Its in the ether. A connection between each suspect began to emerge slowly, and as the intensity of spending grew, suspicion did as well. Necessary cookies are absolutely essential for the website to function properly. Next month, Payne will back in the Charlotte federal courthouse, this time to be sentenced from weapons and methamphetamine trafficking charges. But on Oct. 4, 1997, that no longer mattered and Ghantt took off with $17.3 million. Learn how to enable JavaScript on your browser. LETTER TO THE EDITOR: But where will they park? What purpose does that serve other than to denigrate that person into abject poverty?. Any cookies that may not be particularly necessary for the website to function and is used specifically to collect user personal data via analytics, ads, other embedded contents are termed as non-necessary cookies. ", "I don't need any more friends," she'd shot back. 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.. Even with several vehicles, they underestimated how much space they would need and they had to leave $3 million behind. In Campbells case, Gronquist says his client was buried in court-ordered debt despite the fact that she took responsibility for what she had done and cooperated with prosecutors and the FBI. 12) Loomis Fargo heist- The aftermath Ultimately, eight co-conspirators were indicted for the Loomis Fargo bank heist. So the original gang was all totally shocked, Wydra said. The corporation handled armored transportation, ATM maintenance and other cash handling services, and had millions of currency stashed in the vault of the North Carolina branch. just generally being a jerk. The FBI was inadvertently aided by the gang members extravagant spending. The friend was Steve Chambers, and Kelly said he knew his way around the world of crime. My knee-jerk reaction was to be angry, and then the sarcastic ass side of me started laughing about it, Ghantt said. Kristen Wiig plays Kelly, who really wasn't that into David, but convinced him to take a fortune from Loomis Fargo in the fall of '97. This station is part of Cox Media Group Television. This station is part of Cox Media Group Television. He wanted to leave his wife for her, and Kelly, who also was married, let him think she wanted the same. She had previously been making frequent small deposits to avert suspicion. 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. What purpose does that serve other than to denigrate that person into abject poverty?. They had met in December 1995 on one of her first days at Loomis. Well they were in some sense celebrities, Gronquist said. The gang made numerous mistakes. The principals here are David Ghantt, a driver for Loomis, Fargo and Co.; Kelly Campbell, the woman Ghantt had a crush on, and who convinced him to commit the crime; and Steve and Michele Chambers. 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. Lacking a college degree, he found that his army skills felt meaningless in the 1990s job market. He knew his mother would be traumatized, shocked, and appalled. Paying the money back has taken a lot longer, and time is running out for the U.S. government to collect. 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 figures can be astounding. Some of that money is just gone. Over the next two weeks, David thought about it. How he felt shorted by life. (John D. Simmons/The Charlotte Observer via AP). Steve's a serious guy.". The plan to. To the community, the Loomis Fargo heist was a big joke -- the largest hillbilly caper of all time. They had to be extremely careful not to tip off the group, as they could lose potential conspirators or more information important to a conviction. Ghantt, who by then was long out of prison, served as a consultant. Unexplained Mysteries and Strange Things,Cool Interesting stuff has been online since early 2011. Chambers had no intention of wiring any money to Ghantt and intended to have him killed to keep him from implicating the others. She had attitude. Clerk of Court Frank Johns of Charlotte. One number is working in Campbells favor. Their only intimate physical contact had been kissing on a mid-September night when they had driven her pickup truck to a field behind a shooting range in Gaston County to discuss their plans and the theft's chance of success. By then, the FBI had become greatly concerned for Ghantts personal safety; they had learned of Chambersmurder for hirescheme. Of course the most famous thing inside the home was a velvet Elvis portrait. Diamant, a journalist who reported on the case at the time, goes into meticulous detail on how the heist was pulled off and its aftermath. David got a kick out of her. Butcher says the federal courts in the Western District of North Carolina have never handled a case quite like Loomis. He and co-worker Kelly Campbell, 27, had developed a close relationship and were spending time together outside of work. The biggest restitution numbers for victims of financial crimes generally involve Ponzi schemes or sweepstakes fraud, not cash thefts. Once they were in custody, the overwhelming task of clearing out possessions possibly purchased with the stolen money began. Loomis Fargo heist: 25 years later Former FBI agent John Wydra, 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. The towns booming construction industry attracts workers from around the country. And if that gives people out there a little bit of hope, then Ive served my purpose on this earth.. 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. Her case closes in 2025. Libraries without that edition should consider purchasing this entertaining and lightly edited version, which reads like a fast-paced novel. LETTER TO THE EDITOR: Is this really about the needs of the poor? But if you did, youll never forget it. From my standpoint, it was just a business deal, Ghantt said. Federal law stops government collection efforts 20 years after a defendant leaves prison. "What would it take to convince you to do it?" The $17 million was stolen last Oct. 4 from the armored-car company's vault in Charlotte. uncanny, eerie, unnatural, preternatural, supernatural, unearthly, other-worldly, unreal, ghostly, mysterious, mystifying, strange, abnormal, unusual. But this time on the phone, Kelly wasn't joking. The robbery was committed by Loomis vault supervisor David Scott Ghantt, his married girlfriend Kelly Campbell (a former Loomis co-worker), Steven Eugene Chambers (a one-time FBI informant), his wife Michelle Chambers, Michael Gobbies, and four other co-conspirators. 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. They kept several furnishings from the previous owners, including avelvet Elvis. He loves his motorcycle and enjoys going fishing and, while hes sorry for the past, hes not ashamed to talk about it. As beads of sweat formed under his red hair, he loaded up another cart and repeated the process. 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, . (LogOut/ More calls between the two men, and also between Steve and Kelly Campbell, made it clear that the group was starting to turn on David Ghantt. Since then, there have been numerous articles, books, documentaries and even a movie about this gang -- the gang that couldnt shoot straight. A parrot tattoo on her right ankle. He was a hard worker, smart enough, and had graduated from high school. Thank you so much. Accompanying her was Steve Chambers, who, though unemployed, had recently moved . He had since served time in prison for the crime and told our sister station WSOC-TV Channel 9s Glenn Counts he learned a valuable lesson while behind bars. Down in Jacksonville, a Loomis Fargo employee took $18 million from an armored van he was driving. The movie was called Masterminds and stars Zach Galifianakis, Kristen Wiig and Owen Wilson. NASCAR. "Are you serious?" true story that has captivated American audiences on the news and now on the big screen in the major motion picture, Masterminds. The supervisor liked him and gave him the job. You can seize property. So we were able to figure out with all the denominations, it would require about 20 safe deposit boxes to store it all.. She will never get beyond the debt. 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Marine Fisheries Commission advocates for water quality, North Carolina the only state allowing unnecessary killing of sea turtles, 'Pagan' bike gang leader in N. Carolina sentenced to prison, Deputy cleared in shooting death of Gloucester woman, Beaufort amends charter to allow four-year mayoral term. Perry identified the other six people arrested as Steve and Michelle Chambers; Kelly Jane Campbell, a former Loomis employee; Michael L. McKinney; Thomas Nathan Grant; and Eric Haley Payne.. I gotta go.". 2023 Cox Media Group. personal/abusive/condescending attacks on other users or goading The world is full of unexplained events, strange mysteries, and mysterious legends. Steve was a serious guy? Living with his wife, Tammy, in a mobile home, he had longed for the middle-class lifestyle of his childhood that had come to seem luxurious, a pipe dream for him now. "Just think about it," she said. The biggest restitution numbers for victims of financial crimes generally involve Ponzi schemes or sweepstakes fraud, not cash thefts. 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. 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. Not all of them, but some of them are going to forgive you, theyre going to overlook it., he said. All of the co-defendants were arrested the next day, about six months after the heist. He had joined the army and earned an honorable discharge, but because of defense-industry cutbacks he hadn't been able to find a good job for himself. A woman by the name of Kelly Campbell had worked there in 1996, and she and Ghantt had become friends in that time. Burks was also ordered to serve 15 years in prison, limiting his ability to balance his books. 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. Besides her prison sentence, Campbell must undergo mental health and drug treatment and spend two years in a supervised release program. Fill in your details below or click an icon to log in: You are commenting using your WordPress.com account. 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. "So he stays behind and moving over two thousand pounds of . What that says is, We will never forgive you for what youve done.'. That movie, Masterminds, was filmed in 2014. Probably very egotistical of me, I thought, Yeah, sure, I can beat them, theyre college smart and thats about it, Ghantt said. VERDICT The first edition of this work was published in 2002. But you cant get blood from a stone, Johns said. In total, 24 people were convicted and all but one of the accused pleaded guilty. It just happened to fall on my desk.. But opting out of some of these cookies may affect your browsing experience. Conversations about stealing from the company weren't rare for Loomis employees. 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. 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. What it does is put a ball and chain on that person for the rest of their lives, they are walking around and they are basically an indentured servant, Gronquist said. To the community, the Loomis Fargo heist was a big joke -- the largest hillbilly caper of all time. The 2016 comedy movie, Masterminds is based on the story of the Loomis Fargo Heist. In the parking lot, David sat in his pickup truck smoking a cigarette and waving good-bye as the trainee drove home. "Everything's gonna be all right," she told him. Heist! 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. them. Ghantt took $50,000 for himself and fled to Cozumel, Mexico. 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. "I'll need help moving the money, getting a new ID, and leaving the country," he told her. she asked. You Save 23%. In order to receive more evidence, the FBI decided to listen. David placed their odds of success at 85 percent, a confidence inspired by faith not just in his planning but also in his feelings for Kelly. On the evening ofOctober 4, 1997, the Loomis Fargo & Co branch in Charlotte, North Carolina was in the process of being plundered. [SIGN UP: Action News Jax Daily Headlines Newsletter]. It was the second-largest. 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. These cookies do not store any personal information. Now, at 7:45 p.m., with all the money finally inside the van, his aching muscles could take a breather. >> PHOTOS: The Loomis Fargo heist, 25 years later. David's share would be sent to Mexico, where he planned to hide and where he expected Kelly to join him. In August 1997, Campbell informed Ghantt about an old high school friend of hers named Steve Chambers, who could assist Ghantt to execute a massive cash robbery of the Loomis Fargo vault in one night. She sounded incredulous. The Loomis defendants face no additional legal jeopardy for not paying off their debts. Seven p.m. came and went, and so did 7:20. 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. Low 46F. 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. They had initially agreed to control their spending for a year or two, in the belief that the government would vigorously track the spending habits of any and all suspects for at least a year before relenting. Youre supposed to get less time for cooperating, a lesser penalty, and instead, you see what she got hit with. Gronquist said. Though Wydra is retired, 25 years ago, he was an agent with the FBI. 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. David would simply empty the vault and deliver the money to the others. The FBI began to question past and current employees of Loomis Fargo. : The $17 Million Loomis Fargo Theft. In Reservoir Dogs, released just five years earlier, the pawns in a robbery knew each other only by assigned colors: Mr. Ghantt studied how to rob his employer and advised the others not to spend the money lavishly. 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. 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. He hired a hitman to take Ghantt out, tying up the ultimate loose end. Their most important conversation occurred one afternoon in August 1997 after Kelly paged him at work. The Loomis Fargo heist: 25 years later We went on a mission to calculate exactly how much size-wise the money was, $11.3 million in $20 bills, and it weighed over 2,000 pounds, former FBI agent John Wydra said. They knew Steve Chambers had worked as an informant in the past, and were nervous he would smell out an undercover. Who all wanted a Rambo movie which explored his time training as a green beret and his time serving in Vietnam as a prequel to first blood WATCH Antebellum 2020 FULL MOVIE. So that was kind of like this once-in-a-lifetime thing, Wydra said. The actual crime itself required none of Hollywood's imagination. In addition, he also rented Mike his own apartment, paid him $400/weekly and bought him a gun. Working by himself, Ghantt would commit the robbery and then flee for Mexico, leaving the bulk of the cash with Chambers. He waffled on the heist idea three or four times from late August to mid-September. The unsolved crime mystery of Marilyn Sheppard. We dont have the manpower to track all that (restitution) money down I pay (restitution to) thousands of people, but its in drips and drabs.. The plan to rob Loomis Fargo was spawned by Campbell and her friend Steve Chambers, during a casual bonfire at Chambers' home. 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. White-collar criminals are pretty good at hiding their money, she said. Campbell left her job in the summer of 1997, but she would later use Ghantt's feelings for her to her own advantage to get him to agree to carry out the multi-million-dollar heist. Thank you! Steve and Michelle Chambers, who had lived in a mobile home, bought a mansion in Cramer Mountain. "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. " The Loomis Fargo Heist Over the next months, Ghantt, Campbell, and Chambers developed a plan. He would then have the bulk of his share sent south of the border. The Loomis case is another example where the amount of restitution ordered vs. what is actually paid are two dramatically different numbers. Inside $3.3 million was located along with the two stolen surveillance tapes, apparently left due to the robber and his accomplices being sloppy, or in a hurry. 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 located Steve and Shelley Chambers in their newly-purchased home at the top of a hill. His collection case, which closes in November 2026, got credit for the couples $540,000 house on Cramer Mountain in Gaston County, Butcher says. 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. 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.. But with Kelly's new idea on the table, several dark realities converged on him. He also took various measures to change his appearance, such asshaving, after a patron at a restaurant pointed out to him that he looked like the man who robbed a bank of $20 million.. 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. Money. In all, agents arrested 24 people in the heist. As a privately owned web site, we reserve the right to edit or 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. A third surveillance tape was carelessly left behind, and the company was able to identify the man who robbed the vault as David Ghantt. Change), You are commenting using your Twitter account. Eric Payne got out of prison in 2006 for his role in the heist and has since paid $11,357 on his $292,000 debt. David told Kelly they would have to control themselves and not spend the money too quickly, because the FBI could electronically trace a suspect's recent spending activity through bank papers, credit card records, and land transactions. The unfairness gnawed at him, stirred by Kelly's questions. Worlds Biggest Heists London Hatton Garden 200m Diamond Robbery, Easter 2015. So they went to Mexico and arrested Ghantt in order to protect him. 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.
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