Answer It is based on the October 1997 Loomis Fargo Robbery in North Carolina, which was the subject of the 2016 American comedy film Masterminds. Steve and Michelle Chambers, who had lived in a mobile home, bought a mansion in Cramer Mountain. Soon thereafter, he met Kelly Campbell, a co-worker at Loomis Fargo. All Rights Reserved. The robbery was committed by Loomis vault supervisor David Scott Ghantt, his married girlfriend Kelly Campbell (a former Loomis co-worker), Steven Eugene Chambers (a one-time FBI informant), his wife Michelle . Ghantt, his former co-worker Kelly Campbell and her friends Steve and Michelle Chambers carried out the Loomis Fargo heist on Oct. 4, 1997. {{start_at_rate}} {{format_dollars}} {{start_price}} {{format_cents}} {{term}}, {{promotional_format_dollars}}{{promotional_price}}{{promotional_format_cents}} {{term}}, Nebraska cheerleader competes by herself at state competition, but crowd doesn't let her feel alone. In all, agents arrested 24 people in the heist. Despite working for a company that regularly relocates millions of dollars, David Ghantt himself was underpaid. If you go from a mobile home to a mansion, that's going to attract attention. Over 88% of the money has been recovered since the heist. David Ghantt was the Treasury Supervisor for Loomis Armored Cars, Fargo & Co. 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. He then began loading $17 million in unmarked bills inside a company van before driving away. Another surveillance videotape shows the man loading the bags into a company van. Today's guest author is David Ghantt. The ludicrous thing was that the bundles of cash still had Loomis Fargo bands stuck on them. The friends and neighbors of Steve and Michelle Chambers became suspicious soon after the news broke that . Prosecutors also resisted Culler's efforts to downplay Michele Chambers' role in the theft. There was a book published in 2002 as well, by author Jeff Diamant called,Heist! It took me going to prison to realize I was a bag of worms, and it took me years of work to be somebody worthy to come back into our society, he said. I'll never pay it off on my paycheck." You ever been to Rio? Loomis Fargo in Charlotte, North Carolina found itself the target of a robbery on October 4 th, 1997 by one of their vault security guards, David Ghantt and his girlfriend, Kelly Campbell who had been a former employee at the time.Along with Ghantt and Campbell were eight others including a former high school friend of Campbells, Steve . 2021 museumfacts.co.uk | All rights reserved. The plan was to maintain a low profile and wait for things to cool off, allowing Ghantt to return to the states and collect his cut. 5 min read. It was unclear whether anyone will get that money, authorities said. 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He has no contact with any of those convicted with him in the crime, including his former wife, and doesn't plan to see the movie, he said. Additionally, all the stolen cash was recovered or accounted for, except for $2 million. "I was dumb," Ghantt said Wednesday, the eve before the movie hits screens nationwide. A connection between each suspect began to emerge slowly, and as the intensity of spending grew, suspicion did as well. Whisler told the judge that the couple had searched for a new house before the theft, and that Michele Chambers bought rubber bands from Wal-Mart to count the money the night of the crime. Campbell was receptive and brought the idea to Ghantt. To make a successful getaway, Ghantt had to lift nearly 2,800 pounds of currency. 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. Authorities had the receipt and had known it was missing. ``This defendant was second to Steve Chambers in (benefiting) from the crime,' he said. Sign up for our newsletter to keep reading. Guillermo dos Santos Coelho. A third surveillance tape was carelessly left behind, and the company was able to identify the man who robbed the vault as David Ghantt. Chambers promised to wire him money in Mexico until the investigation blew over and Ghantt could return to . That first day in prison was scary, Ghantt said. David Ghantt helps steal $17 million from Loomis Fargo mostly due to his love for Kelly Campbell, but the leader of the operation, Steve Chambers, wants to get rid of David for being a liability. The Loomis Fargo heist happened in Charlotte, North Carolina when this bank was the target of a robbery. Keeping with the plan, Ghantt took $50,000, which was the maximum that could by law be taken across the border of Mexico without authorization. Question: Any contact with Steve Chambers or any of the others involved with the heist? I knew I was going to be the prime suspect. jim martin death couples massage class san diego beaver falls football real kelly campbell loomis fargo heist. This former Kings Mountain resident finished his shift as a vault supervisor for the branch in Charlotte. David Ghantt worked as a vault supervisor for the armoured cash vehicles at the Charlotte, North Carolina branch of Loomis, Fargo & Co. Ironically even though he worked for a company that moved millions of dollars every day, he was relatively underpaid. Before long, the FBI had wiretaps on the ringleader, Steve Chambers, and then they waited for the right time to make their arrests. "We had David Ghantt and Kelly Campbell tied together, and we had Steven Chambers and Eric Payne with unexplained wealth, but we didn't have a tie between them," Agent John Wydra said. David Ghantt took $50,000 for himself and fled to Cozumel, Mexico. Chambers and his wife Michele moved out of a trailer and into a luxury mansion in a nice neighborhood. Diamant captures the human side of the crime as well as the bizarre details, including a clown-faced lava lamp. An armored car driver suspected of taking $17 million from his company's vault has been captured in Mexico after a manhunt of nearly five months. 2023 www.gastongazette.com. In all, they recovered $6.6 million. What the men didnt know was that the FBI was listening to their phone call. February 18, 1999. Now and again I run into blog posts that tends to make me want to get started on bloggin myself. Holding her hands behind her back, Michele Chambers was sentenced Tuesday to seven years and eight months in prison for her role in the $17 million heist from Loomis, Fargo & Co. She was also ordered to pay $4.8 million in restitution.It was the fourth-most severe sentence given in the case, which has 21 defendants. 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. Top McCarthy aide, House Oversight chair each met with Ashli Babbitt's mother Within a few months, they were arrested. This opportunity was forged by Chambers and supported by Campbell earlier in the summer. One of them was a former Loomis employee. Their plan was fairly straightforward: Ghantt was to remain in the vault after his shift on the night of the heist, October 4, 1997. Most people are going to forgive you. But things didnt quite work out that way. Two of them, Mike and Kim Goodman, are scheduled to be sentenced today. Even with several vehicles, they underestimated how much space they would need and they had to leave $3 million behind. Steven Chambers, left, and David Scott Ghantt leave federal court. You have to remember that it's Hollywood and they'll take what was a minor event and they'll blow it up and make it as funny as they can.". Ghantt, his former co-worker Kelly Campbell and her friends Steve and Michelle Chambers carried out the Loomis Fargo heist on Oct. 4, 1997. . After the Loomis Fargo heist, when the arrests were made, Ghantt and seven others pleaded guilty in federal court to the charges. I was relieved emotionally because I knew there was a good chance my luck might run out, Ghantt said. All but one took plea deals, including Ghantt, who was sentenced to seven years in prison. As Ghantt was the only employee absent, he was marked as the obvious suspect. 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 insisted that Chambers send more money, while Chambers was actually plotting to have Ghantt killed. The reason for this was because, after the Loomis Fargo heist, the thieves had miscalculated the sheer bulk of the small denomination currency. where he earned $360 a week and befriended Kelly Campbell (Wiig), who got Ghantt . I wasnt attracted to him or anything, but he was a nice guy, Campbell said. Ghantt was working as a Loomis Fargo security when he committed the robbery, and Campbell had . 69-year-old suffers stroke in his home; Realtor showing house leaves him there. Kelly Campbell: [looks at his buttocks] I think that bullet just went straight between your cheeks. We were two paychecks away from being homeless at any given time.. 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, Your email address will not be published. All those planes landin' and takin' off and such. When Ghantt was found in Playa del Carmen, Mexico, five months after the heist, DePriest and photographer Kent Johnson raced to the airport, according to Observer records. "I'm glad I've grown out of that.". However, he would leave the bulk of the cash with Chambers. Agents speculate that after the Loomis robbery in Jacksonville, many Loomis employees including Ghantt and Campbell, sat around discussing the incident. When he was done, the man drove off to a nearby printing press, where the money was distributed into private vehicles amongst a handful of people. In total, 24 people were convicted and all but one of the accused pleaded guilty. Secondly, Where is David Scott Ghantt now? David Ghantt normally came home between 6 and 8 p.m., and often he was late, his wife said. The FBI heard about the plot and agents knew they could no longer wait. Le seul rayon de soleil dans son existence banale, c'est sa jolie collgue, Kelly Campbell. Ghantt, his former co-worker Kelly Campbell and her friends Steve and Michelle Chambers carried out the Loomis Fargo heist on Oct. 4, 1997. David sneaks in and rescues Kelly. LRM had an exclusive phone . This material may not be published, broadcast, rewritten, or redistributed During the next few months they bought a BMW-Z3 roadster and tens of thousands of dollars in antiques, furniture and decorations. The plan was to maintain a low profile and wait for things to cool off, allowing Ghantt to return to the states and collect his cut. Nathan, Steves cousin, was found in a mobile home the Chambers had abandoned. Now on the lam and in over his head, David must dodge the authorities, evade a hilarious hit man, Mike McKinney, and try to turn the tables on the ones he trusted most. Her husband, Steve Chambers, whom prosecutors have called the main defendant, began serving an 11-year sentence earlier this year. They swept the surrounding counties, locating Kelly Campbell and Eric Payne in their homes. }, First published on March 2, 1998 / 2:20 PM. That 3-carat ring came back to haunt Michele Chambers at Tuesday's hearing. He wasnt just being paranoid. David Ghantt (Zach Galifianakis), an employee of Loomis Fargo, robbed his own vault, left the $17.3 million in cash with his co-conspirators, Kelly Campbell (Kristen Wiig) and Steve Chambers (Owen Wilson) and fled the country to Mexico. The investigation ultimately resulted in the conviction of eight people directly involved, as well as sixteen others who had indirectly helped them. Shortly after, investigators found Ghantt's pickup truck abandoned at the warehouse. HOME. Question: Do you ever think you could have been killed? David Ghantt : I've never even been to the airport but about twice in my life. >> PHOTOS: The Loomis Fargo heist, 25 years later. 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 group's demise. Ghantt made his way to Mexico, where he hid for several months. Steve Chambers would keep the rest. 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. He and co-worker Kelly Campbell, 27, had developed a close relationship and were spending time together outside of work. Robbing the 7-Eleven and getting $40 bucks and a pack of Marlboros was not for me. Ghantt continued to languish in Mexico, having spent most of the $25,000 he took with him to a Cancun resort. 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. They had to be extremely careful not to tip off the group, as they could lose potential conspirators or more information important to a conviction. Ghantt, his former co-worker Kelly Campbell and her friends Steve and Michelle Chambers, carried out the Loomis Fargo heist on Oct. 4, 1997. The Loomis Fargo heist: 25 years later The case had gotten national publicity and was the subject of numerous articles, documentaries and even a movie. Assistant U.S. Attorney Brian Whisler said he didn't think those factors should result in a reduced sentence. Kelly Campbell. Later, they also arrested Nathans older brother. 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. Once they were in custody, the overwhelming task of clearing out possessions possibly purchased with the stolen money began. A woman by the name of Kelly Campbell had worked there in 1996, and she and Ghantt had become friends in that time. This dental device was sold to fix patients' jaws. Explain? The bandits had such a sudden influx of cash that they didnt know how to spend it. FBI video shows agents searching the Cramer Mountain home and finding stacks of cash. Lead prosecutor Creighton Waters is delivering the closing argument for the state, followed by defense attorney Jim Griffin who will deliver the closing argument for the defense. David Ghantt served as an unpaid consultant to the film. She's a great speaker and a great writer. David Scott Ghantt, 28, was arrested Sunday on an island off the Mexican coast, near the resort city of Cozumel, FBI spokesman William Perry said today. Once the heat from the robbery died down, Ghantt would return back to the United States and the cash would be evenly split among all of the co-conspirators. On Oct. 5, 1997, Ghantt carried out the heist during his regular shift after sending another employee home, stealing more than $17 million from the bank vault. David Ghantt had been a model employee for an armored car company before pulling off the second biggest cash heist in U.S. history, fleeing with more than . Channel 9 speaks with the man at the center of Loomis Fargo heist 25 years ago. Though she agreed to cooperate with the government when she pleaded guilty to bank larceny and money laundering in August 1998, Michele Chambers didn't tell the FBI she still had the ring until December, when she turned it in. Loomis Fargo heist: 25 years later David Scott Ghantt. I knew that if I did something like that, I would take a huge amount of money, Ghantt said of the brash robbery on an upcoming episode of, To find out more about how the thieves got caught and how long they landed behind bars, tune in the, Rebel Wilson 'collapsed' after Ramona Agruma proposal: 'I was so overwhelmed', Amy Grant recalls being 'so scared' to return to touring following serious bike accident, Travis Scott being sought by NYPD after alleged nightclub assault, Zachary Levi talks Shazam! future after DC shake-up: 'I'll keep playing this role as long as I can', Get your Din Djarin on with this replica 'Mandalorian' helmet. The pair began to daydream about whether they could really pull off the heist. David wrote her first book "Self-Awareness for Beginners" and now teaches courses and retreats on self-awareness. Since he was the only employee unaccounted for the following day, they checked the tapes for clues. This company managed the transportation of large amounts of money between banks in North Carolina. Ultimately, the sum amounted to $17 million. #inline-recirc-item--id-91a2c54e-8c88-11e2-b06b-024c619f5c3d ~ .item:nth-child(5) { 25 years later David Ghantt took $50,000 for himself . For Christmas, Steve Chambers gave his wife a $43,000 diamond ring. In real-life, Ghantt, then 27, used his access to swipe $17 million, later fleeing to Mexico with $25,000 of it stashed into the legs of pantyhose that he wore as a money belt; while he waited . David Ghantt 2) A joke that gave birth to an idea. Zach Galifianakis stars as Ghantt, sporting an impressively pronounced bowl-cut and a perpetually pained smile. He has been open about the heist and his life and had no qualms about it. I started just chucking it as fast as I could, he said, adding the sweat was pouring off of me.. La vie de David Ghantt n'a rien de compliqu. 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