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 . These weren't the hardest of criminals, and though there was logic to not knowing each other's names, they had derived some of their methods from Hollywood depictions of crime. Michelle Chambers paid off only $27,000. ALSO READ: 14-year-old boy robbed at gunpoint while waiting for bus in east. The unsolved crime mystery of Marilyn Sheppard. About six months before the Charlotte theft, on March 29, a total of $18.8 million was taken from Loomis, Fargo in Jacksonville, Fla., in what was believed to be the largest heist in U.S.. she asked again. Twenty years ago this Wednesday, a small group of people stole $17 million in cash from the main vault of a Loomis Fargo & Co. armored-car warehouse in west Charlotte. 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. Spunk. It all seemed unfair. In March 1997, after Loomis Fargo & Company has been robbed of $18.8 million in Jacksonville by company security guard Philip Noel Johnson, Steve Eugene Chambers and Kelly Campbell, a former employee of Loomis, decides to rob the company. But things didnt quite work out that way. Former Loomis employee David Scott Ghantt is accused of stealing the money. : The $17 Million Loomis Fargo Theft. According to Butcher, Campbells last official payment came in June 2021 when the government appears to have seized a tax refund of $81.24. It, too, has changed hands several times. Get an email notification whenever someone contributes to the discussion. The FBI was inadvertently aided by the gang members extravagant spending. 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. 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. To be brutally honest, it was that morning, Ghantt replied. He had stayed in a luxury hotel and paid for expensive food and activities such asscuba divingandparasailing. High around 65F. But after one visit, she asked a teller How much can I deposit before you have to report it to the feds? followed by Dont worry, it is notdrug money, the bank filled out asuspicious activity report, which ultimately reached the FBI. : The .17 Million Loomis Fargo Theft . You have permission to edit this article. This was several years before the advent of smartphones and the post-9/11 increase in federal surveillance of electronic communications, and public knowledge about this tracking was less widespread. But being the vault supervisor at Loomis Fargo had one perk -- exposure to tons of cash. Well she was a pretty happy-go-lucky person, he said. What purpose does that serve other than to denigrate that person into abject poverty?. Ghantt said he believes in redemption, and that his mistake 25 years ago brought him all the things that are important in his life today. This station is part of Cox Media Group Television. Loomis Fargo employees could not open the vault the next morning, and called the police. When they hung up, she called his pager and left the code 1-4-3, beeper-speak for "I love you," based on the number of letters in each word. In one case, the restitution for a Loomis defendant may be a moving target. The inspiration behind the major motion picture Masterminds starring Zach Galifianakis, Owen Wilson, Kristen Wiig, and Jason Sudeikis! Even with several vehicles, they underestimated how much space they would need and they had to leave $3 million behind. David Ghantt was just an average Joe with an average low-wage job. For the defendants in the Loomis Fargo heist, its allure was irresistible. The police almost immediately called theFBI, since 95% of the money handled at the facility was owned by banks. Change). When you have money, you just have different problems: The Loomis Fargo heist, 25 years later. 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. Change), You are commenting using your Twitter account. Steve's a serious guy.". Then they returned it. He hired a hitman to take Ghantt out, tying up the ultimate loose end. I made a joke once that was the hardest Id ever worked for Wells Fargo -- yeah, its a lot of work, Ghantt said. The woman on the phone was Kelly Jane Campbell, and David had a mad crush on her. Later that year, he saw a newspaper ad for a job at Loomis Fargo. He realized his life wouldn't improve unless he did something drastic. Its in the ether. document.getElementById( "ak_js_1" ).setAttribute( "value", ( new Date() ).getTime() ). To the community, the Loomis Fargo heist was a big joke -- the largest hillbilly caper of all time. 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. The FBI heard about the plot and agents knew they could no longer wait. Most people are going to forgive you. Learn how to enable JavaScript on your browser. The Chambers home is now gated, which means Channel 9 crews cant drive up to it like we used to. David told Kelly they would have to control themselves and not spend the money too quickly, because the FBI could electronically trace a suspect's recent spending activity through bank papers, credit card records, and land transactions. Driving away, he said he felt a mix of fear, confidence and excitement that he outsmarted the FBI. Afterward, everything became comical. It has a certain feel, a smell and weight to it. She had attitude. Have a youtube channel or website similar? They assumed that whoever was involved would keep the cash in a safe place, like a safe deposit box. The strange story of Mary Reeser Spontaneous Human Combustion. 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. FBI video shows the agency searching that home and finding drawers full of cash. 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. So we were able to figure out with all the denominations, it would require about 20 safe deposit boxes to store it all., WSOC TV facebook feed(Opens a new window), Part 2: Channel 9 speaks with the man at the center of Loomis Fargo heist 25 years ago, ALSO READ: 14-year-old boy robbed at gunpoint while waiting for bus in east Charlotte, mom says, ALSO READ: Leader of $3M check theft, bank fraud scheme in Charlotte area sentenced to prison, ALSO READ: Man released from jail, accused of robbing banks while wearing electronic monitor, police say, ALSO READ: Suspect from south Charlotte bank robbery found, CMPD says, NCSHP arrest driver accused of nearly hitting 2 students at bus stop in Statesville, CMS delays opening of new school meant to ease overcrowding, Mooresville orders removal of memorial at park after teens death, Chick-fil-A announces app data breach, tells customers how to protect personal information, Charlotte woman celebrates $1 million scratch-off prize, WSOC - TV Public File Contact / Program Director, WAXN - TV Public File Contact / Program Director. This website uses cookies to improve your experience while you navigate through the website. Friends of Campbell had also begun spending large amounts of cash. She sounded incredulous. "For the first year after a crime," he told her, "they're all over you, with six to ten agents. The Loomis case is another example where the amount of restitution ordered vs. what is actually paid are two dramatically different numbers. 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. The gang made numerous mistakes. If we can sit on the money for a year, maybe two, it could work.". While Ghantt trusted Chambers enough to leave his cut behind, Chambers had other plans. Punishment needs to be fair and realistic. Records show the government has garnished his Social Security checks. David's vision for all of this actually derived more from books than from movies. David's share would be sent to Mexico, where he planned to hide and where he expected Kelly to join him. Current price is $11.49, Original price is $14.99. Soon thereafter, he met Kelly Campbell, a co-worker at Loomis Fargo. And Kelly thought he was funny. He deserved better. LeVaughn Kelly Campbell (born July 23, 1980 in Atlanta, Georgia) is a former football wide receiver. "What would it take to make you do it?". "About fourteen or fifteen million dollars," he said. The investigation ultimately resulted in the conviction of eight people directly involved, as well as sixteen others who had indirectly helped them. A third surveillance tape was carelessly left behind, and the company was able to identify the man who robbed the vault as David Ghantt. Thats pretty standard in restitution matters. It wasn't how much you stole that mattered most; it was that you had stolen in the first place. In Reservoir Dogs, released just five years earlier, the pawns in a robbery knew each other only by assigned colors: Mr. 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. It is mandatory to procure user consent prior to running these cookies on your website. But you cant get blood from a stone,, Criminals dont usually get high-paying jobs after leaving prison. "Just remind Steve," he said, "that I might be trouble my own self." Growing up, David's family went to Disney World, sent him to religious school, and shopped at places he couldn't afford as a self-supporting adult. 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. 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 . 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. Ghantt studied how to rob his employer and advised the others not to spend the money lavishly. 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. In Gastonia, David would run into high-school classmates who had never struck him as especially smart. Investigators also found Ghantts pickup truck, abandoned at the warehouse. 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. They succeeded in removing $17 million from the safe. Punishment needs to be fair and realistic. Clerk of Court Frank Johns of Charlotte. 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. 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. All of the co-defendants were arrested the next day, about six months after the heist. It's still the hot topic . He put on his best pair of jeans, a button-down shirt, and his nicest cowboy boots. "Are you serious?" So that was kind of like this once-in-a-lifetime thing, Wydra said. Investigators considered Ghantt to be the prime suspect almost from the beginning. 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. These (Loomis) guys, not so much.. By then, the FBI had become greatly concerned for Ghantts personal safety; they had learned of Chambersmurder for hirescheme. He was a hard worker, smart enough, and had graduated from high school. "I was unhappy with my life. Join thousands already receiving our daily newsletter. Anybody who gets caught up in the system is getting chewed up by it, the now-retired Gronquist told the Observer. All but one took plea deals, including Ghantt, who was sentenced to seven years in prison. And with Loomis, were looking at only one case. I ride motorcycles and fish -- normal guy, Ghantt told Counts. Curiously, Payne had recently paid of his Visa in one payment and had been driving around new and rented vehicles for the past weeks. Steve and Michelle Chambers, who had lived in a mobile home, bought a mansion in Cramer Mountain. Anybody who gets caught up in the system is getting chewed up by it, the now-retired Gronquist told the Observer. The Loomis defendants face no additional legal jeopardy for not paying off their debts. Restitution is a familiar part of sentencing in federal court. He knew it would mean leaving Tammy. 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. You can garnish wages. While Ghantt waited for the heat from the robbery to die down, Chambers would send Ghantt small amounts of money. He waffled on the heist idea three or four times from late August to mid-September. An additional tip reached the FBI when Michelle Chambers made a large deposit at a bank. The FBI began to question past and current employees of Loomis Fargo. But with Kelly's new idea on the table, several dark realities converged on him. And then I realized that a lot of people knew who I was and they had followed the case.. On the evening ofOctober 4, 1997, the Loomis Fargo & Co branch in Charlotte, North Carolina was in the process of being plundered. "Just think about it," she said. That was the thing that sticks in my mind to this day.. 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. He angrily hung up the phone at Loomis, Fargo & Co., his soon-to-be former employer in Charlotte, North Carolina. "Everything's gonna be all right," she told him. Winds ENE at 5 to 10 mph.. Clear skies. 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. The Loomis Fargo heist: 25 years later 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. Ghantt didnt know the full extent of what was happening back home -- how that lay low plan turned into a flurry of extravagant spending. Low 46F. Thank you! The building was configured so vans could drive inside and pull up next to the vault. Except for the kiss in the pickup truck a few weeks before the heist, Kelly had kept things platonic. >> PHOTOS: The Loomis Fargo heist, 25 years later. She will never get beyond the debt. You can garnish wages. But after a year, they cut it down to two agents. Over the next two weeks, David thought about it. Of course the problem was, the money belonged to someone else. None of the suspects had been in any serious trouble before this. As an adult, he preferred Shakespeare, Tom Clancy, and any book he could find about the Federal Bureau of Investigation. There are multiples of thousands of these things coming every year. The biggest restitution numbers for victims of financial crimes generally involve Ponzi schemes or sweepstakes fraud, not cash thefts. 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. Each cart, holding about $2 million, was taking David seven or eight minutes to stack, push, and empty into the van, and there were about eight cartloads' worth in the vault. One night in a small North Carolina town, a down-on-his-luck guard at Loomis Fargo manages to steal $17 millionliterally more than one ton of cash. It was David who was hours away from committing the most daring act of his life, and she was going off about Steve being a serious guy? He ejected the two VCR tapes that he knew had recorded him stealing the money, took them, and prepared to leave. CHARLOTTE, N.C. (AP) During one overnight shift, a bumbling conspiracy of thieves just west of Charlotte stole more than $17 million from Loomis Fargo. 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. By now, you probably know the names -- David Ghantt, Steve Chambers and his wife Michelle, and Kelly Campbell. 12) Loomis Fargo heist- The aftermath Ultimately, eight co-conspirators were indicted for the Loomis Fargo bank heist. Steve was a serious guy? This station is part of Cox Media Group Television. He couldn't understand the gap, why he wasn't more successful, why he couldn't at least match the financial stability of his father, who earned a comfortable salary driving a truck. 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. uncanny, eerie, unnatural, preternatural, supernatural, unearthly, other-worldly, unreal, ghostly, mysterious, mystifying, strange, abnormal, unusual. In the end, the FBI was able to capture the original gang in five months, snaring 21 individuals for their participation in the crime. The bag held his mobile phone and handgun. 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.. When I put that cash in the back of the car, by the time I got to the office the whole car smelled like that. Getting restitution, its like pulling teeth., White-collar criminals are pretty good at hiding their money,, Youre supposed to get less time for cooperating, a lesser penalty, and instead, you see what she got hit with., She will never get beyond the debt. That first day in prison was scary, Ghantt said. Burks was also ordered to serve 15 years in prison, limiting his ability to balance his books. 2023 Cox Media Group. Sun, sand and beaches are all part of why Jacksonville is a popular destination. In total, 24 people were convicted and all but one of the accused pleaded guilty. Learn about careers at Cox Media Group. (LogOut/ I gotta go.". Since Ghantt was the supervisor, he sent his co-worker home first. Kelly called, using David's own cell phone, to ask where he was already, because she and the others were waiting outside for him. Sure enough, she called a few days later, around September 16. Its in the ether. He would then have the bulk of his share sent south of the border. Oh were not going to talk to anybody, theyre not going to be able to convict us, that bravado happens in the beginning and then it often gets worn down by the reality, Gronquist said. Lacking a college degree, he found that his army skills felt meaningless in the 1990s job market. Although the FBI investigation was able to quickly connect Ghantt to Campbell, connecting Ghantt to Chambers was a more difficult task. Later, they also arrested Nathans older brother. *FREE* shipping on qualifying offers. "What would it take to convince you to do it?" Chambers had broached the possibility of a robbery to Campbell earlier in the summer. From my standpoint, it was just a business deal, Ghantt said. "Do you know how much there's gonna be?" Pink, Mr. Blue, Mr. Orange, Mr. Blonde. The October 4 shift was lasting longer than expected, due to delays involving pickups and deliveries. 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. Ghantt, in order to conserve this money, curtailed his spending. Ghantt met up with the other members of the plot and offloaded the cash. Restitution is a familiar part of sentencing in federal court. What kind of surprised me is how much the car smelled like money, like if you ever hold money up to your nose it has a distinct smell, Wydra said. A few of the Loomis restitution cases have already been closed either because the amount was paid in full or because the 20-year clock wound down. 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. His collection case, which closes in November 2026, got credit for the couples $540,000 house on Cramer Mountain in Gaston County, Butcher says. contact us to submit an unexplained mystery article, or to join the team on the email address below. Heist! Of course, this would all be a radical departure for him, and thoughts of his wife and parents did give him pause. The government does not run debtors prisons, says U.S. From there, the money was moved from the armored car to private vehicles. She had attitude. 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. 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. In one case, the restitution for a Loomis defendant may be a moving target. Ghantt was the vault manager and was surrounded daily by millions of dollars worth of temptation. He stayed at it until the vault was empty. Paying the money back has taken a lot longer, and time is running out for the U.S. government to collect. The only other employee with him on this day was a trainee. Kelly Campbell, who one day visited a Toyota dealership to purchase a minivan with twenty-dollar bills. The bizarre true story of the criminals behind the second-largest bank heist in American history. 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 Chambers, Michael Gobbies, and four other co-conspirators. These (Loomis) guys, not so much.. Twenty people were convicted of roles big and small in the massive 1997 armored-car warehouse heist in west Charlotte. "its a great readsuspenseful, often funny, just the thing for those wondering what it might feel like to have, as these hapless, small-town criminals did, literally too darn much cash lying around. " The principals here are David Ghantt, a driver for Loomis, Fargo and Co.; Kelly Campbell, the woman Ghantt had a crush on, and who convinced him to commit the crime; and Steve and Michele Chambers. Twenty people were convicted of roles big and small in the massive 1997 armored-car warehouse heist in west Charlotte. 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. David would simply empty the vault and deliver the money to the others. But opting out of some of these cookies may affect your browsing experience. 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,. Ms. Campbell worked at Loomis for 11 months, leaving in November 1996, according to court papers. Campbell used to work for Loomis and continued the friendship with Ghantt, eventually hooking him up with Chambers. Tuesday marked 25 years since a group of buddies pulled off the third-largest money grab in U.S. history -- the Loomis Fargo heist. They didnt expect it.. In David's eyes, Johnson's big mistake was that he did it alone. '. Discover some of the worlds strangest ancient places. Campbell was released from federal custody in 2004 after serving five years, meaning her collection case will age out in December 2024. He was signed by the Minnesota Vikings as an undrafted free agent in 2002. Uh-oh, it looks like your Internet Explorer is out of date. 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. Agents raided safe deposit boxes, where they recovered more than $11 million. Chambers had told Campbell to do whatever she needed to do to get Ghantt to commit the robbery. 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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. 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. The $17 million Loomis Fargo heist in Charlotte, North Carolina, was the second largest armored car robbery in U.S. history. The movie was called Masterminds and stars Zach Galifianakis, Kristen Wiig and Owen Wilson. In order to receive more evidence, the FBI decided to listen. This technically made it abank robbery afederal offense. After hanging up on her, David returned to work. The affidavit described Chambers as a former FBI informant who had provided information on another Loomis armored car robbery that never materialized. The plan was still on, but David remained steamed. Yet their lives seemed far easier and better than his. 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. 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. 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. What that says is, We will never forgive you for what youve done.'. They involve Loomis armored car driver David Scott Ghantt. 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. Winds light and variable. 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. The van used to move the money was later located a few miles from the warehouse. The figures can be astounding. However, Chambers had no intention of following those rules, believing the FBI would never connect him to Ghantt. One day, Campbell was speaking to an old friend named Steve Chambers. As a privately owned web site, we reserve the right to edit or And after two years, the case is just a file. When did you conclude Yeah, Im actually going to do this? Counts asked. He wanted to leave his wife for her, and Kelly, who also was married, let him think she wanted the same. Inside the truck, they found Ghantts ring and surmised this as a sign of Ghantts intention to end his relationship with his wife. 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. LETTER TO THE EDITOR: Remember why you were elected! White-collar criminals are pretty good at hiding their money, she said.
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