This website uses cookies to improve your experience while you navigate through the website. You also have the option to opt-out of these cookies. Get an email notification whenever someone contributes to the discussion. them. Guller was the attorney for Steven Chambers, who came up with the original idea for the Loomis theft. 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. All of the defendants are out of prison -- the longest sentence was 11 years. After hanging up on her, David returned to work. ALSO READ: 14-year-old boy robbed at gunpoint while waiting for bus in east. Paying the money back has taken a lot longer, and time is running out for the U.S. government to collect. It wasn't how much you stole that mattered most; it was that you had stolen in the first place. 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. The 2016 comedy movie, Masterminds is based on the story of the Loomis Fargo Heist. Its said the current owner now has it in storage in Phoenix, Arizona. You have permission to edit this article. As a privately owned web site, we reserve the right to edit or 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. The investigation ultimately resulted in the conviction of eight people directly involved, as well as sixteen others who had indirectly helped them. More than 2 million dollars are still missing to this day. His collection case closes in two years. 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. 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. The inspiration behind the major motion picture Masterminds starring Zach Galifianakis, Owen Wilson, Kristen Wiig, and Jason Sudeikis! Thats pretty standard in restitution matters. On the evening ofOctober 4, 1997, the Loomis Fargo & Co branch in Charlotte, North Carolina was in the process of being plundered. "Are you serious?" She sounded incredulous. 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. Ghantt, who by then was long out of prison, served as a consultant. 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. The police almost immediately called theFBI, since 95% of the money handled at the facility was owned by banks. 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.. true story that has captivated American audiences on the news and now on the big screen in the major motion picture, Masterminds. Necessary cookies are absolutely essential for the website to function properly. They had met in December 1995 on one of her first days at Loomis. Yet their lives seemed far easier and better than his. 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 stated plan was for her to move to Mexico to be with him after the theft. If we can sit on the money for a year, maybe two, it could work.". And they could barely afford the minimum payments, given the power bills, phone bills, car insurance bills, and home payments they had to meet. It, too, has changed hands several times. 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. Spunk. They hadn't slept together or even fooled around much, but he was ready to commit. Thank you! 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. "I was unhappy with my life. Twenty people were convicted of roles big and small in the massive 1997 armored-car warehouse heist in west Charlotte. As an adult, he preferred Shakespeare, Tom Clancy, and any book he could find about the Federal Bureau of Investigation. 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. When Ghantt called Campbell asking for more money, a plan was set in motion to take him out. At about 6:40 p.m., he went back inside. Stealing from Loomis Fargo could make him rich, if he got away with it. 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,. And if that gives people out there a little bit of hope, then Ive served my purpose on this earth.. The Loomis case is another example where the amount of restitution ordered vs. what is actually paid are two dramatically different numbers. There are multiples of thousands of these things coming every year. 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. 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.. 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. 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. Now and again I run into blog posts that tends to make me want to get started on bloggin myself. This station is part of Cox Media Group Television. 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. 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. The plan to. From there, the money was moved from the armored car to private vehicles. People dont seem to understand human nature. The October 4 shift was lasting longer than expected, due to delays involving pickups and deliveries. 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. Moving the money into the van quickly proved an onerous task. The trainee didn't know to check to make sure it was closed. It was 2:00 p.m. on October 4, 1997, and tension was building between two planners of what would rank high among the largest heists in United States history. 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. Anybody who gets caught up in the system is getting chewed up by it, the now-retired Gronquist told the Observer. A woman by the name of Kelly Campbell had worked there in 1996, and she and Ghantt had become friends in that time. Out of these, the cookies that are categorized as necessary are stored on your browser as they are essential for the working of basic functionalities of the website. David's share would be sent to Mexico, where he planned to hide and where he expected Kelly to join him. The Loomis Fargo Heist Over the next months, Ghantt, Campbell, and Chambers developed a plan. According to Butcher, Campbells last official payment came in June 2021 when the government appears to have seized a tax refund of $81.24. The Loomis case is another example where the amount of restitution ordered vs. what is actually paid are two dramatically different numbers. Sun, sand and beaches are all part of why Jacksonville is a popular destination. Spunk. After marrying Tammy in 1992, he worked fueling airplanes at the airport in Hilton Head, South Carolina. she asked again. She will never get beyond the debt. Agents raided safe deposit boxes, where they recovered more than $11 million. 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. Punishment needs to be fair and realistic. It was released in 2016 and Wydra was invited to the premiere. That first day in prison was scary, Ghantt said. Working by himself, Ghantt would commit the robbery and then flee for Mexico, leaving the bulk of the cash with Chambers. The van used to move the money was later located a few miles from the warehouse. On Oct. 5, the Loomis heist celebrates its 25th birthday. 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. 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. To the community, the Loomis Fargo heist was a big joke -- the largest hillbilly caper of all time. Restitution is a familiar part of sentencing in federal court. Charlotte Observer"more than a crime story, and one that's worth reading." 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. You can garnish wages. The FBI was inadvertently aided by the gang members extravagant spending. Well she was a pretty happy-go-lucky person, he said. LeVaughn Kelly Campbell (born July 23, 1980 in Atlanta, Georgia) is a former football wide receiver. None of the suspects had been in any serious trouble before this. Later that year, he saw a newspaper ad for a job at Loomis Fargo. The movie was called Masterminds and stars Zach Galifianakis, Kristen Wiig and Owen Wilson. 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. Still facing possible unknowns of other people involved, the FBI needed to gather more information without the suspects getting suspicious of them. The only other employee with him on this day was a trainee. Since then, there have been numerous articles, books, documentaries and even a movie about this gang -- the gang that couldnt shoot straight. So the original gang was all totally shocked, Wydra 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. Ghantt was the vault manager and was surrounded daily by millions of dollars worth of temptation. Michelle Chambers paid off only $27,000. Jeffrey Guller, who at 81 is by far the oldest of the Loomis defendants, still owes almost $1.1 million on his original court debt of $1.14 million and will remain on the governments books for another four years. Steve's a serious guy.". That sounds like a lot of money until its compared to the $18,930,201.26 the group was ordered to pay. 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. Loomis, Fargo offered a $500,000 reward for his arrest and conviction. Chambers had no intention of wiring any money to Ghantt and intended to have him killed to keep him from implicating the others. The Loomis defendants face no additional legal jeopardy for not paying off their debts. And with Loomis, were looking at only one case. A third surveillance tape was carelessly left behind, and the company was able to identify the man who robbed the vault as David Ghantt.
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