Then 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, Wydra said. Steve and Michelle Chambers, who had lived in a mobile home, bought a mansion in Cramer Mountain. By using this website, you accept the terms of our Visitor Agreement and Privacy Policy, and understand your options regarding Ad Choices. Spunk. Clerk of Court Frank Johns of Charlotte. They hadn't slept together or even fooled around much, but he was ready to commit. them. Steve was a serious guy? 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. We also use third-party cookies that help us analyze and understand how you use this website. Join thousands already receiving our daily newsletter. (John D. Simmons/The Charlotte Observer via AP). David didn't appreciate her tone. This station is part of Cox Media Group Television. The FBI heard about the plot and agents knew they could no longer wait. Prosecutors say a vault. The FBI began to question past and current employees of Loomis Fargo. She'd left Loomis in November 1996 to take a job elsewhere as a security guard. These cookies do not store any personal information. OWLS director fired in wake of new board taking over, New rules will require flood history disclosure in real estate, North Carolina recreational spring flounder season canceled for 2023, Supreme Court seems ready to sink student loan forgiveness, Beach commission gets update on search for new sources of sand for beach nourishment. I actually loved reading through this post. Expanded two-hour true crime story about the 1997 Loomis-Fargo armored car heist in North Carolina and the serio-comic fate of its bumbling underdog perpetra. She had previously been making frequent small deposits to avert suspicion. 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. 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. 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. 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. After hanging up on her, David returned to work. If we can sit on the money for a year, maybe two, it could work.". CHARLOTTE, N.C. - Kelly Campbell, the woman who helped plan the $17 million robbery of armored-car company Loomis, Fargo was sentenced yesterday to nearly six years in prison and ordered to. The site features a collection of unexplained, strange and odd mysteries. 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. 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. 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. Low 46F. In order to receive more evidence, the FBI decided to listen. They succeeded in removing $17 million from the safe. To visit friends.". 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. Although the FBI investigation was able to quickly connect Ghantt to Campbell, connecting Ghantt to Chambers was a more difficult task. She will never get beyond the debt. None of the suspects had been in any serious trouble before this. Many of the lesser players in the conspiracy have been the most effective in paying their debts. 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. He would then have the bulk of his share sent south of the border. Learn about careers at Cox Media Group. "I'm busy," he said. 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 stayed in a luxury hotel and paid for expensive food and activities such asscuba divingandparasailing. Getting restitution, its like pulling teeth.. Chambers had told Campbell to do whatever she needed to do to get Ghantt to commit the robbery. But with Kelly's new idea on the table, several dark realities converged on him. "I don't have time to mess with you. be blocked or permanently banned without warning. Change). One number is working in Campbells favor. They also purchased expensive cars, jewelry and a breast enhancement or two. The inspiration behind the major motion picture Masterminds starring Zach Galifianakis, Owen Wilson, Kristen Wiig, and Jason Sudeikis! They didnt expect it.. Getting restitution, its like pulling teeth.. 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 . They kept several furnishings from the previous owners, including avelvet Elvis. Sun, sand and beaches are all part of why Jacksonville is a popular destination. He realized his bosses would know he had worked that day and that he was missing, but maybe without a video they would think he'd been held at gunpoint and taken hostage, or even better, that he'd been killed. A connection between each suspect began to emerge slowly, and as the intensity of spending grew, suspicion did as well. In 1994, they moved to Gastonia, North Carolina, where they had grown up, and David took a job driving a forklift. Criminals dont usually get high-paying jobs after leaving prison. 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. The biggest restitution numbers for victims of financial crimes generally involve Ponzi schemes or sweepstakes fraud, not cash thefts. Another time, the day after a Christmas in the late 1980s, David and some friends planted all the discarded Christmas trees from the area in one neighbor's front yard. But opting out of some of these cookies may affect your browsing experience. 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. Charlotte Observer"more than a crime story, and one that's worth reading." Not all of them, but some of them are going to forgive you, theyre going to overlook it., he said. An additional tip reached the FBI when Michelle Chambers made a large deposit at a bank. That movie, Masterminds, was filmed in 2014. In 2017, for example, Paul Burks of Lexington was ordered to pay $244 million to the victims of his worldwide Ponzi scheme, Zeek Rewards. For a better shopping experience, please upgrade now. Ghantt, in order to conserve this money, curtailed his spending. In David's eyes, Johnson's big mistake was that he did it alone. Its like, me and you sat down, I have access to pie, you like pie, all I want is my share of the pie. 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. 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. Chambers had broached the possibility of a robbery to Campbell earlier in the summer. Loomis Fargo heist: 25 years later David Scott Ghantt, his former co-worker Kelly Campbell and her friends Steve and Michelle Chambers carried out the Loomis Fargo heist on Oct. 4, 1997. Discover some of the worlds strangest ancient places. The October 4 shift was lasting longer than expected, due to delays involving pickups and deliveries. 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. 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. I pay (restitution to) thousands of people, but its in drips and drabs.. Just after the last employees left that day, surveillance footage shows a man enter the vault, and begin to load more than 2,740 pounds in cash into a nearby van, totaling around over $17 million. In Reservoir Dogs, released just five years earlier, the pawns in a robbery knew each other only by assigned colors: Mr. Booklist "Librariesshould consider purchasing this entertaining and lightly edited version, which reads like a fast-paced novel." 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. Kelly called, using David's own cell phone, to ask where he was already, because she and the others were waiting outside for him. 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. The gang made numerous mistakes. Michelle Chambers paid off only $27,000. The bizarre true story of the criminals behind the second-largest bank heist in American history. 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. And they hit the jackpot -- FBI video shows agents recovering most of the stolen cash. The building was configured so vans could drive inside and pull up next to the vault. It has a certain feel, a smell and weight to it. *FREE* shipping on qualifying offers. (John D. Simmons/The Charlotte Observer via AP). So that was kind of like this once-in-a-lifetime thing, Wydra said. What that says is, We will never forgive you for what youve done. The property has changed hands several times since then. The woman on the phone was Kelly Jane Campbell, and David had a mad crush on her. 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?. However, Chambers had no intention of following those rules, believing the FBI would never connect him to Ghantt. Anybody who gets caught up in the system is getting chewed up by it, the now-retired Gronquist told the Observer. 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. But they'd stayed in touch, and now they were poised to attempt a crime like almost no other. Clerk of Court Frank Johns of Charlotte. 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.. It just happened to fall on my desk.. He was a hard worker, smart enough, and had graduated from high school. Javascript is not enabled in your browser. 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. For example, 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 world is full of unexplained events, strange mysteries, and mysterious legends. Was the temptation too much? He played high school football at Mays High School in Atlanta, and college football at Georgia Tech . Money. Ghantt was sentenced to seven and a half years in prison. But on Oct. 4, 1997, that no longer mattered and Ghantt took off with $17.3 million. Punishment needs to be fair and realistic. After marrying Tammy in 1992, he worked fueling airplanes at the airport in Hilton Head, South Carolina. By then, the FBI had become greatly concerned for Ghantts personal safety; they had learned of Chambersmurder for hirescheme. This station is part of Cox Media Group Television. All but one took plea deals, including Ghantt, who was sentenced to seven years in prison. (LogOut/ He deserved better. Ms. Campbell worked at Loomis for 11 months, leaving in November 1996, according to court papers. You can garnish wages. Probably very egotistical of me, I thought, Yeah, sure, I can beat them, theyre college smart and thats about it, Ghantt said. He says the Loomis case shows how the criminal justice system and the courts treat lower-income people differently. The participants in the heist also spent lavishly on fancy jewelry, fancy cars and breast enhancement surgeries. 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. 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. When some friends stole a stop sign from a busy intersection, David made them put it back. 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. 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. "Don't double-cross us," the woman on the phone told David Ghantt. His collection case, which closes in November 2026, got credit for the couples $540,000 house on Cramer Mountain in Gaston County, Butcher says. Agents raided safe deposit boxes, where they recovered more than $11 million. At about 6:40 p.m., he went back inside. He knew it would mean leaving Tammy. He says the Loomis case shows how the criminal justice system and the courts treat lower-income people differently. The government does not run debtors prisons, says U.S. The government does not run debtors prisons, says U.S. personal/abusive/condescending attacks on other users or goading Afterward, she and David would talk just occasionally on the phone. Of course the most famous thing inside the home was a velvet Elvis portrait. of violence, racism, anti-Semitism, or Over 88% of the money has been recovered since the heist. Im married, I got one girl, shes 15 going on 30. So we were able to figure out with all the denominations, it would require about 20 safe deposit boxes to store it all.. For people earning $8.15 an hour David's salary the jokes came naturally. 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. Jim Gronquist, Campbells defense attorney during the Loomis case, says the financial penalties levied against his client and her co-defendants are grossly excessive and unjust, particularly since most of the stolen Loomis money was actually recovered. Instead he became paranoid, especially after Steve Chambers put a contract out on his life. "I'll need help moving the money, getting a new ID, and leaving the country," he told her. While Ghantt trusted Chambers enough to leave his cut behind, Chambers had other plans. He was signed by the Minnesota Vikings as an undrafted free agent in 2002. 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. "Don't back out on us. Though Wydra is retired, 25 years ago, he was an agent with the FBI. Authorities were notified of the robbery in the morning, when employees couldnt open the vault. 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. What purpose does that serve other than to denigrate that person into abject poverty?. The only other employee with him on this day was a trainee. David's vision for all of this actually derived more from books than from movies. How did they get away with stealing more than $17 million? 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. To the community, the Loomis Fargo heist was a big joke -- the largest hillbilly caper of all time. In one case, the restitution for a Loomis defendant may be a moving target. Loomis, Fargo offered a $500,000 reward for his arrest and conviction. Necessary cookies are absolutely essential for the website to function properly. 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. Next month, Payne will back in the Charlotte federal courthouse, this time to be sentenced from weapons and methamphetamine trafficking charges. He is a graduate of Yale and has worked for the Connecticut Post, the Associated Press, and the Palm Beach Post. 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. As an adult, he preferred Shakespeare, Tom Clancy, and any book he could find about the Federal Bureau of Investigation. My knee-jerk reaction was to be angry, and then the sarcastic ass side of me started laughing about it, Ghantt said. The old man me would never survive that, Id have a heart attack.. I made a joke once that was the hardest Id ever worked for Wells Fargo -- yeah, its a lot of work, Ghantt said. And after two years, the case is just a file. Heist! Kelly had approached David with the idea in the summer, knowing he had a crush on her and winning him over with the promise that a shady friend of hers with Mafia ties would help them. LeVaughn Kelly Campbell (born July 23, 1980 in Atlanta, Georgia) is a former football wide receiver. Steve Chambers would keep the rest. Paying the money back has taken a lot longer, and time is running out for the U.S. government to collect. In the parking lot, David sat in his pickup truck smoking a cigarette and waving good-bye as the trainee drove home. 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. The Loomis defendants face no additional legal jeopardy for not paying off their debts. 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. "What would it take to make you do it?". Unexplained Mysteries - owned by Aliens since 2011. Human nature is a flexible part of life, Gronquist said. Not every agent has a case like that, he said. RELATED: When you have money, you just have different problems: The Loomis Fargo heist, 25 years later, How I held it together is beyond me, Ghantt said. The woman on the phone was Kelly Jane Campbell, and David had a mad crush on her. Jim Gronquist was Campbells defense attorney. "I've got a friend," she said, "who can hook you up with a new ID.". 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. 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. There was no reason to leave anything, he felt. Uh-oh, it looks like your Internet Explorer is out of date. You should definitely start your own blog, I highly recommend it. You cannot fine low-income people millions of dollars. He decided at that moment that if Kelly called again, he would go for it. 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. He was the only employee unaccounted for the next morning, and videotapes recovered at the Loomis Fargo Charlotte office showed Ghantt removing cubes of cash and loading it into a Loomis Fargo armored van for over an hour. 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 police almost immediately called theFBI, since 95% of the money handled at the facility was owned by banks. Discover the truth behind unexplained ancient mysteries, UFO mysteries, secret locations and paranormal events. 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. The $17 million was stolen last Oct. 4 from the armored-car company's vault in Charlotte. 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. Get an email notification whenever someone contributes to the discussion. High around 65F. Inside the truck, they found Ghantts ring and surmised this as a sign of Ghantts intention to end his relationship with his wife. 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. Its attracted workers like Ghantt. David said he needed Kelly to drive to Loomis before the theft that night to remove a duffel bag from his parked pickup truck. That sounds like a lot of money until its compared to the $18,930,201.26 the group was ordered to pay. 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. Restitution is a familiar part of sentencing in federal court. How he felt shorted by life. 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. 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. It all seemed unfair. 2023 Cox Media Group. Some of that money is just gone. Its in the ether. The money weighed as much as a compact car and he did it all by himself. How he and his wife had trouble communicating. LETTER TO THE EDITOR: Is this really about the needs of the poor? 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. You can seize property. Most people are going to forgive you. Except for the kiss in the pickup truck a few weeks before the heist, Kelly had kept things platonic. Spunk. 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. 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,. 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. Stealing from Loomis Fargo could make him rich, if he got away with it. The movie was called Masterminds and stars Zach Galifianakis, Kristen Wiig and Owen Wilson. Curiously, Payne had recently paid of his Visa in one payment and had been driving around new and rented vehicles for the past weeks. There are multiples of thousands of these things coming every year. Even with several vehicles, they underestimated how much space they would need and they had to leave $3 million behind. Jim Gronquist, Campbells defense attorney during the Loomis case, says the financial penalties levied against his client and her co-defendants are grossly excessive and unjust, particularly since most of the stolen Loomis money was actually recovered. "For the first year after a crime," he told her, "they're all over you, with six to ten agents. 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.. La vie de David Ghantt n'a rien de compliqu. For example, Steve Chambers and his wife were living in a. LETTER TO THE EDITOR: But where will they park? 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. Accompanying her was Steve Chambers, who, though unemployed, had recently moved . Thirty years! 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. Learn how to enable JavaScript on your browser. Cool interesting stuff features everything odd, weird, bizzare, strange or unusual. Butcher says the federal courts in the Western District of North Carolina have never handled a case quite like Loomis. There are multiples of thousands of these things coming every year. We are happy to work with other website publishers. Thank you so much. "I was unhappy with my life. 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. The affidavit described Chambers as a former FBI informant who had provided information on another Loomis armored car robbery that never materialized. Later, they also arrested Nathans older brother. Soon thereafter, he met Kelly Campbell, a co-worker at Loomis Fargo. Moving the money into the van quickly proved an onerous task. Growing up, David had been a nice kid, a decent student who was at worst a minor troublemaker and prankster. Yet their lives seemed far easier and better than his. According to Butcher, Campbells last official payment came in June 2021 when the government appears to have seized a tax refund of $81.24. Of course, this would all be a radical departure for him, and thoughts of his wife and parents did give him pause. And once he started, he didn't stop with one cartful. In all, they recovered $6.6 million. So he and some friends decided at the end of his Oct. 4 shift he would load a company van with more than 2,000 pounds of cash and just drive away. 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. >> PHOTOS: The Loomis Fargo heist, 25 years later. He even had to watch what he bought at the grocery store. Michelle Chambers received a few more months than Ghantt, because she had violated several bond conditions. 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. They also bought aBMW Z3with cash and made several large purchases, including a $600 statue of aNative American. Chambers had broached the possibility of a robbery to Campbell earlier in the summer. Thank you! 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.