected Kelly to join him. He put on his best pair of jeans, a button-down shirt, and his nicest cowboy boots. He allegedly hired a hitman to take Ghantt out, tying up the ultimate loose end. CHARLOTTE (AP) During one overnight shift, a bumbling conspiracy of thieves just west of Charlotte stole more than $17 million from Loomis Fargo. Hes a family man with a wife and daughter. It was released in 2016 and Wydra was invited to the premiere. How he and his wife had trouble communicating. 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. Theres no way to get it back, Butcher told The Charlotte Observer. Now and again I run into blog posts that tends to make me want to get started on bloggin myself. "its a great readsuspenseful, often funny, just the thing for those wondering what it might feel like to have, as these hapless, small-town criminals did, literally too darn much cash lying around. " In all, they recovered $6.6 million. He called Kelly to say he was coming and hopped into the driver's seat of the loaded Loomis van. be blocked or permanently banned without warning. Change). Except for the kiss in the pickup truck a few weeks before the heist, Kelly had kept things platonic. "For the first year after a crime," he told her, "they're all over you, with six to ten agents. Inside the truck, they found Ghantts ring and surmised this as a sign of Ghantts intention to end his relationship with his wife. "About fourteen or fifteen million dollars," he said. The unfairness gnawed at him, stirred by Kelly's questions. You should definitely start your own blog, I highly recommend it. About six months before the Charlotte theft, on March 29, a total of $18.8 million was taken from Loomis, Fargo in Jacksonville, Fla., in what was believed to be the largest heist in U.S.. And they could barely afford the minimum payments, given the power bills, phone bills, car insurance bills, and home payments they had to meet. The stated plan was for her to move to Mexico to be with him after the theft. 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. In Reservoir Dogs, released just five years earlier, the pawns in a robbery knew each other only by assigned colors: Mr. Updated: 11:31 AM EDT October 4, 2022 CHARLOTTE, N.C. Tuesday is the 25th anniversary of the infamous Loomis Fargo heist in Charlotte, where a bank worker, with the help of two accomplices,. (LogOut/ The friend was Steve Chambers, and Kelly said he knew his way around the world of crime. You Save 23%. Anybody who gets caught up in the system is getting chewed up by it, the now-retired Gronquist told the Observer. Guller was the attorney for Steven Chambers, who came up with the original idea for the Loomis theft. They also bought aBMW Z3with cash and made several large purchases, including a $600 statue of aNative American. Conversations about stealing from the company weren't rare for Loomis employees. If we work together, we can all have plenty of pie.. It took me going to prison to realize I was a bag of worms, and it took me years of work to be somebody worthy to come back into our society, he said. FBI video shows agents searching the Cramer Mountain home and finding stacks of cash. "So he stays behind and moving over two thousand pounds of . Four-wheeling. That way, outsiders couldn't see money being loaded. I gotta go.". All of the defendants are out of prison -- the longest sentence was 11 years. Burks was also ordered to serve 15 years in prison, limiting his ability to balance his books. Fourteen defendants were ordered to make restitution payments to Loomis Fargo totaling almost $19 million. At about 6:40 p.m., he went back inside. So they went to Mexico and arrested Ghantt in order to protect him. The plan was to exit through the building's electronic back gate, which consisted of horizontal metal plates that opened at the touch of a button. One day, the two employees were in the break room and got to talking about the news of the day a massive bank heist that just occurred in Florida by someone at their company. Its said the current owner now has it in storage in Phoenix, Arizona. Of course the problem was, the money belonged to someone else. 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. 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. Only a nickel on every dollar have been collected so far. Thank you! 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. David said he needed Kelly to drive to Loomis before the theft that night to remove a duffel bag from his parked pickup truck. Booklist "Librariesshould consider purchasing this entertaining and lightly edited version, which reads like a fast-paced novel." So we were able to figure out with all the denominations, it would require about 20 safe deposit boxes to store it all., WSOC TV facebook feed(Opens a new window), Part 2: Channel 9 speaks with the man at the center of Loomis Fargo heist 25 years ago, ALSO READ: 14-year-old boy robbed at gunpoint while waiting for bus in east Charlotte, mom says, ALSO READ: Leader of $3M check theft, bank fraud scheme in Charlotte area sentenced to prison, ALSO READ: Man released from jail, accused of robbing banks while wearing electronic monitor, police say, ALSO READ: Suspect from south Charlotte bank robbery found, CMPD says, NCSHP arrest driver accused of nearly hitting 2 students at bus stop in Statesville, CMS delays opening of new school meant to ease overcrowding, Mooresville orders removal of memorial at park after teens death, Chick-fil-A announces app data breach, tells customers how to protect personal information, Charlotte woman celebrates $1 million scratch-off prize, WSOC - TV Public File Contact / Program Director, WAXN - TV Public File Contact / Program Director. It just happened to fall on my desk.. What that says is, We will never forgive you for what youve done. Nathan, Steves cousin, was found in a mobile home the Chambers had abandoned. JACKSONVILLE, Fla. This month marked 25 years since one of the biggest armored car heists in U.S. history. 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. In David's eyes, Johnson's big mistake was that he did it alone. It was the second-largest. But that only tells part of the story. ", "I don't need any more friends," she'd shot back. 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. Paying the money back has taken a lot longer, and time is running out for the U.S. government to collect. 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. 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. How many people have walked the red carpet at a movie premiere in a case that was yours?. Well they were in some sense celebrities, Gronquist said. They could talk about anything, even topics he couldn't discuss with his wife. David Ghantt was just an average Joe with an average low-wage job. Then one day, while reviewing his and Tammy's credit card bill, he did some quick math and realized that even if they met the minimum monthly payments, the bill would take thirty years to pay. 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Carolina House GOP again modifies rules on veto overrides, Murdoch says some Fox hosts 'endorsed' false election claims, Havelock officials warn public about alligator near Walmart, Cape Carteret buys new utility vehicle to aid in picking up litter, New taxi, shuttle business seeks license to operate in Morehead City, Report: Navy ships face growing maintenance delays, costs, Fisheries division to survey for-hire watermen, National Enquirer, ensnared in catch-and-kill is sold. Michelle Chambers paid off only $27,000. Ghantt went to Mexico leaving the money with his cohorts, thinking that he could get his share back when he needed it. 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. The movie was called Masterminds and stars Zach Galifianakis, Kristen Wiig and Owen Wilson. 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. In order to receive more evidence, the FBI decided to listen. They succeeded in removing $17 million from the safe. This category only includes cookies that ensures basic functionalities and security features of the website. David's vision for all of this actually derived more from books than from movies. 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. There are many robberies registered in the history of America, but the Loomis Fargo Robbery is known to be the second largest robbery in the United States. First, they tapped the Chambers phone, and began listening in on February 11th, 1998. Anybody who gets caught up in the system is getting chewed up by it, the now-retired Gronquist told the Observer. : The $17 Million Loomis Fargo Theft. That movie, Masterminds, was filmed in 2014. 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. 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. In the movie: Campbell invites Ghantt to a restaurant under the auspices of a date, but then springs the idea of the heist on him, as Chambers and two associates join the conversation from an . 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. The walk-in vault was a fortified gray room, more wide than long, with shelves, cabinets, desks, and multiple pushcarts stocked with shrink-wrapped cash. More than half of the amount came from the seizure of a luxury home purchased by husband-and-wife defendants during their post-heist spending spree. (LogOut/ This technically made it abank robbery afederal offense. It all seemed unfair. Heist! Besides her prison sentence, Campbell must undergo mental health and drug treatment and spend two years in a supervised release program. My knee-jerk reaction was to be angry, and then the sarcastic ass side of me started laughing about it, Ghantt said. And Kelly thought he was funny. sole discretion of the site administrators and repeat offenders may He had since held one low-paying job after another. So we were able to figure out with all the denominations, it would require about 20 safe deposit boxes to store it all.. For a better shopping experience, please upgrade now. You can seize property. In Gastonia, David would run into high-school classmates who had never struck him as especially smart. Its like, me and you sat down, I have access to pie, you like pie, all I want is my share of the pie. The Loomis case is another example where the amount of restitution ordered vs. what is actually paid are two dramatically different numbers. These weren't the hardest of criminals, and though there was logic to not knowing each other's names, they had derived some of their methods from Hollywood depictions of crime. To the community, the Loomis Fargo heist was a big joke -- the largest hillbilly caper of all time. He has been a staff writer for the Star-Ledger in New Jersey since 2000. Libraries without that edition should consider purchasing this entertaining and lightly edited version, which reads like a fast-paced novel. I was relieved emotionally because I knew there was a good chance my luck might run out, Ghantt said. A report by the General Accounting Office found that as of budget year 2016, $110 billion in restitution ordered by the federal courts was outstanding and that more than 90% of the amount had been classified as uncollectible.. The bizarre true story of the criminals behind the second-largest bank heist in American history. The gang made numerous mistakes. Jim Gronquist was Campbells defense attorney. The biggest restitution numbers for victims of financial crimes generally involve Ponzi schemes or sweepstakes fraud, not cash thefts. Human nature is a flexible part of life, Gronquist said. We are happy to work with other website publishers. Steve decided to send his cousin, Nathan with money down to Mexico as a ruse, while Mike the bodyguard would follow behind to take care of Ghantt. When Ghantt called Campbell asking for more money, a plan was set in motion to take him out. Later that year, he saw a newspaper ad for a job at Loomis Fargo. 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, .
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