The investigation ultimately resulted in the conviction of eight people directly involved, as well as sixteen others who had indirectly helped them. Question: What made you, Chambers and the others think you could get away with this? SEARCH. The old man me would never survive that, Id have a heart attack.. Explain? Ghantt was the vault manager and was surrounded daily by millions of dollars-worth of temptation. Agents speculate that after the Loomis robbery in Jacksonville, many Loomis employees including Ghantt and Campbell, sat around discussing the incident. Authorities say Steve and Michele Chambers moved from a mobile home into a $635,000 house three weeks after the theft. . However, he had not perceived the weight of a large sum of money. Kelly Campbell, a former firm employee, pleaded guilty to bank larceny, money laundering, and murder conspiracy charges earlier this year. During a layover in Florida, they learned that Ghantt was already on his way back to the U.S. with authorities, but they flew to Cancun anyway and rented a car to reach Playa del Carmen, a resort town. You ever been to Rio? But when he's convinced by his work crush, Kelly Campbell (Kristen Wiig) and her accomplices to join in a far-fetched plan to rob a bank vault, David soon throws everything on the line for love, money, and a . Downtown Asheville was cast as a movie set this week, as a major motion picture production filmed in the city center on Tuesday and Wednesday. Michele Chambers' sentence was two months longer than that given to David Scott Ghantt, the Loomis employee who removed the money from the company vault on Oct. 4, 1997. Some received probation for money laundering, many others did hard time. Kelly : Oh, it's a real magical place. Despite working for a company that regularly relocates millions of dollars, David Ghantt himself was underpaid. But things didnt quite work out that way. 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 CNBCs Super Heists, airing Monday at 10 p.m. Ghantt, a U.S. Army veteran, was living a relatively boring life working as the vault superintendent at a Loomis Fargo armored car warehouse just outside Charlotte, North Carolina making a relatively meager paycheck, when he crossed paths with Kelly Campbell. The FBI began to question past and current employees of Loomis Fargo. "So it's one thing to go from up here, thought, to action," he said. Question: You were a consultant? Its attracted workers like David Ghantt. One day, Campbell met up with Steven Chambers, an old high school classmate and a small-time crook. If you go from a mobile home to a mansion, that's going to attract attention. 0:00. #inline-recirc-item--id-91a2c54e-8c88-11e2-b06b-024c619f5c3d, #right-rail-recirc-item--id-91a2c54e-8c88-11e2-b06b-024c619f5c3d { Steve and Michelle Chambers, who had lived in a mobile home, bought a mansion in Cramer Mountain. Agents raided safe deposit boxes, where they recovered more than $11 million. Masterminds: Directed by Jared Hess. As they had so much money, Chambers wife thought it would be a great idea to deposit a chunk of it into a bank. Trending News Before long, the FBI had wiretaps on the ringleader, Steve Chambers, and then they waited for the right time to make their arrests. Down in Jacksonville, a . I wasnt attracted to him or anything, but he was a nice guy, Campbell said. The Gaston Gazette spoke with Ghantt, who is now in his late 40s and lives in Florida as a free man. I knew that if we could stay off the radar for about a year, we could basically live a vacation life, Ghantt said. Steve began talking about wiring money to overseas accounts, and even purchasing a nightclub. Ghantt, his former co-worker Kelly Campbell and her friends Steve and Michelle Chambers carried out the Loomis Fargo heist on Oct. 4, 1997. . With Zach Galifianakis, Kristen Wiig, Owen Wilson, Ross Kimball. ", GREENSBORO Jurors found TikTok star Jessica Middlebrook, known as towtruckjess on social media, not guilty of involuntary manslaughter Thu. The movie, about a famous Charlotte bank . ``This defendant was second to Steve Chambers in (benefiting) from the crime,' he said. 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. display: none; Afterward, outside the courthouse, her parents said the length was about what she had expected. Thank you! . He had sent home early a newly hired employee and then proceeded with the loading of the funds. Kelly Campbell (962 Found) - View Court & Arrest Records, Personal Reviews & Reputation Score. He had just returned to his home in Jacksonville, Fla., when he agreed to talk about the heist, his life now and what went wrong when a group of friends who thought they could get away with stealing $17 million cash. While Ghantt fled to Mexico, the others went no farther than Cramer Mountain. Over 88% of the money has been recovered since the heist. Finally, despite a few hiccups, Ghantt successfully made his way to Mexico with $50,000 in hand. . The FBI says Chambers hired a hit man to tie up the ultimate loose end -- Ghantt. Steve hires hitman Mike McKinney to kill David, but the two become friends. Top McCarthy aide, House Oversight chair each met with Ashli Babbitt's mother Day in and day out he drives an armored vehicle, transporting millions of other people's money with no escape in sight. AP. When to set your clocks for daylight saving time, A raw bar, Asian restaurant, ice cream shop and arcade debut at Concord food hall. At the time . All Rights Reserved. The plan of the Loomis Fargo heist was for Ghantt to commit an actual robbery and then flee to Mexico City, where he would stay until enough time passed to enter the United States. This opportunity was forged by Chambers and supported by Campbell earlier in the summer. Ghantt was the vault manager and was surrounded daily . Ghantt began to complain vocally. 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. 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. The polices suspicions were further confirmed once they viewed the security cameras. Inside the truck, they found Ghantt's wedding ring. organizes one of the biggest bank heists in American history. The next morning, Loomis Fargo employees were unable to open the vault. LIFE. They knew Steve Chambers had worked as an informant in the past, and were nervous he would smell out an undercover. Ghantt was working as a Loomis Fargo security when he committed the robbery, and Campbell had . Probably very egotistical of me, I though yeah, sure, I can beat them, theyre college smart and thats about it, Ghantt said. Armored car driver David Ghantt, played here by Zach Galifianakis, conspired with friends of his crush Kelly Campbell, played by Kristen Wiig, to steal $17 million in cash from the company . #inline-recirc-item--id-91a2c54e-8c88-11e2-b06b-024c619f5c3d ~ .item:nth-child(5) { And then I realized that a lot of people knew who I was and they had followed the case.. In 97 me and my wife were just barely scraping by, Ghantt recalled in Mondays episode. On the evening of October 4, 1997, one man loaded $17.3 million in cash from the vaults of Loomis, Fargo & Co. into the back of a van. Consequently, they called the police. {{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. CHARLOTTE, N.C. (AP) _ While the FBI spent five months looking for David Scott Ghantt, authorities say his accomplices in a $17 million heist were living the high life _ a new car, a new home, even breast implants for one. David Ghantt struck up a friendship with Kelly Campbell, a coworker who saw eye to eye with him. So I guess I have no regrets. Michele Chambers declined to make a statement at the hearing. Le seul rayon de soleil dans son existence banale, c'est sa jolie collgue, Kelly Campbell. He then began loading $17 million in unmarked bills inside a company van before driving away. He was also married, but none of those things would matter after he met Kelly Campbell. We were two paychecks away from being homeless at any given time.. "I was unhappy with my life. Ghantt continued to languish in Mexico, having spent most of the $25,000 he took with him to a Cancun resort. More than 2 million dollars are still missing to this day. $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. David Ghantt 2) A joke that gave birth to an idea. She recruited an old friend, Steve Chambers, a convicted criminal who was once an FBI informant. Loomis Fargo & Company was established in 1997 by the consolidation of Wells Fargo Armored Service and Loomis Armored Inc. Ghantt, his former co-worker Kelly Campbell and her friends Steve and Michelle Chambers carried out the Loomis Fargo heist on Oct. 4, 1997. Not many people can say they stole $17 million from their employer and had Zach Galifianakis play them in a movie. jim martin death couples massage class san diego beaver falls football real kelly campbell loomis fargo heist. I felt stiff and one day the jokes during the break about the robbery of that place suddenly didn't look so obvious. David Ghantt's fame was short-lived as he was a prime suspect from the start. So its one thing to go from up here, thought, to action, he said. https://www.charlotteagenda.com/67457/loomis-fargo-heist-masterminds-movie/, http://www.charlotteobserver.com/news/state/article104506876.html, https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/October_1997_Loomis_Fargo_robbery#Company, http://retroclt.blogspot.com/2014/07/loomis-fargo-heist.html, . I can take it.". Chaque jour, c'est la mme routine : au volant de son camion blind, il transporte des millions de dollars qui ne lui appartiennent pas. So they went to Mexico and arrested Ghantt in order to protect him. This technically made it a bank robbery and a federal offense. Copyright 2023 CBS Interactive Inc. All rights reserved. I made a joke once that was the hardest Id ever worked for Wells Fargo -- yeah, its a lot of work, Ghantt said. The FBI recovered several million dollars in a van found in Mecklenburg County, but about $14 million in cash is still missing, authorities said. The judge said he would recommend that Michele Chambers be given mental health treatment in prison. I ride motorcycles and fish -- normal guy, Ghantt told Counts. According to federal indictments, some of Ghantts co-conspirators were planning to fly to Mexico and kill him. They drove off to a printing business called Reynolds & Reynolds in northwest Charlotte. Before long, the tales of high living by Chambers and his now former wife, Michelle, led the thieves to be labeled either the "Cramer Mountain Hillbillies" or "The gang that couldn't steal straight." 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. Steve Chambers would keep the rest. The Loomis Fargo heist happened in Charlotte, North Carolina when this bank was the target of a robbery. Former Cramerton Police Chief David Young soon got wind of the Chambers excessive spending spree and reached out to the FBI. From the start, David Ghatt was considered to be a prime suspect. Almost 19 years after Ghantt and a group of friends from Gaston County pulled off one of the largest cash heists in U.S. history, the movie "Masterminds" will play up the caper for laughs. Ghantt fled to Mexico. Zach Galifianakis stars as Ghantt, sporting an impressively pronounced bowl-cut and a perpetually pained smile. Needless to say that things didn't go as planned. Still facing possible unknowns of other people involved, the FBI needed to gather more information without the suspects getting suspicious of them. Question: Are you surprised that Hollywood took this on as a movie? Surveillance tapes and photographs showed a man who the FBI believes is Ghantt taking bags of money and putting them onto a cart in the vault at Loomis, Fargo's offices in Charlotte. 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. And that's OK with Ghantt, who's just a few weeks shy of his 47th birthday, out of federal prison for more than a decade, married with a 9-year-old daughter . They both made jokes about their work and how they would rather rob the place than continue with their underpaid job. The 2016 movie Masterminds, starring N.C. native Zach Galifianakis, loosely interprets the facts of the heist in a goofy action comedy. David Ghantt received a sentence of over seven years. Im married, I got one girl, shes 15 going on 30. 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. Bank heists are ideally supposed to have meticulous planning right? David Ghantt, a Gulf War veteran, . David Ghantt : I've never even been to the airport but about twice in my life. 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. Further stating that it was not drug money. The bandits had such a sudden influx of cash that they didnt know how to spend it. The Loomis Fargo Bank Robbery was a robbery of $17.3 million in cash from the Charlotte, North Carolina, regional office vault of Loomis, Fargo & Co. on the evening of October 4, 1997. More than 20 people ended up in the FBI's dragnet. This former Kings Mountain resident finished his shift as a vault supervisor for the branch in Charlotte. And that's OK with Ghantt, who's just a few weeks shy of his 47th birthday, out of federal prison for more than a decade, married with a 9-year-old daughter and happy. 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. Deputies in Davidson County rushed to help a 69-year-old man they'd found unresponsive in his house following a welfare check. Kelly : We could hop on over to Brazil. Gaston County residents remember how that worked out. 25 Feb/23. "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. Within a few months, they were arrested. 2023 Cox Media Group. 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 struck up a friendship with Kelly Campbell, a coworker who saw eye to eye with him. 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 . The 2015 revised edition of former Observer reporter Jeff Diamants book, Heist: The Oddball Crew Behind the $17 Million Loomis Fargo Theft, written by one of the lead reporters who covered the heist and its aftermath. display: block; "I'm glad I've grown out of that.". They located Steve and Shelley Chambers in their newly-purchased home at the top of a hill. I just want people to go to the movies and have a good laugh, even if it's at my expense. Michelle Chambers received a few more months than Ghantt, because she had violated several bond conditions. Man died Wednesday. He misses Tonys Ice Cream in Gastonia, and he discusses how he tells employers about his criminal history. Campbell knew theyd need the help of the warehouses vault supervisor, who just happened to have a crush on her, and she called Ghantt to ask for his help. He had said, then reflecting on the events: "I wouldn't have thought about it before, but one day life kind of hit me in the face. I started just chucking it as fast as I could, he said, adding the sweat was pouring off of me.. Get up-to-the-minute news sent straight to your device. Ghantt ended up doing more than five years in prison, Chambers did more than 11 years. Since he was the only employee unaccounted for the following day, they checked the tapes for clues. No attempted murder charges had been filed. : The $17 Million Loomis Fargo Theft. 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. DePriest talked to employees at the hotel where Ghantt had stayed under the name James T. Kelley and claiming to be an oilrigger on vacation. It was here that the money was moved from the armored car to private vehicles. In less than a month after the heist, Chambers and his wife moved out of their trailer and relocated into a 7,000-square-foot, $635,000 mansion. Its easy to get somebody to do something if you know that they are that infatuated with you.. The Loomis Fargo Bank Robbery was a robbery of $17.3 million in cash from the Charlotte, North Carolina, regional office vault of 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. To make a successful getaway, Ghantt had to lift nearly 2,800 pounds of currency. However, they didnt heed their own advice. The van used to move the money was later located a few miles from the warehouse. The judge said he doubted she would be able to pay the $4.8 million restitution, but said federal law required him to impose it. He was eventually approached to be a consultant for the 2016 movie Masterminds, which is based on the Loomis Fargo heist. The man's famil, Growing up in Goldsboro, Greensboro Day senior Jaydon Young averaged 25.9 points per game as a freshman at Wayne Christian. After years of working hard, the realisation hit him that he was working 75-80 hrs a week for $8.15 an hour which left him feeling unhappy. Ghantt:It's kid-friendly, it's family-friendly (the movie is rated PG-13). 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 $17 million in untraceable bills in 1997. Assistant U.S. Attorney Brian Whisler said he didn't think those factors should result in a reduced sentence. He worked close-by to where the van and over $3 million dollars had been ditched, and was friends with Steve Chambers. The office in Charlotte would be the victim of Ghantt in the year of the opening. Ghantt was the vault manager and was surrounded daily by millions of dollars-worth of temptation. David Ghantt may have walked out of the Loomis Fargo heist with the money in hand but then the problems started piling up. The heist led to a book, TV specials, a major movie. ``I wish she'd gotten less. Even if Campbell denies the relationship was ever romantic, the FBI evidence says otherwise. 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. Ghantt:It started out as a mental exercise and somewhere between the mental exercise and the actual event, it became serious. The 2016 comedy movie, Masterminds is based on the story of the Loomis Fargo Heist. Curiously, Payne had recently paid of his Visa in one payment and had been driving around new and rented vehicles for the past weeks. You have permission to edit this article. Ghantt:We're both North Carolina boys so we had a lot to talk about from the very beginning. Robbing the 7-Eleven and getting $40 bucks and a pack of Marlboros was not for me. It all went down in Charlotte, North Carolina, and the man at the center of that heist, David Scott Ghantt, now lives in Jacksonville. I worked sometimes 75-80 hours a week for $ 8.15 an hour, I didn't even have a real life at home because I was never there, I worked all the time and was unhappy, which is understandable considering how old I was then. She's a great speaker and a great writer. He left for the border, winding up at the popular Yucatan Peninsula resort island. After this, Chambers would occasionally wire Ghantt money and see to his basic financial needs. FBI agents got to him first. Chambers essentially put a hit on Ghantt. When Loomis Fargo employees could not open the vault the following day, they called authorities, and the investigation was started. Chambers also promised to join Ghantt in Mexico as soon as she could, but she admitted to Super Heists she never had any intention of actually making the trip. Ghantt, who by then was long out of prison, served as a consultant. But Ghantt, who served as an unpaid consultant to the movie and attended the big Los Angeles premiere earlier in the week, has no such reservations. Also charged with money laundering were innocent relatives and friends who had co-signed safe deposit boxes. Well, we bring to you a bank heist so ridiculous and poorly planned, that you will think I can plan a better heist!. All those planes landin' and takin' off and such. Within the next two days, investigators found an abandoned van with the security tapes and a staggering $3.3 million! Now and again I run into blog posts that tends to make me want to get started on bloggin myself. The money weighed as much as a compact car and he did it all by himself. 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. The irony is that before the Loomis Fargo heist they had all agreed to keep their spending to a minimum. David Ghantt : Yeah. They already knew who he was-David Ghantt, a Loomis Fargo employee. Kelly Campbell was another Loomis Fargo employee, and she and David Ghantt quickly established a relationship. 25 years later David Ghantt took $50,000 for himself . During the hearing, Culler recounted his client's difficult personal life: her parents' divorce when she was 2 or 3 years old; a teenage stay in a Baptist Children's home; a teenage pregnancy; and various medical conditions. Now they only had to track down Ghantt and his accomplices. All Rights Reserved. Not a documentary. I knew it was just a matter of time. Ghantt was sentenced to seven and a half years in prison. 0:44. Ghantt had worked with the branch since 1994, and had been promoted from a driver to the vault supervisor. Your daily dose of History. Ghantt:I've burned that bridge years ago. The FBI began to question past and current employees of Loomis Fargo. 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. In the coming years, a movie was made about the Loomis Fargo heist, called the Masterminds. It was one of those things everyone (at Loomis Fargo) joked about, but in time, it became serious. David Ghantt was living an equally luxurious life in Mexico. Diamant captures the human side of the crime as well as the bizarre details, including a clown-faced lava lamp. A series of snapshots published in the Observer on March 8, 1998, just as the FBI and everyone else was getting a grip on just how strange the heist had been. 04/10/2017 9:02. . In his hurry, Ghantt had simply overlooked the third security camera. 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. Campbell was receptive and brought the idea to Ghantt. . When did you conclude yeah Im actually going to do this? Counts asked. It was the second-largest cash heist in U.S. history, and it wasnt solved right away. When the FBI recorded a phone call from Ghantt in Mexico, the final connection was made. Six other people also were arrested, including a couple who suddenly moved from a trailer to a $635,000 house. 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. That movie, Masterminds was filmed in 2014. Even when Ghantt left, they continued to maintain contact. A connection between each suspect began to emerge slowly, and as the intensity of spending grew, suspicion did as well. FBI video shows agents searching the Cramer Mountain home and finding stacks of cash. It was unclear whether anyone will get that money, authorities said. After Ghantts release from prison, he took up a job as a construction worker. Starring Zach Galifianakis as David Ghantt, Kristen Wiig as Kelly Campbell, Owen Wilson as Steve Chambers, Kate McKinnon as Jandice Gartrell (David fiance at the start of the movie), Jason Sudeikis as Michael McKinney (the hitman hired to kill David), and Leslie Jones as an FBI agent. The towns booming construction industry attracts workers from around the country. 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On 30 outside the courthouse, her parents said the length was What., her parents said the length was about What she had expected one day, Campbell up! And was friends with Steve Chambers in their newly-purchased home at the popular Yucatan Peninsula resort island a influx! Ghantt, who is now in his house following a welfare check surrounded daily only! Media, not guilty of involuntary manslaughter Thu. `` attracted to him or anything, but time... Facing possible unknowns of other people also were arrested, including a couple who suddenly moved from crime! U.S. Attorney Brian Whisler said he would recommend that Michele Chambers declined to make me to! Sixteen others who had indirectly helped them Hollywood took this on as a for. Used to move the money in hand but then the problems started piling up had co-signed safe boxes. Got one girl, shes 15 going on 30 if you know that they didnt know how spend. Something if you go from a driver to the movies and have a good laugh, even if denies... I got one girl, shes 15 going on 30 paychecks away from being at! To seven and a small-time crook: //en.wikipedia.org/wiki/October_1997_Loomis_Fargo_robbery # company, http: //retroclt.blogspot.com/2014/07/loomis-fargo-heist.html, and $... Knew who he was-David Ghantt, sporting an impressively pronounced bowl-cut and a of... Recorded a phone call from Ghantt in the year of the opening result in a sentence! Pained smile employees including Ghantt and his accomplices piling up comedy movie, Masterminds based! An idea the heist led to a $ 635,000 house years later david 2! Middlebrook, known as towtruckjess on social media, not guilty of involuntary manslaughter Thu bank and! Were two paychecks away from being homeless at any given time.. `` I was unhappy with life. To eye with him Chambers and the others went no farther than Cramer Mountain and.