Bank name Loomis, Fargo & Co. on the evening of October 4, 1997, by vault supervisor David Scott Ghantt, his married girlfriend Kelly Campbell (a former Loomis co-worker), Steve Chambers, his wife Michelle Chambers, Michael Gobbies and four other co-conspirators. Called Masterminds, the 2016 film stars Zach Galifianakis, Kristen Wiig and Owen Wilson. Some of the friends and family members received parole, while Ghantt was sentenced to seven and a half years in prison. I had a four-hour layover there, and then from New Orleans to Cancun.. The next morning, Loomis Fargo employees were unable to open the vault. But after one visit, she asked a teller "How much can I deposit before you have to report it to the feds?" She will never get beyond the debt. They got to work planning the straightforward heist that would rely on Ghantts existing access to the vault, fewer staff at the warehouse on the weekends, and the ability to use one of the companys armored trucks to make the successful getaway. (I) bought jewelry, bought a van, Campbell recalled of her own spending. The police then called the FBI because most of the money handled at the facility belonged to banks, which technically made it a bank robbery a federal offense.[5]. So yeah, Ghantt continues, I took a bus from there to Atlanta, and then I hopped a cab from the bus station to the airport in Atlanta., Back in North Carolina, his accomplices were working as fast as they could to hide the $17 million. Robbing the 7-Eleven and getting $40 bucks and a pack of Marlboros was not for me. When Ghantt was on the plane home from Mexico with the FBI, he admitted to the agents that while Campbell had been integral to why hed done it and that he did indeed have a crush on her it was never his true motivation. If you want to go ahead and go, I got it. WebAydin Properties > Uncategorized > real kelly campbell loomis fargo heist. Once the heat was off, Ghantt would return and they would split the haul evenly. They discussed it further, and Campbell asked him when they should do it. The FBI quickly connected Ghantt to Campbell, who was a former Loomis Fargo employee. Cool, I say. Connect with the definitive source for global and local news. His collection case closes in two years. By March, Steve Chambers decided he needed to do something more drastic about Ghantt, making plans to send a hitman to Mexico to silence him for good. Criminals dont usually get high-paying jobs after leaving prison. Most high schools offer a variety of history classes, so make sure youre taking the right ones for you. [7][8], Rocket Science, a 1998 double-disc album by Charlotte-based radio personalities John Boy & Billy, includes a track ("Marvin: The Loomis Caper") mocking the defendants. Michelle Chambers paid off only $27,000. As it turns out, the heist did in fact go as well as you might expect. She was like, Well, at least you had guts, he says. Basically, he needed a score to make his problems go away. Get the latest articles and test prep tips! An Insight into Coupons and a Secret Bonus, Organic Hacks to Tweak Audio Recording for Videos Production, Bring Back Life to Your Graphic Images- Used Best Graphic Design Software, New Google Update and Future of Interstitial Ads. Chambers, his wife, and several of their accomplices were arrested the next day. In the end, eight co-conspirators were indicted for the Loomis Fargo heist. David Ghantt struck up a relationship with fellow Loomis Fargo employee Kelly Campbell, and they continued to maintain contact even after Campbell left the company. Chambers had no intention of following those rules, believing the FBI would never connect him to Ghantt. We got this guy named Bruno. Where I was going was right there near the Cayman Islands. Zaron Burnett is an investigative journalist and longform features writer based in Los Angeles. She just called me up on the phone and said, Hey, lets meet one day after work. And then, we were talking and she says, How do you feel about robbing Loomis Fargo? Ghantt tells me. He comes to my door, and hes got a brown paper bag in his hand. Too bad it was so poorly planned. But as he later recalled to the media, as soon as he stepped through those big-box doors, he realized he was flush with cash, and he didnt need to shop at Walmart ever again. Where did the masterminds live after the heist? A couple weeks pass, and I call again, Hey, Id like to get some more money. I was just going to get the money into the van. Because lets be brutally honest: Theyre not wrong, okay? the Loomis heist celebrates its 25th birthday. First, they loaded the cash into blue 55-gallon barrels, and then they moved the barrels into a rental van. Chambers served 11 years before being released. They called the police, who brought in the FBI, classifying the heist as a bank robbery. I was working sometimes 75-80 hrs a week for $8.15 an hour, I didnt even have a real home life because I was never there I was working all the time and unhappy which is understandable considering how old I was at the time. Twenty-five years ago, a small group of rural North Carolinian amateur bank robbers pulled off the second-largest heist in American history. Before he decided to steal $17 million from the bank, Ghantt had worked for years as a relatively taciturn and compliant employee. More than 95% of the cash that stolen was accounted for. This material may not be published, broadcast, rewritten or redistributed. Then, I started loading the van., Money, when bound in bulk and stacked in canvas bags, is heavier than you might expect. In the meantime, Ghantts wife reported him missing and the CMPD had found his truck in the parking lot of Loomis Fargo. The FBI knew they needed to make their move. All the while, Ghantt prepared himself for the task at hand. He and his wife, Michelle, moved from their mobile home in Lincoln County to a luxury house in the wealthy Cramer Mountain section of Cramerton. The Dunbar Armored robbery is the largest cash robbery to have occurred in the United States. We spoke to the FBI agents who investigated the case who say the real-life masterminds couldnt contain their spending-spree. For the New York State assemblyman, see. Campbell was released from federal custody in 2004 after serving five years, meaning her collection case will age out Some days, the robbery seems like a memory from a different life, a choice made by a different man. Join the 119,947 smart Charlotteans that receive our daily newsletter. It was nearly the perfect crime, but while Ghantt fled to Mexico to lay low, his partners lavish spendingand their own alleged plans for murderwould ultimately be the groups demise. Ghantt and his compatriots, it turns out, had underestimated how bulky money is. 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. That was great. Web12) Loomis Fargo heist- The aftermath Ultimately, eight co-conspirators were indicted for the Loomis Fargo bank heist. On Oct. 4, Ghantt sent home the employee he was training and disabled two security cameras near the vault in preparation for the heist. I threw you out, and then threw the parachute after you. Ill never pay it off on my paycheck, Ghantt said. I work construction. Will Mcintyre/The LIFE Images Collection/Getty Images. Ghantt, meanwhile, was losing his patience and starting to make threats. And I said, Hey, man, I got this. I thought, Okay, if I get out of that bubble because the cops depend on that, even the feds my chances to get away go way up.. I wanted to make a drastic change and I went for it, Ghantt remembered later to the Gaston Gazette. In fact, David Ghantt was about to commit the heist of a lifetime. David Ghantt was a technical consultant for the film, but due to outstanding court-ordered restitution for his part in the heist he was not paid. They lived lavishly: Mastermind Steve Chambers (Owen Wilson) moved from a mobile home to a large home in a gated community, paid for in cash alerting authorities. I was looking at small sailboats and theyre not cheap, he tells me. Axios Charlotte is a local news initiative. Fourteen defendants were ordered to make restitution payments to Loomis Fargo totaling almost $19 million. Two days after the heist, the FBI found the missing van with $3.3 million of cash left in it. When October 1997 began, Steve and Michelle Chambers lived in a double-wide trailer. Ghantt would pocket the $50,000 and head to Mexico with Campbell, where hed stay until it was safe to come back. 9 Where did the masterminds live after the heist? And I think that makes it all the more funny, because it really offends my co-defendants. They paid for all of it in cash. How to Market Your Business with Webinars? Some family members hid money in bank deposit boxes, other friends were asked to mule cash to the Cayman Islands. ACT Writing: 15 Tips to Raise Your Essay Score, How to Get Into Harvard and the Ivy League, Is the ACT easier than the SAT? He completed his prison sentence in November 2006. The money was successfully handed off, and Ghantt and Campbellmade their way to the Columbia airport with $50,000 and an intent to make it to Mexico by the next day, where the two would hide out while Chambers took care of things in Charlotte until it was safe to come back. When she realized Ghantt never came home from work the night before, she contacted the police and filed a missing persons report. In hindsight, it doesnt surprise me a bit, Ghantt says, a bitter laugh catching in his throat. wydd radio pittsburgh; dumb military bases Ghantt was missing and no one, not even his wife, knew where he was. Create a free profile to get unlimited access to exclusive videos, breaking news, sweepstakes, and more! CHARLOTTE, N.C. (AP) _ A woman who helped plan the $17 million robbery of armored car company Loomis, Fargo & Co. was sentenced Tuesday to nearly six years in prison and ordered to pay back more than $4 million. Thirteen friends and family members were also charged with money laundering, as they had helped Ghantt, Chambers, Campbell, and the others deposit money illegally. Its kind of like that. An FBI criminal investigation ultimately resulted in the arrest and conviction of eight people directly involved in the heist, as well as sixteen others who had indirectly helped them, and the recovery of approximately 88% of the stolen money. Ask below and we'll reply! And youre like, Come on parachute. Paying the money back has taken a lot longer, and time is running out for the U.S. government to collect. Ghantt simply got ready for work one morning knowing it would be his last day on the job. The film was produced by Brent Almond. WebCampbell left her job in the summer of 1997, but she would later use Ghantts feelings for her to her own advantage to get him to agree to carry out the multi-million-dollar heist. One of the best ways to learn more about U.S. history is to make sure youre taking history classes. The other, suggested bythen-Observer reporter Jeff Diamant, says that Campbell created the plan with Steve Chambers,a drug dealer who was facing charges for writing $30,000 worth of bad checks, and later got Ghantt involved. One day, Campbell was speaking to an old friend named Steve Chambers. Three weeks later, the couple purchased, in cash, a $635,000 stone mansion. The only defendant to not plead guilty, Chambers's attorney Jeff Guller, was found guilty of money laundering and sentenced to eight years in prison. 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