new mexico state police vin inspection; does white vinegar lower blood pressure; prudential tcfd report His partners, who planned to stay behind, agreed to send him his full cut of the money after the heat from investigators had died down. WebTwo days after the heist, the FBI found the missing van with $3.3 million of cash left in it. Her case closes in 2025. Basically, he needed a score to make his problems go away. WebPerry identified the other six people arrested as Steve and Michelle Chambers; Kelly Jane Campbell, a former Loomis employee; Michael L. McKinney; Thomas Nathan Grant; Inside without a hiccup, he placedthe $17 million cash, in bags that altogether weighed more than 2,700 pounds, onto carts and into a van. I said, It comes down to picking the right day, and the right time of the month, and all that good stuff. I even told her, It wouldnt be all that difficult. I flew from Atlanta to New Orleans. WebThis real-life . Was Loomis Fargo heist real? Michelle, meanwhile, purchased new breasts for herself, along with a $43,000 diamond ring and a new convertible BMW Z3. Then, keeping with the plan, Ghantt took $50,000 (the maximum that could by law be taken across the border without further authorization) with him and left for Mexico, winding up at the popular Yucatan Peninsula resort-island of Cozumel. She laughed for like 45 minutes. wydd radio pittsburgh; dumb military bases David Ghantt was portrayed by Zackary Hatfield. The figures can be astounding. We were two paychecks away from being homeless at any given time.. Then check out another bank robber who inspired a movie, John Wojtowicz. This robbery was the second-largest cash robbery on U.S. soil at the time, as only seven months earlier, on March 29, 1997 in Jacksonville, Florida, Phillip Noel Johnson stole $18.8 million from the Loomis Fargo armored vehicle he was driving.October 1997 Loomis The Chambers, however, didnt fit in with the other members of the gated community. 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. 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. But as he later recalled to the media, as soon as he stepped through those big-box doors, he realized he was flush with cash, and he didnt need to shop at Walmart ever again. All of the defendants except for one pleaded guilty and accepted their sentences. Youre better at planning bank heists than David Ghantt. A painting dubbed Velvet Elvis, which came out of the Cramer Mountain mansion owned by Steve Chambers, became notorious in the case. He completed his prison sentence in November 2006. 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. As it turns out, the heist did in fact go as well as you might expect. The reason Ghantt got involved wasalways the same: he realized that he couldnt make his credit card payments, and was thus unable to support his family. 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. Another accomplice, Eric Payne, took a three week, unpaid vacation, had his wife quit her job as a receptionist and bought a new Harley Davidson, Chevy Tahoe, big-screen TV, computer and new trailer. Officials suspected that the extravagant purchases stemmed from the fact that all involved got far more money than they anticipated and literally didnt know how to spend or get rid of it, which is perhaps backed up by the fact that Chambers wife once walked into a Belmont Wachovia with $200,000 in a briefcase wanting to know how much she could deposit without the bank reporting it to officials. Naturally, Ghantt started to run out of cash and turned to Chambers, who was annoyed by his requests for more money. The FBI was also surveilling Kelly Campbell and followed her to a pay phone that she used to place calls to Mexico. Less than a month later, the family moved from a double-wide to a 7,000-square-foot, $635,000 home in a gated country club community in Gaston County. Him and I still talk every now and then. Because Ghantt was the only employee who wasnt there that morning, he became the obvious suspect. Michelle Chambers paid off only $27,000. Once the hitman Chambers had hired arrived in Mexico, he found that he couldnt bring himself to kill Ghantt. real kelly campbell loomis fargo heist. They left behind the cash they couldnt fit in their cars. They also purchased tanning beds, a pool table, a Harley-Davidson Road King motorcycle and all kinds of expensive furniture. Chambers served 11 years before being released. It affects everybody different. But as Ghantt admitted, the film took some liberties with specific details and characters to make the film funnier. Ghantt, meanwhile, had spent most of his money at a resort in Cancun, where he was being told he looked a lot like the guy that stole $20 million from a bank. Pocketing $50,000 for himself, that man, named David Ghantt, hopped into a car of his own and headed towards Mexico. Its hilarious. He stayed at a luxury hotel and took scuba diving lesson. Chambers had known enough to insist that no one blows through a ton of cash immediately after the robbery, but once he actually had his hands on the money, he couldnt follow his own advice. The only defendant to not plead guilty, Chambers's attorney Jeff Guller, was found guilty of money laundering and sentenced to eight years in prison. Because the money in the vault was largely from banks, the crime was technically a bank robbery and thus a federal offense. In spite of Chambers assurance that the money was, you know, totally not illegally acquired, the teller remained suspicious, especially because the stacks of cash still had Loomis Fargo wrappers on them. Cool, I say. 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. Besides her prison sentence, Campbell must undergo mental health and drug treatment and spend two years in a supervised release program. The morning after the height, employees of Loomis Fargo realized they couldnt open the vault. In hindsight, it doesnt surprise me a bit, Ghantt says, a bitter laugh catching in his throat. Across the border in Mexico, Ghantt was also living it up. In 2020, the television show Super Heists portrayed the heist in Episode 3, "Van Full of Dollars". The FBI knew they needed to make their move. Ghantt was joking in the breakroom with fellow Loomis Fargo employee Kelly Campbell. Ghantt worked at Loomis Fargos regional office vault in Charlotte. Loomis Fargo Defendants Owe as Much as They Stole in 1997, FILE - Kelly Campbell, one of the 21 people convicted for their involvement in the $17 million Loomis Fargo heist, awaits sentencing for her part in the theft at her mobile home near Mount Holly, N.C. on Aug 16, 1999. All rights reserved. We got to the end of the day, and he was acting like he wanted to linger. Campbell made her way back to Charlotte (Ghantt was told by Chambers to head to Atlanta and catch a flight from there), where the money had since been moved into barrels and into another van. In the film, Jason Sudeikis plays a sadistic assassin hired to knock off Ghantt, who befriends him. More than 95% of the cash that stolen was accounted for. And going to see the Mayan ruins. This article will teach you more about the SAT subject testsasync src='https://pagead2.googlesyndication.com/pagead/js/adsbygoogle.js' and help you decide whether you should take them. Generally, the events of the film are fairly close to reality when they follow the broad details of the case. They kept several furnishings from the previous owners, including a painting of Elvis Presley on black velvet. Before he decided to steal $17 million from the bank, Ghantt had worked for years as a relatively taciturn and compliant employee. But thanks in part to the film, the outlandish story of David Ghannt and the Loomis Fargo heist will surely live on for years to come. Check out never-before-seen content, free digital evidence kits, and much more! Campbell used part of her share of the money to buy a Toyota Sienna minivan in two cash installments. But even though he worked for a company that regularly moved millions of dollars, David Ghantt himself was underpaid. Two more defendants in the $17 million Loomis Fargo & Co. robbery last year have agreed to plead guilty, Steven Chambers and Kelly Jane Campbell, also are charged with plotting to kill Ghantt. If you want me to leave, Ill leave. Then, Ghantt went into another room. Chambers and his wife Michele moved out of a trailer and into a luxury mansion in a nice neighborhood. Ghantt was working a late shift, and just after 6:30 p.m., his coworkers were packing up and heading for home. So Chambers decided to solve the problem by putting a hit on Ghantt. Theres no way to get it back, Butcher told The Charlotte Observer. Inside the truck, they found Ghantt's ring and surmised this was a sign of Ghantt's intention to end his relationship with his wife. Robbing the 7-Eleven and getting $40 bucks and a pack of Marlboros was not for me. They would then load as much cash as they could carry into a van. To find out more about how the thieves got caught and how long they landed behind bars, tune in the Super Heists on CNBC on Monday at 10 p.m. ET/PT. Will Mcintyre/The LIFE Images Collection/Getty ImagesMichele Chambers 1998 BMW for sale following the prosecutions of the Loomis Fargo heist conspirators. $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. So yeah, Im kind of proud of it.. Ghantt, meanwhile, was losing his patience and starting to make threats. Its noteworthy to mention that although she denies an affair, FBI phone taps have proved otherwise, according to an article written for AMW Magazine. Thatd be the time to do it, Ghantt recalls. Over the next months, Ghantt, Campbell, and Chambers developed a plan. Ghantt, in order to conserve this money, curtailed his spending. Two days after the heist, the FBI found the missing van with $3.3 million of cash left in it. Even still, he was 27, married and struggling to provide for his family. His name was Corey. Most high schools offer a variety of history classes, so make sure youre taking the right ones for you. On October 6, they found the van with everything that Chambers had left behind, including Ghanttsgun and a clear picture of his face on video, which was identified by supervisors. The 5 Strategies You Must Be Using to Improve 160+ SAT Points, How to Get a Perfect 1600, by a Perfect Scorer, Free Complete Official SAT Practice Tests. Ghantt, his former co-worker Kelly Campbell and her friends Steve and Michelle Chambers carried out the Loomis Fargo heist on Oct. 4, 1997. Only a nickel on every dollar have been collected so far. David Ghantt attends the after party for the Premiere Of Relativity Media's "Masterminds" on September 26, 2016 in Hollywood, California. On September 12, 1997, six men robbed the Dunbar Armored facility on Mateo St. in Downtown Los Angeles, California of US$18.9 million (equivalent to $30.5 million in 2020). Campbell left her job in the summer of 1997, but she would later use Ghantts feelings for her to her own advantage to get him to agree to carry out the multi-million-dollar heist. I was looking at small sailboats and theyre not cheap, he tells me. At that same time, Steve was growing sick of the calls to send more money to Ghantt, and was looking for a way to end that issue. In total, 24 people were convicted and all but one of the After his release, Ghantt took a job as a construction worker and was eventually brought on as a consultant for the 2016 movie Masterminds, based on the Loomis Fargo Heist. 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. Given the presence of the surveillance tapes and a gun belonging to Ghantt, they started with Ghantts phone and pager records and discovered a pattern they attributed to an accomplice. 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. 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. Masterminds is a 2016 American comedy film based on the October 1997 Loomis Fargo Robbery in North Carolina. I hear her typing. For the New York State assemblyman, see. Other noteworthy purchases included a diamond ring and Rolex for themselves, tanning beds and big-screen TVs for their home and breast implants for Chambers wife. WebFILE - 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 Eventually, Ghantt would return to the United States and the full sum would be split up between the conspirators. Tickle Me Kaczynski: How the Inventor of the Ultimate Elmo Toy Became a Unabomber Suspect, The So-Called Female Delusion Calculator Doesnt Add Up, I Wore Magnetic Underwear for a Week to See If It Would Give Me a Boner of Steel, A Highly Questionable Cultural History of Richard Geres Ass Gerbil. He was like OK, yeah, we can do that, she recalled. WebWho was involved in the Loomis Fargo robbery? About 20 ago, Campbell sent him a letter of apology, but he never responded. When neighbors asked where they got their money, Steve said hed played in the NFL. The plan was for Ghantt to commit the robbery and then quickly leave the country for Mexico but to leave the bulk of the cash with Chambers. speedway of nations manchester 2021. rossignol skis experience 88 Although the FBI investigation was able to quickly connect Ghantt to Campbell, connecting Ghantt to Chambers was a more difficult task. wydd radio pittsburgh; dumb military bases From there, the money was moved from the company vehicle to private vehicles. There was one problem: he forgot to remove the tape from the third security camera. Also charged were several innocent relatives that the robbers had enlisted to help get safety deposit boxes in various banks. 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. Criminals dont usually get high-paying jobs after leaving prison. But neither of those things would matter after he met Kelly Campbell. Loomis Fargo employees could not open the vault the next morning and called the police. I was working sometimes 75-80 hours a week at $8.15 an hour. Lindy Hop: The Dance That Defined The Golden Age of Jazz, Inside The Unsolved Disappearance Of Jennifer Kesse, What Stephen Hawking Thinks Threatens Humankind The Most, 27 Raw Images Of When Punk Ruled New York, Join The All That's Interesting Weekly Dispatch, David Ghantt attends the 2016 after party for the Hollywood premiere of. He became the target of a nationwide FBI manhunt and was arrested five months later near the Mexican resort of Cozumel. Hayley Milliman is a former teacher turned writer who blogs about education, history, and technology. In addition to his phone calls with Ghantt, Chambers began extravagantly spending the money, even though the co-conspirators had agreed to lay low for a year or two. I felt cornered and one day the joking in the break room about robbing the place suddenly didnt seem so far-fetched.. After a couple of weeks, Ghantt and the rest of the heist team were ready to strike. While Ghantt moved to Mexico to let things cool down after the heist, his robbery cohorts stayed in North Carolina with the bulk of the money. Where did the masterminds live after the heist? To make a successful getaway, Ghantt had to lift nearly 2,800 pounds of currency. We need to set up some way for me to get my money. She said, We got it all worked out.

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