He played high school football at Mays High School in Atlanta, and college football at Georgia Tech . He was on a budget for clothes, even for work boots; he had recently needed to check seven stores before finding a pair in his price range. These cookies will be stored in your browser only with your consent. For example, Steve Chambers and his wife were living in a. 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. So its one thing to go from up here, thought, to action, he said. So we were able to figure out with all the denominations, it would require about 20 safe deposit boxes to store it all.. Well she was a pretty happy-go-lucky person, he said. He loves his motorcycle and enjoys going fishing and, while hes sorry for the past, hes not ashamed to talk about it. Fill in your details below or click an icon to log in: You are commenting using your WordPress.com account. Getting restitution, its like pulling teeth.. To the community, the Loomis Fargo heist was a big joke -- the largest hillbilly caper of all time. "About fourteen or fifteen million dollars," he said. You should definitely start your own blog, I highly recommend it. Criminals dont usually get high-paying jobs after leaving prison. Only a nickel on every dollar have been collected so far. Heist! The Loomis case is another example where the amount of restitution ordered vs. what is actually paid are two dramatically different numbers. (LogOut/ They succeeded in removing $17 million from the safe. He is a graduate of Yale and has worked for the Connecticut Post, the Associated Press, and the Palm Beach Post. Since Ghantt was the supervisor, he sent his co-worker home first. The building was configured so vans could drive inside and pull up next to the vault. CHARLOTTE (AP) During one overnight shift, a bumbling conspiracy of thieves just west of Charlotte stole more than $17 million from Loomis Fargo. 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. I think if you remember some of her early photographic opportunities, shall we put it that way, she was sort of laughing, not seeming to take it seriously.. 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., Anybody who gets caught up in the system is getting chewed up by it,, You can garnish wages. Many of the lesser players in the conspiracy have been the most effective in paying their debts. The gang made numerous mistakes. The Charlotte area's economy was booming all around him, and he felt passed over. Campbell led Ghantt to think she loved him and they would flee to Mexico together, but she actually wanted to make a better life for herself in the U.S. With the plan in place, Ghantt sent a newly hired employee he had been assigned to train home early (reportedly, at 6 p.m.) and then proceeded to load a little more than $17.3 million in cash (approximately $11 million of which was in$20 bills) into the back of a company van. In Gastonia, David would run into high-school classmates who had never struck him as especially smart. As it neared its end, David stealthily left the vault door ajar. As beads of sweat formed under his red hair, he loaded up another cart and repeated the process. Not all of them, but some of them are going to forgive you, theyre going to overlook it., he said. My knee-jerk reaction was to be angry, and then the sarcastic ass side of me started laughing about it, Ghantt said. Afterward, she and David would talk just occasionally on the phone. 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. Campbell was released from federal custody in 2004 after serving five years, meaning her collection case will age out in December 2024. "I'll need help moving the money, getting a new ID, and leaving the country," he told her. Who was she to be pressuring him? David was thin six-foot-one, one hundred sixty-five pounds and heaving the stacks onto the cart, pushing the cart toward the vault door, and then emptying its contents into the van was exhausting. It has a certain feel, a smell and weight to it. 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. Chambers had broached the possibility of a robbery to Campbell earlier in the summer. To the community, the Loomis Fargo heist was a big joke -- the largest hillbilly caper of all time. How many people have walked the red carpet at a movie premiere in a case that was yours?. And Kelly thought he was funny. "I'm busy," he said. I was relieved emotionally because I knew there was a good chance my luck might run out, Ghantt said. In all, agents arrested 24 people in the heist. And after two years, the case is just a file. While Ghantt waited for the heat from the robbery to die down, Chambers would send Ghantt small amounts of money. He hired a hitman to take Ghantt out, tying up the ultimate loose end. The stated plan was for her to move to Mexico to be with him after the theft. Was the temptation too much? At that point, Kelly and David had known each other for two years. 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. That first day in prison was scary, Ghantt said. document.getElementById( "ak_js_1" ).setAttribute( "value", ( new Date() ).getTime() ). Human nature is a flexible part of life, Gronquist said. Im married, I got one girl, shes 15 going on 30. she asked. Winds light and variable. He and co-worker Kelly Campbell, 27, had developed a close relationship and were spending time together outside of work. 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. 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. All but one of the 24 defendants pleaded guilty, and the one who didnt take the deal was convicted. 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. In the first couple of weeks, they had heard both Steve and Shelley bragging about their new-found fortune, and spending remarkable amounts of money. Ghantt was the vault manager and was surrounded. Getting restitution, its like pulling teeth.. He shut the empty vault and set its timer so the vault could not be opened for two or three days. Available on Compatible NOOK Devices and the free NOOK Apps. The gang made numerous mistakes. In his youth, his mother had taken him to Sears and JCPenney, but as a man he shopped at Walmart, and while he knew there was nothing wrong with that, he wished he could afford more. He called Kelly to say he was coming and hopped into the driver's seat of the loaded Loomis van. He hired a hitman to take Ghantt out, tying up the ultimate loose end. The property has changed hands several times since then. 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. "I was unhappy with my life. All of the primary players got fined millions of dollars --for example, Kelly Campbell was hit with more than $4 million, an amount that she will never come close to paying. Theres no way to get it back, Butcher told The Charlotte Observer. : The .17 Million Loomis Fargo Theft . (John D. Simmons/The Charlotte Observer via AP). The figures can be astounding. You can garnish wages. Butcher says the federal courts in the Western District of North Carolina have never handled a case quite like Loomis. The FBI was inadvertently aided by the gang members extravagant spending. Driving away, he said he felt a mix of fear, confidence and excitement that he outsmarted the FBI. Spunk. I dont know if Steve would have done it himself, but he definitely was capable of buying someone to do it for him and I think that was going to happen if we didnt step in and arrest Ghantt, Wydra said. The participants in the heist also spent lavishly on fancy jewelry, fancy cars and breast enhancement surgeries. FBI video shows agents searching the Cramer Mountain home and finding stacks of cash. 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.. 2023 Cox Media Group. ALSO READ: 14-year-old boy robbed at gunpoint while waiting for bus in east. He angrily hung up the phone at Loomis, Fargo & Co., his soon-to-be former employer in Charlotte, North Carolina. 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. One number is working in Campbells favor. "I've got a friend," she said, "who can hook you up with a new ID.". The Loomis case is another example where the amount of restitution ordered vs. what is actually paid are two dramatically different numbers. Guller was the attorney for Steven Chambers, who came up with the original idea for the Loomis theft. One day, Campbell was speaking to an old friend named Steve Chambers. Johnson had stolen $18.8 million earlier in the year, on March 19, 1997, only to be caught five months later, in late August, while crossing into Texas from Mexico to retrieve some of the money, which he'd hidden in a shed in mountainous western North Carolina. By using this website, you accept the terms of our Visitor Agreement and Privacy Policy, and understand your options regarding Ad Choices. He and Tammy could have one or two meals each week that he really liked, but the rest were hot dogs or Hamburger Helper. Campbell used to work for Loomis and continued the friendship with Ghantt, eventually hooking him up with Chambers. Steve had hired a bodyguard named Mike McKinney. Getting restitution, its like pulling teeth., White-collar criminals are pretty good at hiding their money,, Youre supposed to get less time for cooperating, a lesser penalty, and instead, you see what she got hit with., She will never get beyond the debt. "Do you know how much there's gonna be?" 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. "Just remind Steve," he said, "that I might be trouble my own self." His collection case, which closes in November 2026, got credit for the couples $540,000 house on Cramer Mountain in Gaston County, Butcher says. Working by himself, Ghantt would commit the robbery and then flee for Mexico, leaving the bulk of the cash with Chambers. In all, they recovered $6.6 million. 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. He was signed by the Minnesota Vikings as an undrafted free agent in 2002. The strange story of Mary Reeser Spontaneous Human Combustion. When you have money, you just have different problems: The Loomis Fargo heist, 25 years later. Sunny. You Save 23%. Spunk. How he felt shorted by life. It is mandatory to procure user consent prior to running these cookies on your website. It was released in 2016 and Wydra was invited to the premiere. The world is full of unexplained events, strange mysteries, and mysterious legends. Its in the ether. 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. This category only includes cookies that ensures basic functionalities and security features of the website. Conversations about stealing from the company weren't rare for Loomis employees. Heist! Getting that off his chest calmed him some, and the conversation returned to the plan. He could even be famous, perhaps joining the ranks of legendary master thieves. He deserved better. Ms. Campbell worked at Loomis for 11 months, leaving in November 1996, according to court papers. Winds ENE at 5 to 10 mph.. Clear skies. This was several years before the advent of smartphones and the post-9/11 increase in federal surveillance of electronic communications, and public knowledge about this tracking was less widespread. 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. 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. Guller was the attorney for Steven Chambers, who came up with the original idea for the Loomis theft. Sure enough, she called a few days later, around September 16. If we work together, we can all have plenty of pie.. They had met in December 1995 on one of her first days at Loomis. That was the thing that sticks in my mind to this day.. From my standpoint, it was just a business deal, Ghantt said. It, too, has changed hands several times. Criminals dont usually get high-paying jobs after leaving prison. When Ghantt called Campbell however, the FBI was able to track his location, and arrested him with the help of the Mexican police onMarch 1, 1998. That sounds like a lot of money until its compared to the $18,930,201.26 the group was ordered to pay. Well they were in some sense celebrities, Gronquist said. Campbell and her husband had always been just scraping by, however in the weeks following the robbery, the two seemed to have more money than theyve ever had. You can have your whole career and not have a case like that. The Loomis defendants face no additional legal jeopardy for not paying off their debts. 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.. Its in the ether. While Ghantt trusted Chambers enough to leave his cut behind, Chambers had other plans. He decided at that moment that if Kelly called again, he would go for it. 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. Booklist "Librariesshould consider purchasing this entertaining and lightly edited version, which reads like a fast-paced novel." The inspiration behind the major motion picture Masterminds starring Zach Galifianakis, Owen Wilson, Kristen Wiig, and Jason Sudeikis! Ghantt was the vault manager and was surrounded daily by millions of dollars worth of temptation. 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 . All of the co-defendants were arrested the next day, about six months after the heist. By this time, agents knew where he was and had a general idea who the other players were, so they went to every bank in town to see if any of them rented a safe deposit box. Temptation to do something that you think you normally wouldnt do can change a lot of minds when its that kind of cash, and thats what it was., (WATCH BELOW: VIDEO: The Loomis Fargo heist: 25 years later). Ghantt met up with the other members of the plot and offloaded the cash. That way, outsiders couldn't see money being loaded. Burks was also ordered to serve 15 years in prison, limiting his ability to balance his books. Records show the government has garnished his Social Security checks. A parrot tattoo on her right ankle. Campbell was another employee at Loomis Fargo and she and Ghantt quickly struck up a relationship, one that Campbell denies was ever romantic though FBI evidence says otherwise, and one that continued after she left the company. them. That sounds like a lot of money until its compared to the $18,930,201.26 the group was ordered to pay. So the original gang was all totally shocked, Wydra said. But things didnt quite work out that way. 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. Despite being caught on camera wheeling the money from the vault to the getaway van, David Ghantt makes off to Mexico before the FBI can blink. Now one of the most wanted men in America with the FBI hot on his heels, Ghantt must figure out how to get his money, get away from a hit man, and get even. What purpose does that serve other than to denigrate that person into abject poverty?. 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. He has a regular life now, but 25 years ago, Ghantt was the mastermind behind the third-largest bank robbery in U.S. history. CHARLOTTE, N.C. (AP) During one overnight shift, a bumbling conspiracy of thieves just west of Charlotte stole more than $17 million from Loomis Fargo. So they went to Mexico and arrested Ghantt in order to protect him. What that says is, We will never forgive you for what youve done.'. Theres no way to get it back, Butcher told The Charlotte Observer. 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. 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. These (Loomis) guys, not so much.. Thank you so much. They hadn't slept together or even fooled around much, but he was ready to commit. Four-wheeling. 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. 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. Next month, Payne will back in the Charlotte federal courthouse, this time to be sentenced from weapons and methamphetamine trafficking charges. Probably very egotistical of me, I thought, Yeah, sure, I can beat them, theyre college smart and thats about it, Ghantt said. In order to receive more evidence, the FBI decided to listen. 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 Mount Holly, N.C. on Aug 16, 1999. 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. For people earning $8.15 an hour David's salary the jokes came naturally. *FREE* shipping on qualifying offers. Pink, Mr. Blue, Mr. Orange, Mr. Blonde. 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. And if that gives people out there a little bit of hope, then Ive served my purpose on this earth.. Authorities were notified of the robbery in the morning, when employees couldnt open the vault. Learning from this error, David planned to leave the stolen money behind with his coconspirators while he fled to Mexico. contact us to submit an unexplained mystery article, or to join the team on the email address below. 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. Aprs de nombreux seconds rles comiques au cinma, elle parvient percer en co-crivant et tenant le rle principal de la ", "I don't need any more friends," she'd shot back. And then I realized that a lot of people knew who I was and they had followed the case.. Youre supposed to get less time for cooperating, a lesser penalty, and instead, you see what she got hit with. Gronquist said. she asked again. 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. Steve and Michelle Chambers, who had lived in a mobile home, bought a mansion in Cramer Mountain. According to Butcher, Campbells last official payment came in June 2021 when the government appears to have seized a tax refund of $81.24. 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. Prosecutors say a vault. 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. Clerk of Court Frank Johns of Charlotte. 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. Thats pretty standard in restitution matters. (John D. Simmons/The Charlotte Observer via AP) If the American Dream involved being better off as adults than your parents were, David was experiencing a version of the American Nightmare. 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. Ghantt didnt know the full extent of what was happening back home -- how that lay low plan turned into a flurry of extravagant spending. But opting out of some of these cookies may affect your browsing experience. "I don't have time to mess with you. 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? 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. In 1994, they moved to Gastonia, North Carolina, where they had grown up, and David took a job driving a forklift. This website uses cookies to improve your experience while you navigate through the website. Tuesday marked 25 years since a group of buddies pulled off the third-largest money grab in U.S. history -- the Loomis Fargo heist. Although the FBI investigation was able to quickly connect Ghantt to Campbell, connecting Ghantt to Chambers was a more difficult task. personal/abusive/condescending attacks on other users or goading (LogOut/ Worlds Biggest Heists London Hatton Garden 200m Diamond Robbery, Easter 2015. LETTER TO THE EDITOR: Remember why you were elected! At about 6:40 p.m., he went back inside. She will never get beyond the debt. Twenty years ago this Wednesday, a small group of people stole $17 million in cash from the main vault of a Loomis Fargo & Co. armored-car warehouse in west Charlotte. In total, 24 people were convicted and all but one of the accused pleaded guilty. Necessary cookies are absolutely essential for the website to function properly. Ghantt, in order to conserve this money, curtailed his spending. Agents raided safe deposit boxes, where they recovered more than $11 million. 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.. 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. The plan to rob Loomis Fargo was spawned by Campbell and her friend Steve Chambers, during a casual bonfire at Chambers' home. Money. Some of that money is just gone. 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. After marrying Tammy in 1992, he worked fueling airplanes at the airport in Hilton Head, South Carolina. 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. He and his wife, Michele, moved from theirmobile homeinLincoln Countyto a luxury house in the wealthy Cramer Mountain section ofCramerton. 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.
Was Ellen Corby In It's A Wonderful Life,
What Car Does Dr Fauci Drive,
Was Isaiah Written Before Daniel,
Articles L