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. 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. Only a nickel on every dollar have been collected so far. Accompanying her was Steve Chambers, who, though unemployed, had recently moved . Its attracted workers like Ghantt. And Kelly thought he was funny. "Everything's gonna be all right," she told him. First, they tapped the Chambers phone, and began listening in on February 11th, 1998. Agents raided safe deposit boxes, where they recovered more than $11 million. The Loomis case is another example where the amount of restitution ordered vs. what is actually paid are two dramatically different numbers. Its said the current owner now has it in storage in Phoenix, Arizona. Over the next two weeks, David thought about it. The plan was to exit through the building's electronic back gate, which consisted of horizontal metal plates that opened at the touch of a button. 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 world is full of unexplained events, strange mysteries, and mysterious legends. Low 46F. On Oct. 5, the Loomis heist celebrates its 25th birthday. ", Johnson said, "Yeah, that's it. In total, 24 people were convicted and all but one of the accused pleaded guilty. 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. And if that gives people out there a little bit of hope, then Ive served my purpose on this earth.. David didn't appreciate her tone. Campbell used part of her share of the money to buy aToyota Siennaminivanin two cash installments. JACKSONVILLE, Fla. This month marked 25 years since one of the biggest armored car heists in U.S. history. But he wasn't finished. 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. 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. Pink, Mr. Blue, Mr. Orange, Mr. Blonde. It wasn't how much you stole that mattered most; it was that you had stolen in the first place. Winds ENE at 5 to 10 mph.. Clear skies. 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. In the parking lot, David sat in his pickup truck smoking a cigarette and waving good-bye as the trainee drove home. Campbell, a mother of two, was in the process of divorcing He quickly found out when you have money, you just have different problems, Wydra said. Aprs de nombreux seconds rles comiques au cinma, elle parvient percer en co-crivant et tenant le rle principal de la This station is part of Cox Media Group Television. ", "I don't need any more friends," she'd shot back. When Ghantt called Campbell however, the FBI was able to track his location, and arrested him with the help of the Mexican police onMarch 1, 1998. Conversations about stealing from the company weren't rare for Loomis employees. In fact, he had recently finished a book about the FBI and felt it provided insight into the agency's investigative techniques, insight he thought could help the little gang succeed. They knew Steve Chambers had worked as an informant in the past, and were nervous he would smell out an undercover. The $17 million Loomis Fargo heist in Charlotte, North Carolina, was the second largest armored car robbery in U.S. history. The actual crime itself required none of Hollywood's imagination. As it neared its end, David stealthily left the vault door ajar. What that says is, We will never forgive you for what youve done.. Next month, Payne will back in the Charlotte federal courthouse, this time to be sentenced from weapons and methamphetamine trafficking charges. Driving away, he said he felt a mix of fear, confidence and excitement that he outsmarted the FBI. For the defendants in the Loomis Fargo heist, its allure was irresistible. Ghantt went to Mexico leaving the money with his cohorts, thinking that he could get his share back when he needed it. 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. 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. Many of the lesser players in the conspiracy have been the most effective in paying their debts. The October 4 shift was lasting longer than expected, due to delays involving pickups and deliveries. He said at first, they were very proud of what they had been able to do. 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. You have permission to edit this article. Ghantts spending in Mexico was extravagant at first. David and the trainee left the warehouse. The money weighed as much as a compact car and he did it all by himself. In David's eyes, Johnson's big mistake was that he did it alone. In this outrageously entertaining book, Jeff Diamant, the Charlotte Observer's lead reporter on the case, offers the definitive inside account of this astonishing. them. she asked. Former Loomis employee David Scott Ghantt is accused of stealing the money. After marrying Tammy in 1992, he worked fueling airplanes at the airport in Hilton Head, South Carolina. Instead he became paranoid, especially after Steve Chambers put a contract out on his life. - 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. When some friends stole a stop sign from a busy intersection, David made them put it back. He and co-worker Kelly Campbell, 27, had developed a close relationship and were spending time together outside of work. The affidavit described Chambers as a former FBI informant who had provided information on another Loomis armored car robbery that never materialized. The government does not run debtors prisons, says U.S. He realized his life wouldn't improve unless he did something drastic. High around 65F. 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? The FBI was inadvertently aided by the gang members extravagant spending. While Ghantt trusted Chambers enough to leave his cut behind, Chambers had other plans. An additional tip reached the FBI when Michelle Chambers made a large deposit at a bank. 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. He called Kelly to say he was coming and hopped into the driver's seat of the loaded Loomis van. The van used to move the money was later located a few miles from the warehouse. Current price is $11.49, Original price is $14.99. By using this website, you accept the terms of our Visitor Agreement and Privacy Policy, and understand your options regarding Ad Choices. She sounded incredulous. 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. "I was unhappy with my life. David Ghantt was just an average Joe with an average low-wage job. Two days later, when the FBI found the Loomis Fargo armored van, they discovered almost $3.3 million in cash left in the back of the van; it was later discovered that the thieves had miscalculated the sheer bulk of the small denomination currency, and that they simply left the cash that they could not take with them in the back of the van. The government does not run debtors prisons, says U.S. I ride motorcycles and fish -- normal guy, Ghantt told Counts. Records show the government has garnished his Social Security checks. The investigation ultimately resulted in the conviction of eight people directly involved, as well as sixteen others who had indirectly helped them. Restitution is a familiar part of sentencing in federal court. There are many robberies registered in the history of America, but the Loomis Fargo Robbery is known to be the second largest robbery in the United States. The biggest restitution numbers for victims of financial crimes generally involve Ponzi schemes or sweepstakes fraud, not cash thefts. Only a nickel on every dollar have been collected so far. Enforcement of this policy is at the "About fourteen or fifteen million dollars," he said. At that point, Kelly and David had known each other for two years. In one case, the restitution for a Loomis defendant may be a moving target. Curiously, Payne had recently paid of his Visa in one payment and had been driving around new and rented vehicles for the past weeks. 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. We also use third-party cookies that help us analyze and understand how you use this website. Learning from this error, David planned to leave the stolen money behind with his coconspirators while he fled to Mexico. A parrot tattoo on her right ankle. Unexplained Mysteries and Strange Things,Cool Interesting stuff has been online since early 2011. Punishment needs to be fair and realistic. 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. Getting restitution, its like pulling teeth.. Her case closes in 2025. Spunk. 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. The Loomis defendants face no additional legal jeopardy for not paying off their debts. But things didnt quite work out that way. And they could barely afford the minimum payments, given the power bills, phone bills, car insurance bills, and home payments they had to meet. 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. I think if you remember some of her early photographic opportunities, shall we put it that way, she was sort of laughing, not seeming to take it seriously.. 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. 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 . According to Butcher, Campbells last official payment came in June 2021 when the government appears to have seized a tax refund of $81.24. All of the defendants are out of prison -- the longest sentence was 11 years. You can seize property. Uh-oh, it looks like your Internet Explorer is out of date. Winds light and variable. Its in the ether. If it didn't work out, he could return to the United States later with a new identity. 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. Theres no way to get it back, Butcher told The Charlotte Observer. Federal law stops government collection efforts 20 years after a defendant leaves prison. What that says is, We will never forgive you for what youve done. 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.. Asked the purpose of his visit, Johnson had replied, "To visit friends. She'd left Loomis in November 1996 to take a job elsewhere as a security guard. 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. Federal law stops government collection efforts 20 years after a defendant leaves prison. The site features a collection of unexplained, strange and odd mysteries. remove comments that contain spam, advertising, vulgarity, threats The FBI began to question past and current employees of Loomis Fargo. Change), You are commenting using your Facebook account. He is a graduate of Yale and has worked for the Connecticut Post, the Associated Press, and the Palm Beach Post. Next month, Payne will back in the Charlotte federal courthouse, this time to be sentenced from weapons and methamphetamine trafficking charges. Some of that money is just gone. Loomis Fargo, the nation's largest privately held armored- car company, used vans to transport hundreds of millions of dollars a day belonging to banks and other businesses, stocking automated teller machines and storing money in the Loomis vault between deliveries. Investigators also found Ghantts pickup truck, abandoned at the warehouse. Even with several vehicles, they underestimated how much space they would need and they had to leave $3 million behind. 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. 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. The strange story of Mary Reeser Spontaneous Human Combustion. I was relieved emotionally because I knew there was a good chance my luck might run out, Ghantt said. "What would it take to make you do it?". That was taking the long view. Loomis Fargo heist: 25 years later While David Ghantt trusted Steve Chambers enough to leave his cut behind, Chambers had other plans. As beads of sweat formed under his red hair, he loaded up another cart and repeated the process. For example, Steve Chambers and his wife were living in a. 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. He was signed by the Minnesota Vikings as an undrafted free agent in 2002. The next day, before Mike was able to leave the country, the FBI arrested him in his hotel room. What purpose does that serve other than to denigrate that person into abject poverty?. Meanwhile, Ghantt's gang spent wildly and paid their family members and friends to hide money. He knew they were nervous outside waiting for him, but he also knew he wouldn't stop stealing until he had taken everything. "I don't have time to mess with you. A more immediate need was securing help to move the stolen money to safety the night of the crime. Guller was the attorney for Steven Chambers, who came up with the original idea for the Loomis theft. But on Oct. 4, 1997, that no longer mattered and Ghantt took off with $17.3 million. The hillbilly outfit did more that just drop a few breadcrumbs. And they hit the jackpot -- FBI video shows agents recovering most of the stolen cash. 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. Michelle Chambers paid off only $27,000. The unsolved mystery of the Van Meter Visitor a winged creature! As a privately owned web site, we reserve the right to edit or The stated plan was for her to move to Mexico to be with him after the theft. Campbell used to work for Loomis and continued the friendship with Ghantt, eventually hooking him up with Chambers. 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 . The same applies to trolling, the use of multiple aliases, or From there, the money was moved from the armored car to private vehicles. Diamant, a journalist who reported on the case at the time, goes into meticulous detail on how the heist was pulled off and its aftermath. David would simply empty the vault and deliver the money to the others. Afterward, she and David would talk just occasionally on the phone. He had since held one low-paying job after another. Kelly Campbell, 29, a former company employee, entered guilty pleas earlier to bank larceny, money laundering and conspiracy to commit murder charges. 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. 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 trainee didn't yet know how the place worked, a fact David planned to use to his advantage. He worked close-by to where the van and over $3 million dollars had been ditched, and was friends with Steve Chambers. To visit friends.". But with Kelly's new idea on the table, several dark realities converged on him. In addition, he also rented Mike his own apartment, paid him $400/weekly and bought him a gun. So the original gang was all totally shocked, Wydra said. personal/abusive/condescending attacks on other users or goading He angrily hung up the phone at Loomis, Fargo & Co., his soon-to-be former employer in Charlotte, North Carolina. You can have your whole career and not have a case like that. David Ghantt (Zach Galifianakis), an employee of Loomis Fargo, robbed his own vault, left the $17.3 million in cash with his co-conspirators, Kelly Campbell (Kristen Wiig) and Steve Chambers (Owen Wilson) and fled the country to Mexico. Nathan, Steves cousin, was found in a mobile home the Chambers had abandoned. Jeff Diamant was a reporter for the Charlotte Observer when the heist took place. Ghantt reported to Chambers that his supply of money was running low, but Chambers sent Ghantt just $8,000. The woman on the phone was Kelly Jane Campbell, and David had a mad crush on her. Well they were in some sense celebrities, Gronquist said. He deserved better. 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. In Gastonia, David would run into high-school classmates who had never struck him as especially smart. He allegedly hired a hitman to take Ghantt out, tying up the ultimate loose end. ALSO READ: 14-year-old boy robbed at gunpoint while waiting for bus in east. Criminals dont usually get high-paying jobs after leaving prison. Inside the truck, they found Ghantts ring and surmised this as a sign of Ghantts intention to end his relationship with his wife. 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. 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. Discover the truth behind unexplained ancient mysteries, UFO mysteries, secret locations and paranormal events. The supervisor liked him and gave him the job. 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. Hed never really been in trouble, he wasnt a career criminal, said retired FBI agent John Wydra. David was supposed to be showing him the ropes of the job, which included cash pickups and deliveries. Ghantt was the vault manager and was surrounded daily by millions of dollars worth of temptation. Fill in your details below or click an icon to log in: You are commenting using your WordPress.com account. On the evening ofOctober 4, 1997, the Loomis Fargo & Co branch in Charlotte, North Carolina was in the process of being plundered. 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. 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. Its a once-in-a-lifetime thing, and I went down and talked to them, got to meet Zach Galifianakis and the director, Ghantt said. These (Loomis) guys, not so much.. White-collar criminals are pretty good at hiding their money, she said. The FBI heard about the plot and agents knew they could no longer wait. Records show the government has garnished his Social Security checks. 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. Burks was also ordered to serve 15 years in prison, limiting his ability to balance his books. In order to receive more evidence, the FBI decided to listen. It has a certain feel, a smell and weight to it. It all seemed unfair. Javascript is not enabled in your browser. 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. Steve's a serious guy.". Steve decided to send his cousin, Nathan with money down to Mexico as a ruse, while Mike the bodyguard would follow behind to take care of Ghantt. 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. Money. He put on his best pair of jeans, a button-down shirt, and his nicest cowboy boots. Chambers had no intention of wiring any money to Ghantt and intended to have him killed to keep him from implicating the others. Not every agent has a case like that, he said. Butcher says the federal courts in the Western District of North Carolina have never handled a case quite like Loomis. Learn about careers at Cox Media Group. (John D. Simmons/The Charlotte Observer via AP) The police almost immediately called theFBI, since 95% of the money handled at the facility was owned by banks. Outside of the building, Ghantt met up with Campbell, Chambers, and others who were involved in the plot, and drove off to a printing business called Reynolds & Reynolds in northwest Charlotte.

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