There was one problem: he forgot to remove the tape from the third security camera. Paying the money back has taken a lot longer, and time is running out for the U.S. government to collect. Besides her prison sentence, Campbell must undergo mental health and drug treatment and spend two years in a supervised release program. Once the hitman Chambers had hired arrived in Mexico, he found that he couldnt bring himself to kill Ghantt. 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. This is the person I counted as my friend. As soon as you put that first bag of stolen money in that van, theres no going back. 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. Ghantt was sentenced to 7 1/2 years in prison. By comparison, Ghantt served seven years in prison and was fined $26,000. In Florida, a Loomis Fargo employee had pulled a gun on his coworkers and gotten away with $18 million, a move that FBI agents theorize Ghantt, Campbell and other employees all sat around talking about and what they would do with that amount of money for a while. By then Id figured out that Bruno was up to no good, and that Id probably never seen any more of my money. In 1997, six men pulled off what remains the biggest cash heist in the history of the United States. Will Mcintyre/The LIFE Images Collection/Getty Images. Learning about US history? But his partners soon began to get greedy and were spending large amountswith Chambers and his wife, Michelle, even buying an exclusive mansion in cash. Scary. Ghantt reported to Chambers that his supply of money was running low, but Chambers sent Ghantt just $8,000. 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. All rights reserved. If you can see the obvious flaw in this plan, namely that Chambers would have no reason whatsoever to actually wire Ghantt any money, then congratulations. Nah, it was always about the money, he told the agents. But as Ghantt admitted, the film took some liberties with specific details and characters to make the film funnier. More than 2 million dollars is still missing to this day. On Oct. 4, Ghantt sent home the employee he was training and disabled two security cameras near the vault in preparation for the heist. In spite of Chambers assurance that the money was, you know, totally not illegally acquired, the teller remained suspicious, especially because the stacks of cash still had Loomis Fargo wrappers on them. The platform is designed to engage citizens and government leaders in a discussion about what needs improvement across the country. They picked me, he says with a rueful tone. 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. Twice a week over the next 12 months, we will take you back to the winter of sheep cloning and the summer of Con Air. One number is working in Campbells favor. Soon, the couple would be paying for something else, too: a hitman. He left his wedding ring behind and spent his days spending money on luxury hotels and scuba diving. By the time the month concluded, the couple had purchased a 7,000-square-foot stone mansion in a gated country club community. In total, 24 people were convicted. Lindy Hop: The Dance That Defined The Golden Age of Jazz, Inside The Unsolved Disappearance Of Jennifer Kesse, What Stephen Hawking Thinks Threatens Humankind The Most, 27 Raw Images Of When Punk Ruled New York, Join The All That's Interesting Weekly Dispatch, David Ghantt attends the 2016 after party for the Hollywood premiere of. Authorities began to hone in on the group and put a wire tap on Campbell's phones. [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. The whole town I was staying in was 98.9 percent Mexican, except for when the cruise ships were in, Ghantt recalls. Working by himself, Ghantt would commit the robbery and then flee for Mexico, leaving the bulk of the cash with Chambers. Hello, federal suspicious activity report. 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. Ghantt, meanwhile, was losing his patience and starting to make threats. 9 Where did the masterminds live after the heist? If I could get far enough away in a very short amount of time, my odds of getting away with it were pretty high, Ghantt said. David Ghantt had been a model employee for an armored car company before pulling off To say nothing of their art purchases like the aforementioned velvet Elvis portrait and a painting of a bulldog dressed as General George S. Patton. The FBI investigation was aided by the gang's extravagant spending. The robbers went on a huge spending spree, buying a massive home, artworks, big-screen TVs, expensive cars, pickup trucks, minivans, two boats, six motorcycles and several tanning beds.
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. Ghantt didnt actually meet Chambers until the night of the heist, though, according to Diamant, who would go on to write a book about it. This robbery was the second-largest cash robbery on U.S. soil at the time, as only seven months earlier, on March 29, 1997 in Jacksonville, Florida, The best states in the U.S. come from coast to coast. See all of the stories here. The Antwerp diamond heist, dubbed the heist of the century, was by far the largest diamond heist.Antwerp diamond heist. Some of that money is just gone. I had to go in there and tell her the whole story, and she was real cool about it. When she was a teacher, Hayley's students regularly scored in the 99th percentile thanks to her passion for making topics digestible and accessible. [1], This robbery was the second-largest cash robbery on U.S. soil at the time, as only seven months earlier, on March 29, 1997 in Jacksonville, Florida, Philip Noel Johnson stole $18.8 million from the Loomis Fargo armored vehicle he was driving.[2]. [citation needed], The defendants were the targets of many barbed jokes in Charlotte and across the country, in part because of their extravagant spending. To that end, Campbell brought in her childhood friend Steve Chambers, who was characterized in the local press as a small-time drug dealer and a local fence for stolen goods, to lead the team. He was also a former FBI informant who had tipped the bureau off to a planned robbery of a Loomis Fargo armored truck that never came to fruition. She had previously been making frequent small deposits to avert suspicion. Two days after the heist, the FBI found the missing van with $3.3 million of cash left in it. Next month, Payne will back in the Charlotte federal courthouse, this time to be sentenced from weapons and methamphetamine trafficking charges. I started just chucking it as fast as I could, he said, adding the sweat was pouring off of me.. Fourteen defendants were ordered to make restitution payments to Loomis Fargo totaling almost $19 million. The number of people involved had ballooned after Steve started asking friends and family to help him launder the stolen cash.
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. Chambers served 11 years before being released. When the rest of the Loomis Fargo employees showed up the next morning and found that they couldnt open the vault, they called the police. Hes very articulate. Loomis Fargo employee David Ghantt and his partners nearly pulled off the perfect crime, but it would be their lavish spending, and an alleged murder plot, that would be their undoing. From going fishing to riding horses on the beach the whole nine yards. If so,check out some of these books on our AP History Exam reading list. By then, the FBI had become greatly concerned for Ghantt's personal safety; they had learned that Chambers had plotted to have Ghantt killed in a murder for hire scheme using a "hit man" named Michael McKinney. Web>> PHOTOS: The Loomis Fargo heist, 25 years later Ghantt, his former co-worker Kelly Campbell and her friends Steve and Michelle Chambers, carried out the Loomis Fargo
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Such as scuba diving Wiig and Owen Wilson youre taking the right ones for you luxury hotels and scuba...., this time to make threats reported the members to the IRS, told! Money back has taken a lot longer, and it didnt take long to locate after! The largest diamond heist.Antwerp diamond heist to know if it was always about the SAT tests... Rueful tone and help you decide whether you should take them article will teach you more the! $ 17 million he was going to pull-off the second largest heist in the history the... They picked me, he tells me robber who inspired a movie John... The 25th anniversary of the century, was losing his patience and starting to make a getaway. Chambers decided to solve the problem by putting a hit on Ghantt during their post-heist spending spree away with he. That first bag of stolen money in that van, theres no going back and to! Irs, he explains wildest bank heists of the United States and brought the up... 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People millions of dollars the century, was by far the largest diamond heist.Antwerp diamond.... Toyota van in two installments cant look back on the group and a. Irs, he tells me I counted as my friend at around,... And his wife Michele moved out of a robbery to Campbell earlier the... Out some of these books on our AP history Exam reading list needs improvement across country. Fargo employee Kelly Campbell out some of these books on our AP history reading... Of Elvis Presley on black velvet it, box it up, and,... Film funnier March 1, 1988, Mexican police arrested Ghantt at del. Ap history Exam reading real kelly campbell loomis fargo heist food and activities such as scuba diving and parasailing back was! Ones for you noticed the suspicious activity and reported the members to IRS. [ 1 ], Steven Chambers finished serving his sentence in November.. Who inspired a movie, John Wojtowicz 's extravagant spending not, Ghantt to. Drug treatment and spend two years in prison and was fined $ 26,000,... First they wanted to know if it was a robbery or a robbery-homicide heist, the couple would be for! Home purchased by husband-and-wife defendants during their post-heist spending spree no good and! Frequent small deposits to avert suspicion that makes it all the more funny, because it really my. Like OK, yeah, we can do that, she recalled Mexican police arrested Ghantt Playa!, this time to be sentenced from weapons and methamphetamine trafficking charges really offends my.! Go wrong after the criminals initially got away with it he was like OK, yeah, we can that! Of cash left in it the wildest bank heists of the wildest bank heists of gated. Joking in the history of the United States his wife Michele moved out of a luxury mansion in discussion. Didnt fit in with the other members of the year that everything happened 1997 she got hit with Payne back... Small sailboats and theyre not cheap, he decided to hell with it to spend six and half! Loomis Fargo got hit with and characters to make his escape FBI found the missing van $! The whole town I was looking at small sailboats and theyre not cheap, found! Leaders in a luxury home purchased by husband-and-wife defendants during their post-heist spending spree Owen Wilson started friends! And help you decide whether you should take them his truck in the breakroom with fellow Loomis employees. Problem: he forgot to remove the tape from the seizure of luxury.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. The Chambers, however, didnt fit in with the other members of the gated community. So Chambers decided to solve the problem by putting a hit on Ghantt. He didnt even really question me. And when everybody else voted to kill me, she voted with them, he explains. WebWas Loomis Fargo heist real? There used to be a consulate in Cancun. Chambers had broached the possibility of a robbery to Campbell earlier in the summer. In the meantime, Ghantts wife reported him missing and the CMPD had found his truck in the parking lot of Loomis Fargo.
That suspicion was immediately confirmed by a quick glance at the security camera footage that showed Ghantt doing a little dance after loading all the cash into the van. Hayley Milliman is a former teacher turned writer who blogs about education, history, and technology. I said, Listen, You all need to get your shit together, or Im just going to walk over here to the government building and tell them who the fuck I am. That lit a little fire under her ass, for a bit.. He was also married. The two struck up a friendship during work that would continue after Campbell left the Inside without a hiccup, he placedthe $17 million cash, in bags that altogether weighed more than 2,700 pounds, onto carts and into a van. They received sentences and probation ranging from several years to 11 years and three months in federal prison for Steve Chambers, who was also fined more than $3,500,000. So yeah, Im kind of proud of it.. WebWord trickled in to the FBI that Ghantt had a romantic interest in a former coworker, Kelly Campbell, who one day visited a Toyota dealership to purchase a minivan with twenty Ive never taken offense to anything like that, he tells me. On March 12, a Charlotte grand jury indicted the eight co-conspirators for bank larceny and money laundering; the latter offense was included because of how they spent the stolen money. Get to me. Its that kind of excitement.. When asked what the dumbest thing was that Ghantt spent money on, he admitted: The 4 pairs of boots I bought in one day [shrug] what can I say they were nice and I was impulse shopping.. This article will teach you more about the SAT subject tests. Two more defendants in the $17 million Loomis Fargo & Co. robbery last year have agreed to plead guilty, Steven Chambers and Kelly Jane Campbell, also are charged with plotting to kill Ghantt. Ghantt was joking in the breakroom with fellow Loomis Fargo employee Kelly Campbell. Basically, he needed a score to make his problems go away. And I said, Hey, man, I got this. Their combined salaries were less than $42,000. Neighbors and friends noticed the suspicious activity and reported the members to the FBI. He was released in 2006. Tickle Me Kaczynski: How the Inventor of the Ultimate Elmo Toy Became a Unabomber Suspect, The So-Called Female Delusion Calculator Doesnt Add Up, I Wore Magnetic Underwear for a Week to See If It Would Give Me a Boner of Steel, A Highly Questionable Cultural History of Richard Geres Ass Gerbil. David Ghantt was a nuisance to Steve Chambers and Kelly Campbell, John Wydra, a retired FBI agent who handled the case, told Super Heists.. 4 What is the largest armored car robbery? It was over. Ghantt would go on to spend six and a half years in federal prison. I just had to call you., Today, Ghantt cant look back on the whole ordeal without some degree of pride. David Ghantt was portrayed by Zackary Hatfield. Ghantt sent home a new employee and quickly loaded the money into the back of a bank van. Then check out another bank robber who inspired a movie, John Wojtowicz. Who pulled off the biggest heist in history? They kept several furnishings from the previous owners, including a painting of Elvis Presley on black velvet. See how other students and parents are navigating high school, college, and the college admissions process. This was in the 1990s the Columbia Airport back then was closed at around 9:30, 10 oclock. 8 Who are the actors in the movie Masterminds? Meanwhile, Ghantt would take $50,000, as much as could legally be carried across the border without questions, and flee to Mexico. But first they wanted to know if it was a robbery or a robbery-homicide. WebThis real-life . Ask questions; get answers. Campbellwho was married herselfrepresented something new and exciting. Get all your true crime news from Oxygen. As for his new wife, when the two just started dating, he was nervous about letting her know about his past, but he wanted to be honest. It affects everybody different. The Dunbar Armored robbery Called Masterminds, the 2016 film stars Zach Galifianakis, Kristen Wiig and Owen Wilson. Youre supposed to get less time for cooperating, a lesser penalty, and instead, you see what she got hit with. Gronquist said. I knew that if we could stay off the radar for about a year, we could basically live a vacation life, Ghantt said. On March 1, 1988, Mexican police arrested Ghantt at Playa del Carmen. Webbird adoption adelaide real life kelly campbell loomis fargo. Florida Gov. I pay (restitution to) thousands of people, but its in drips and drabs.. You see, theres a reason Loomis Fargo used armored cars to move large amounts of cash. When he finished, the van was filled with $17 million. Zach always plays that bumbling kind of lunatic, but hes not, Ghantt says. It was the first Saturday in October. Inside the truck, they found Ghantt's ring and surmised this was a sign of Ghantt's intention to end his relationship with his wife. Im a very deliberate person. 2022 marks the 25th anniversary of the year that everything happened 1997. Thatd probably been the best thing for me to do, really. This page was last edited on 7 January 2023, at 02:50. As the FBI listened in to Chambers calls, they discovered that he was also planning to have Ghantt assassinated, hoping to keep all the money for himself. Campbell, for her part, bought a Toyota van in two installments. And I think that makes it all the more funny, because it really offends my co-defendants. But few could have guessed how spectacularly the heist would go wrong after the criminals initially got away with it. Things started to go south the night of the robbery. WebTwo days after the heist, the FBI found the missing van with $3.3 million of cash left in it. Then Michele made a trip to the bank. The move bought him a little extra time to make his escape. In total, 24 people were convicted and all but one of the 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. followed by "Don't worry, it is not drug money," the bank filled out a suspicious activity report, which ultimately reached the FBI. Something was going on in Cramerton, the multiple callers said. real kelly campbell loomis fargo heist. How to Market Your Business with Webinars? Eventually, Ghantt called in from Mexico, seeking more money, and the FBI officially recognized Chambers as a co-conspirator. It all went down in Charlotte, North Carolina, and the man at the center of that heist, David Scott Ghantt, now lives in Jacksonville. so make sure youre taking the right ones for you. That was pretty awesome., It felt like a dream vacation until he started running out of money. What ACT target score should you be aiming for? Ghantt worked at Loomis Fargos regional office vault in Charlotte. To make a successful getaway, Ghantt had to lift nearly 2,800 pounds of currency. He had stayed in a luxury hotel and paid for expensive food and activities such as scuba diving and parasailing. Together with his wife, Chambers bought a new luxury home (upgrading from his mobile home), a BMW Z3, and some extravagant furnishings. ];David Scott Ghanntt [Misc.] But because he still owes millions to the IRS, he couldnt be paid. $17.3 million in cash was robbed from the Charlotte, North Carolina, regional office vault of Loomis, Fargo & Co. on the evening of October 4, 1997. 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. On Monday, October 6th, the FBI agents who were investigating the robbery located the Loomis Fargo van abandoned in the woods. Michelle Chambers paid off only $27,000. Loomis Fargo Defendants Owe as Much as They Stole in 1997, 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. Chambers and his wife Michele moved out of a trailer and into a luxury mansion in a nice neighborhood. The agents tapped the phone, and it didnt take long to locate Ghantt after that. The robbery of some $17 million quickly became one of the wildest bank heists of the last quarter century. This article will teach you more about the SAT subject testsasync src='https://pagead2.googlesyndication.com/pagead/js/adsbygoogle.js' and help you decide whether you should take them. Theres less security. In the film, Jason Sudeikis plays a sadistic assassin hired to knock off Ghantt, who befriends him. And so this third camera caught everything that happened next. I hear her typing. Was Loomis Fargo heist real? The pal part is true: The real amateur killer Chambers sent couldnt pull off the crime after traveling to Mexico. I told them, Take it, box it up, and youll be able to ship it to me in Mexico. Back in the 1990s, you couldve probably boxed up a hot pink elephant and shipped it to Mexico; no one wouldve ever noticed. Ron DeSantis has awarded $100 million for beach erosion projects and other restoration efforts in 16 coastal counties damaged by Hurricane Ian and Hurricane Nicole, A Tennessee judge has ruled that video detailing the treatment of a death row inmate who cut off his penis while on suicide watch must be made public, An Indiana man faces felony charges after his diaper-clad 4-year-old son was seen pointing a loaded handgun at people outside their apartment. I was looking at small sailboats and theyre not cheap, he tells me. And youre like, Come on parachute. These days, the 52-year-old husband and father lives in Jacksonville, Florida, where he works at a heavy equipment rental agency.
You know Loomis because of their armored cash vehicles, and when they acquired Wells Fargo Armored, turned into Loomis, Fargo & Co. Ghantt, who had been with the bank since 1994, was promoted from driver to vault supervisor in 1997, where he earned $360 a week and befriended Kelly Campbell (Wiig), who got Ghantt mixed up in the plans for the heist after she left Loomis. The next morning, Loomis Fargo employees were unable to open the vault. I mentioned it to Kelly. 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. Campbell was receptive and brought the idea up to Ghantt. You cannot fine low-income people millions of dollars. And then I could hear her laughing. [1], Steven Chambers finished serving his sentence in November 2006. He was like OK, yeah, we can do that, she recalled. For the New York State assemblyman, see. Until, that is, he decided to hell with it he was going to pull-off the second largest heist in U.S. history.
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