David's share would be sent to Mexico, where he planned to hide and where he expected Kelly to join him. Javascript is not enabled in your browser. You should definitely start your own blog, I highly recommend it. He allegedly hired a hitman to take Ghantt out, tying up the ultimate loose end. LETTER TO THE EDITOR: But where will they park? 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. But you cant get blood from a stone,, Criminals dont usually get high-paying jobs after leaving prison. He had since held one low-paying job after another. What purpose does that serve other than to denigrate that person into abject poverty?. Human nature is a flexible part of life, Gronquist said. (John D. Simmons/The Charlotte Observer via AP) By now, you probably know the names -- David Ghantt, Steve Chambers and his wife Michelle, and Kelly Campbell. He was signed by the Minnesota Vikings as an undrafted free agent in 2002. It was the second-largest. : The $17 Million Loomis Fargo Theft. David knew this was important from having followed the recent news about a Florida man who had brazenly committed the biggest heist from an armored-car company in United States history, a loner named Philip Noel Johnson, who also had worked for Loomis. He also took various measures to change his appearance, such asshaving, after a patron at a restaurant pointed out to him that he looked like the man who robbed a bank of $20 million.. Burks was also ordered to serve 15 years in prison, limiting his ability to balance his books. Getting restitution, its like pulling teeth.. Aprs de nombreux seconds rles comiques au cinma, elle parvient percer en co-crivant et tenant le rle principal de la Heist! 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. In the end, the FBI was able to capture the original gang in five months, snaring 21 individuals for their participation in the crime. He and co-worker Kelly Campbell, 27, had developed a close relationship and were spending time together outside of work. 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. (LogOut/ Anybody who gets caught up in the system is getting chewed up by it, the now-retired Gronquist told the Observer. By using this website, you accept the terms of our Visitor Agreement and Privacy Policy, and understand your options regarding Ad Choices. The bizarre true story of the criminals behind the second-largest bank heist in American history. That way, outsiders couldn't see money being loaded. There are multiples of thousands of these things coming every year. just generally being a jerk. In total, 24 people were convicted and all but one of the accused pleaded guilty. Campbell used to work for Loomis and continued the friendship with Ghantt, eventually hooking him up with Chambers. Worlds Biggest Heists London Hatton Garden 200m Diamond Robbery, Easter 2015. One number is working in Campbells favor. 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. She was five-foot-seven, had dirty-blond hair, and had worked with him for about a year at Loomis Fargo, until she left for another job in 1996. Kelly had approached David with the idea in the summer, knowing he had a crush on her and winning him over with the promise that a shady friend of hers with Mafia ties would help them. He is a graduate of Yale and has worked for the Connecticut Post, the Associated Press, and the Palm Beach Post. 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. 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. Notifications from this discussion will be disabled. Still facing possible unknowns of other people involved, the FBI needed to gather more information without the suspects getting suspicious of them. Chambers had broached the possibility of a robbery to Campbell earlier in the summer. This category only includes cookies that ensures basic functionalities and security features of the website. That sounds like a lot of money until its compared to the $18,930,201.26 the group was ordered to pay. Next month, Payne will back in the Charlotte federal courthouse, this time to be sentenced from weapons and methamphetamine trafficking charges. 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. Well she was a pretty happy-go-lucky person, he said. In preparation for what lay ahead, David had backed an unmarked company Ford Econoline van near the vault entrance and opened the van's back door. That sounds like a lot of money until its compared to the $18,930,201.26 the group was ordered to pay. Money. But things didnt quite work out that way. David Ghantt was just an average Joe with an average low-wage job. In this outrageously entertaining book, Jeff Diamant, the Charlotte Observer's lead reporter on the case, offers the definitive inside account of this astonishing. Booklist "Librariesshould consider purchasing this entertaining and lightly edited version, which reads like a fast-paced novel." Growing up, David had been a nice kid, a decent student who was at worst a minor troublemaker and prankster. If it didn't work out, he could return to the United States later with a new identity. After discussing his job, his marriage, and his everyday struggles, they joked about Loomis and about how easy it would be to steal from the place. What that says is, We will never forgive you for what youve done.. At that point, Kelly and David had known each other for two years. He says the Loomis case shows how the criminal justice system and the courts treat lower-income people differently. Yet their lives seemed far easier and better than his. 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. As a child, he had preferred reading to playing sports, and he would say, as an adult, that although he couldn't have told you "who was on first," he knew as a kid who the Egyptian god of the dead was. Also charged with money laundering were innocent relatives and friends who had co-signed safe deposit boxes. She will never get beyond the debt. The only other employee with him on this day was a trainee. 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. Get an email notification whenever someone contributes to the discussion. The same applies to trolling, the use of multiple aliases, or 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. For example, Steve Chambers and his wife were living in a. When some friends stole a stop sign from a busy intersection, David made them put it back. I made a joke once that was the hardest Id ever worked for Wells Fargo -- yeah, its a lot of work, Ghantt said. It all seemed unfair. 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 . They hadn't slept together or even fooled around much, but he was ready to commit. They kept several furnishings from the previous owners, including avelvet Elvis. I actually loved reading through this post. Learn about careers at Cox Media Group. One day, Campbell was speaking to an old friend named Steve Chambers. Clerk of Court Frank Johns of Charlotte. So its one thing to go from up here, thought, to action, he said. It's still the hot topic . There was a book published in 2002 as well, by author Jeff Diamant called,Heist! Seven p.m. came and went, and so did 7:20. The government does not run debtors prisons, says U.S. she asked. He and Tammy could have one or two meals each week that he really liked, but the rest were hot dogs or Hamburger Helper. Guller was the attorney for Steven Chambers, who came up with the original idea for the Loomis theft. The plan was still on, but David remained steamed. Ghantt, who by then was long out of prison, served as a consultant. 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But what the bank didnt tell Michelle, and Michelle didnt know, was that one of those forms get filled out if you ask about it, or if its close to $10,000 or if they suspect that any part of that transaction is suspicious, Wydra said. But he wasn't finished. : The .17 Million Loomis Fargo Theft [Jeff Diamant] on Amazon.com. 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. But opting out of some of these cookies may affect your browsing experience. This technically made it abank robbery afederal offense. The stated plan was for her to move to Mexico to be with him after the theft. The actual crime itself required none of Hollywood's imagination. A third surveillance tape was carelessly left behind, and the company was able to identify the man who robbed the vault as David Ghantt. Temptation to do something that you think you normally wouldnt do can change a lot of minds when its that kind of cash, and thats what it was., (WATCH BELOW: VIDEO: The Loomis Fargo heist: 25 years later). The figures can be astounding. So they went to Mexico and arrested Ghantt in order to protect him. How he and his wife had trouble communicating. Then 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, Wydra said. Working by himself, Ghantt would commit the robbery and then flee for Mexico, leaving the bulk of the cash with Chambers. 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 bigger the amount, however, the bigger the damages to victims that likely will never be repaid: - Amy Paynes collection account was closed in 2020 with her having paid $53,000 of the $274,000 she owed. 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. 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. On Oct. 5, the Loomis heist celebrates its 25th birthday. "I'll need help moving the money, getting a new ID, and leaving the country," he told her. It all went down in Charlotte, North Carolina, and the man at the center of that heist, David Scott Ghantt, now lives in Jacksonville. The building was configured so vans could drive inside and pull up next to the vault. Eric Payne got out of prison in 2006 for his role in the heist and has since paid $11,357 on his $292,000 debt. "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. " Though Wydra is retired, 25 years ago, he was an agent with the FBI. Low 46F. Steve Chambers would keep the rest. Burks was also ordered to serve 15 years in prison, limiting his ability to balance his books. Johnson had stolen $18.8 million earlier in the year, on March 19, 1997, only to be caught five months later, in late August, while crossing into Texas from Mexico to retrieve some of the money, which he'd hidden in a shed in mountainous western North Carolina. Change), You are commenting using your Facebook account. Pink, Mr. Blue, Mr. Orange, Mr. Blonde. LeVaughn Kelly Campbell (born July 23, 1980 in Atlanta, Georgia) is a former football wide receiver. uncanny, eerie, unnatural, preternatural, supernatural, unearthly, other-worldly, unreal, ghostly, mysterious, mystifying, strange, abnormal, unusual. 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. 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. Loomis Fargo heist: 25 years later Former FBI agent John Wydra, who helped crack the case, sat down with Channel 9 Reporter Glenn Counts to talk about the clues that led to solving the crime, and how the group got caught. The FBI says Chambers hired a hitman to tie up the ultimate loose end -- Ghantt. Butcher says the federal courts in the Western District of North Carolina have never handled a case quite like Loomis. Tuesday marked 25 years since a group of buddies pulled off the third-largest money grab in U.S. history -- the Loomis Fargo heist. The participants in the heist also spent lavishly on fancy jewelry, fancy cars and breast enhancement surgeries. Husband and wife Steven and Michelle Chambers, whose conspicuous consumption of a luxury home, a BMW convertible, breast implants and a $600 wooden Indian, among other purchases, helped the FBI solve the crime, were assessed $3.81 million and $4.8 million, respectively. We also use third-party cookies that help us analyze and understand how you use this website. By this time, agents knew where he was and had a general idea who the other players were, so they went to every bank in town to see if any of them rented a safe deposit box. The Chambers home is now gated, which means Channel 9 crews cant drive up to it like we used to. Chambers had broached the possibility of a robbery to Campbell earlier in the summer. Getting that off his chest calmed him some, and the conversation returned to the plan. The gang made numerous mistakes. Next month, Payne will back in the Charlotte federal courthouse, this time to be sentenced from weapons and methamphetamine trafficking charges. In Gastonia, David would run into high-school classmates who had never struck him as especially smart. 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. Learn how to enable JavaScript on your browser. 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. Kristen Wiig plays Kelly, who really wasn't that into David, but convinced him to take a fortune from Loomis Fargo in the fall of '97. 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. Former FBI agent John Wydra, who helped crack the case, sat down with Channel 9 Reporter Glenn Counts to talk about the clues that led to solving the crime, and how the group got caught. Stealing from Loomis Fargo could make him rich, if he got away with it. 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. The government does not run debtors prisons, says U.S. Despite being caught on camera wheeling the money from the vault to the getaway van, David Ghantt makes off to Mexico before the FBI can blink. He worked close-by to where the van and over $3 million dollars had been ditched, and was friends with Steve Chambers. shaka wear graphic tees is candy digital publicly traded ellen lawson wife of ted lawson real kelly campbell loomis fargo heist 25 Feb/23 (No Ratings Yet) He could even be famous, perhaps joining the ranks of legendary master thieves. All of the primary players got fined millions of dollars --for example, Kelly Campbell was hit with more than $4 million, an amount that she will never come close to paying. The Loomis case is another example where the amount of restitution ordered vs. what is actually paid are two dramatically different numbers. The friend was Steve Chambers, and Kelly said he knew his way around the world of crime. On the evening ofOctober 4, 1997, the Loomis Fargo & Co branch in Charlotte, North Carolina was in the process of being plundered. The unsolved mystery of the Van Meter Visitor a winged creature! "About fourteen or fifteen million dollars," he said. Of course the most famous thing inside the home was a velvet Elvis portrait. Sure enough, she called a few days later, around September 16. I gotta go.". Meanwhile, Ghantt's gang spent wildly and paid their family members and friends to hide money. VERDICT The first edition of this work was published in 2002. Ghantt, in order to conserve this money, curtailed his spending. Turns out, most of the thieves and their accomplices have been about as effective coming up with their court-ordered restitution as they were hiding their original crimes. She'd left Loomis in November 1996 to take a job elsewhere as a security guard. 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. It is mandatory to procure user consent prior to running these cookies on your website. [SIGN UP: Action News Jax Daily Headlines Newsletter]. "I'm busy," he said. At 2:20 p.m., the phone rang; it was Kelly again. 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. The FBI became more suspicious after they interviewed Campbell for the third time. Libraries without that edition should consider purchasing this entertaining and lightly edited version, which reads like a fast-paced novel. Criminals dont usually get high-paying jobs after leaving prison. None of the suspects had been in any serious trouble before this. One number is working in Campbells favor. She sounded incredulous. RELATED: When you have money, you just have different problems: The Loomis Fargo heist, 25 years later, How I held it together is beyond me, Ghantt said. >> 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 heist on Oct.. Later that year, he saw a newspaper ad for a job at Loomis Fargo. Then they returned it. Theres no way to get it back,, And with Loomis, were looking at only one case. What that says is, We will never forgive you for what youve done. White-collar criminals are pretty good at hiding their money, she said. 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.
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