I knew that if we could stay off the radar for about a year, we could basically live a vacation life, Ghantt said. #CLXGaming#CLXRa#evokethegods 1 2 Did you know that the SAT offers subject exams, too? Kelly Campbell is scheduled to be sentenced in October. $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. Anonymous tips had the FBI monitoring Chambers calls. Masterminds which opens nationwide today (though youd be hard pressed to know that given the decided lack of promotion) is proof again that all the talent in the world cannot salvage a bad script, and not even a good screenwriter can make up for terrible performances. Here, he amps up the most obnoxious excesses of his entire cast and lets their grating bad-improv skills run amok. Follow him on twitter: @MSainat1, 20 Years Later: Masterminds of One of the Largest Bank Heists in U.S. History, The CIAs Changing Take on the Climate Emergency, Emancipation, Hollywoods Best Civil War Film Ever. 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. In October of 1997, I was a vault supervisor for armored truck company Loomis Fargo, when I made off with $17.3 million. 25th anniversary of the incredible Loomis Fargo bank heist | wcnc.com Prosecutors also resisted Culler's efforts to downplay Michele Chambers' role in the theft. U kunt uw keuzes te allen tijde wijzigen door te klikken op de links 'Privacydashboard' op onze sites en in onze apps. They called the police, who brought in the FBI, classifying the heist as a bank robbery. Coverage of the latest true crime stories and famous cases explained, as well as the best TV shows, movies and podcasts in the genre. He had never been in trouble with the law. And drastic it was. After this look at David Ghantt and the Loomis Fargo heist, read about a more successful robbery, the Antwerp diamond heist. The FBI knew they needed to make their move. Here's whatGhantt says now about the heist that madethe "Cramer Mountain Hillbillies" famous and changed him forever. Over the next months, Ghantt, Campbell, and Chambers developed a plan. Instead, the bandits just started throwing as much money as they could into the van until they couldnt fit anymore. Q: You came to the North Carolina mountains during Hurricane Irma, but what do you miss about Gastonia? David Scott Ghantt was the vault supervisor at the regional branch of Loomis, Fargo & Co. in Charlotte, North Carolina. [citation needed], The defendants were the targets of many barbed jokes in Charlotte and across the country, in part because of their extravagant spending. Loomis Fargo employees could not open the vault the next morning and called the police. A lot of people ask me, Oh, do you have any regrets? No, not really. The next day, the Chambers, Campbell, and some other notable parties were arrested in Charlotte. An FBI criminal investigation ultimately resulted in the arrest and conviction of eight people directly involved in the heist, as well as sixteen others who had indirectly helped them, and the recovery of approximately 88% of the stolen money. Ghantts wife was reportedly nothing like the bizarre, robotic fiance character in the film, for instance. David Ghantt (@DavidGhantt) / Twitter Assistant U.S. Attorney Brian Whisler said he didn't think those factors should result in a reduced sentence. SAT is a registered trademark of the College Entrance Examination BoardTM. (renews at {{format_dollars}}{{start_price}}{{format_cents}}/month + tax). In 2020, the television show Super Heists portrayed the heist in Episode 3, "Van Full of Dollars". David Ghantt (@DavidGhantt) is a man that still holds the record for the second largest bank heist on American Soil. Wanneer u onze sites en apps gebruikt, gebruiken we, gebruikers authenticeren, veiligheidsmaatregelen toepassen en spam en misbruik voorkomen, en, gepersonaliseerde advertenties en content weergeven op basis van interesseprofielen, de effectiviteit meten van gepersonaliseerde advertenties en content, en, onze producten en services ontwikkelen en verbeteren. The True Story of David Ghantt and the Loomis Fargo Heist, Get Free Guides to Boost Your SAT/ACT Score, check out some of these books on our AP History Exam reading list. 'Sister Wives': Everything We Know About David Woolley's Late Wife In fact, David Ghantt was about to commit the heist of a lifetime. Collections. Get up-to-the-minute news sent straight to your device. Though she agreed to cooperate with the government when she pleaded guilty to bank larceny and money laundering in August 1998, Michele Chambers didn't tell the FBI she still had the ring until December, when she turned it in. They also bought a BMW Z3 with cash and made several large purchases, including a $600 cigar store Indian. Authorities said they hired a man named Michael McKinney to meet up with Ghantt and kill him, under the guise that he was planning to give Ghantt more of the money he was owed. Authorities say Steve. He is an uncomplicated man stuck in a monotonous life. ``I'm glad she didn't get nine years,' said Sandra Floyd, her mother. The pair began to daydream about whether they could really pull off the heist. You may email him here, follow him on Twitter, or listen to his weekly TV podcast, Podjiba. Defense attorney Jim Griffin laid out his team's side of the case to the jury for more than two hours, arguing . After finding himself in prison he made a concious choice to do things differently. Sarah Hartsfield: Brother of David Bragg killed by Chambers County "Wells Fargo and Loomis forming armored car company", Last edited on 21 February 2023, at 16:45, Learn how and when to remove this template message, painting of Elvis Presley on black velvet, "FindACase | United States of America v. Steven Eugene Chambers", "The Unperfect Crime | New Dominion Pictures", "Sunday Evening/Late Night September 9, 2001", "Loomis Fargo heist: Q&A with guy who stole $17 million", "MASTERMINDS - Movie Production NotesCinemaReview.com", Ghantt and other gang members arrested in March 1998, Steven Chambers released from prison; announces he is a "retired criminal", https://en.wikipedia.org/w/index.php?title=October_1997_Loomis_Fargo_robbery&oldid=1140756292, Overcoming the mindset that led to the part David Ghantt played in the Loomis robbery and how he started on a new path was the subject of the book, Within days of the robbery, the case was depicted on the television criminal reporting show, An expanded two-hour special episode of the crime documentary series. Creative Insights. https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=9LCR9zyGkbo. A movie based on the heist starring Zach Galifianakis, Kristen Wiig, Owen Wilson, Jason Sudeikis, Kate McKinnon and Leslie Jones and directed by Jared Hess (the guy who made Napoleon Dynamite) is out now on Blu-ray and DVD. You'd be amazed at how much stress you can relieve yourself from in your life by just taking 20 or so minutes a day for yourself and just letting the world go. Not only was Ghantt the only unaccounted for employee the morning after the heist, there was also footage of Ghantt moving the cash into the back of the Loomis Fargo van. Dont come to me for a treasure map, Ill put it to you that way., Michael Sainatos writing has appeared in the Guardian, Miami Herald, Baltimore Sun, Denver Post, Buffalo News, the Hill, Alternet, and several other publications . Ask below and we'll reply! Because Ghantt was the only employee who wasnt there that morning, he became the obvious suspect. (Ghantt works as a heavy machine operator in the construction industry.). 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. And Ghantt hadnt really thought about the physical challenge of moving such a large sum of money. 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. Campbell was another employee at Loomis Fargo and she and Ghantt quickly struck up a relationship, one that Campbell denies was ever romantic though FBI evidence says otherwise, and one that continued after she left the company. Nine other relatives and friends were also charged with money laundering, as they had co-signed for safe deposit boxes used to store some of the money; prosecutors opted to charge them on the grounds that they should have known the money was obtained illegally. 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BBC Motion Gallery. By comparison, Ghantt served seven years in prison and was fined $26,000. Once Ghantt loaded the large haul from the vaultwhich could have been close to $20 millioninto a truck, he planned to drive to a second location, then head straight to the airport and fly to Mexico. Authorities had the receipt and had known it was missing. Thats going to be your life for quite some time, typically. It was over. After meeting up with Chambers, Campbell, and some other co-conspirators, Ghantt hightailed it to Mexico with $50,000 in cash in his car. Jared Hess directed Masterminds, and god bless the guy, but if Gentlemen Broncos and Nacho Libre were not proof enough that Napoleon Dynamite was a fluke, Masterminds should seal the deal. Going to prison helped me grow up as a human being. I stole $17 million, and Zach Galifianakis played me in a movie. At the time it was the second largest cash robbery ever to happen on US soil. It was nearly the perfect crime, but while Ghantt fled to Mexico to lay low, his partners lavish spendingand their own alleged plans for murderwould ultimately be the groups demise. Masterminds (2016) - Zach Galifianakis as David Ghantt - IMDb Finally, in March 1998, the FBI traced a call from Ghantts phone and he was arrested in Mexico. Chambers promised to wire him money in Mexico until the investigation blew over and Ghantt could return to North Carolina. . The Loomis Fargo robbery was one of the largest heists in history, with $2 million in stolen funds still unaccounted for. For a time, it was nicknamed "the hillbilly heist" because nearly all of the major players in the case came from small towns around Charlotte. 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, To find out more about how the thieves got caught and how long they landed behind bars, tune in the. While Ghantt spent more than 6 1/2 years in federal prison, he said he usedthat time to"re-invent" himself. Will California Save the Iconic Joshua Tree? When Ghantt called Chambers to have the latter wire him more money, Chambers sent just a few thousand dollars. Nous, Yahoo, faisons partie de la famille de marques Yahoo. ABC7 Eyewitness News Watch Now The plan went off with few problems, but after Ghantt was safely in Mexico, his partners were left storing large amounts of cash. Back then all I really wanted to do was just, I wanted to change my life. When I interviewed for this job about three years ago, I told (my boss) that I had some dirt in my background, and if he went digging for it, he would find it. In November 1990, David married Margaret in San Diego, California. He was insecure. The College Entrance Examination BoardTM does not endorse, nor is it affiliated in any way with the owner or any content of this site. However, the FBI knew immediately who robbed the vault (Ghant was seen on video camera), and it didnt take long for the FBI to loop in Kelly Campbell. A: When you're locked up, you live in an 8-by-10 box and you share that with two other people. afficher des publicits et des contenus personnaliss en fonction de vos profils de centres dintrt; mesurer lefficacit des publicits et contenus personnaliss; et. Get the latest articles and test prep tips! Looking back at the Loomis heist - Gaston Gazette Retro CharlotteFBI security footage of David Ghantt in the midst of the Loomis Fargo heist. He made it across the border just as his deception was discovered. The FBI continues to search for a missing $2 million from the theft. David Ghantt And The Ridiculous Loomis Fargo Heist David Ghantt Photos and Premium High Res Pictures - Getty Images The Election, U.S. Foreign Policy, And Harold Pinter's 2005 Nobel Lecture, Nate Parker on Rape Allegations: 'I Don't Feel Guilty'. Im like, You need to understand that, that money has been missing for 20 years. Too bad it was so poorly planned. Check out our top-rated graduate blogs here: PrepScholar 2013-2018. When she was a teacher, Hayley's students regularly scored in the 99th percentile thanks to her passion for making topics digestible and accessible. 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. Hes a great person. Her reaction seems so far away now, all these years and a Hall of Fame career later. For Christmas, Steve Chambers gave his wife a $43,000 diamond ring. At the time it was thesecond largest bank heistin U.S. history. This Wednesday marks the 20th anniversary of the notorious Loomis Fargo heist. Hayley Milliman is a former teacher turned writer who blogs about education, history, and technology. 'Masterminds' Review: Loomis Fargo Robbery Where Are They Now? - Pajiba You take a movie like Oceans Eleven, the whole concept of that movie is so farfetched, its not even funny. Will Mcintyre/The LIFE Images Collection/Getty ImagesMichele Chambers 1998 BMW for sale following the prosecutions of the Loomis Fargo heist conspirators. Fed up, exhausted, and seeing a way out, Ghantt agreed. Its heavy. A: I'm in dire need for some RO's barbecue and some Tony's Ice Cream. Memorial services for Bishop David O'Connell began Wednesday night at Michelle Chambers received a harsher sentence than Ghantt seven years and eight months because she had violated several bond conditions. 'When you have money, you just have different problems': The Loomis How Did A Model Employee Manage To Steal More Than $17 Million - Yahoo! He then began loading $17 million in unmarked bills inside a company van before driving away. 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. He left his wedding ring behind and spent his days spending money on luxury hotels and scuba diving. You can reach Kevin Ellis at 704-869-1823 or www.Twitter.com/TheGazetteKevin. Generally, the events of the film are fairly close to reality when they follow the broad details of the case. But neither of those things would matter after he met Kelly Campbell. While making only eight dollars an hour in his role as supervisor, Ghantt decided it was time to do something: I was unhappy with my life. Naturally, Ghantt started to run out of cash and turned to Chambers, who was annoyed by his requests for more money. While listening in, they uncovered another more sinister alleged plan to kill Ghantt. So he hatched a plan to rob his employers. Ghantt was the vault manager. And with that, David Ghantt took off for Mexico. A former co-worker told me, "Everybody has screwed up. Victoria Beckham's Family Including Brooklyn and Wife Nicola On similar grounds, four other people were ultimately also charged with money laundering. They took a lot of liberty with the story here and there. 5 min read. He had stayed in a luxury hotel and paid for expensive food and activities such as scuba diving and parasailing. Chambers, it turned out, became the biggest source of evidence for the FBI. In the end, eight co-conspirators were indicted for the Loomis Fargo heist. Over the years many of his social . If you can see the obvious flaw in this plan, namely that Chambers would have no reason whatsoever to actually wire Ghantt any money, then congratulations. David Ghantt was the vault supervisor for Loomis, Fargo & Co. armored cars, which managed the transportation of large sums of cash between banks in North Carolina. But it was Ghantt, now 47 and living with his wife and daughter in Jacksonville, Florida, who actually took more than 2,000 pounds of cash and just drove away from his job. ``This defendant was second to Steve Chambers in (benefiting) from the crime,' he said. Steve Chambers and his wife (Mary Elizabeth Ellis) were a little more difficult to connect to the heist. He was released in 2006. Chambers would hold on to most of the remaining cash and wire it to Ghantt as needed. The true crime behind Asheville-based Galifianakis film 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. 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. Your California Privacy Rights / Privacy Policy. [3][4] Its Charlotte office would be the victim of David Scott Ghantt and his confederates later that year. David Ghantt was a nuisance to Steve Chambers and Kelly Campbell, John Wydra, a retired FBI agent who handled the case, told Super Heists.. Of course, I went on a spending spree. We were in Old Fortwhen they were shooting the movie and went out to eat. From the beginning, the FBIs prime suspect was David Ghantt. A: People are very forgiving if you're open and honest right from the start. Theyre meant to be trailer-park trash, but they come off as character experiments on a bad night at the Groundlings. David Ghantt : I had a hard time liftin' it up. He and his wife,. Victoria Beckham's family were on hand as she debuted her latest collection at Paris Fashion Week on March 3, including her and husband David Beckham's oldest child, Brooklyn Beckham . I'd probably be that infamous gringo living in Belize, kicked back on the beach, fishing and bored out of my mind. There was also no dramatic showdown between Chambers and Ghantt as the movie suggests. With a cast like this, and Emily Spivey (Brooklyn Nine-Nine, Up All Night) as part of the writing team, Masterminds shouldnt be nearly as obnoxious and dull as it is, but nothing ever clicks. David Bowie 's widow recently took to Instagram to post selfies, while promoting both her makeup brand and fashion line. Kevin McCarthy is No Edward Snowden, But He Should Find the Comparison Flattering, Assessing Nicaraguas Long Haul toward Liberation and Economic Democracy, A National Divorce? 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. David Scott Ghantt Ghantt, his former co-worker Kelly Campbell and her friends Steve and Michelle Chambers carried out the Loomis Fargo heist on Oct. 4, 1997. As Predators' David Poile braces for retirement, wife reveals love story Some people screw up big like you, some people screw up small.". 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. You have permission to edit this article. This article will teach you more about the SAT subject tests. 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. At the. Q: Your troubles were self-inflicted, but you seem happy. He made his own self miserable. All of the cash from the Loomis Fargo heist was recovered or accounted for, except for $2 million. Ghantt was already married when he took part in the heist, to a woman named Tammy - who author Diamant described as "very nice." It is true, however, that she had no idea about the plot and that. Loomis Fargo employee David Ghantt and his partners nearly pulled off the perfect crime, but it would be their lavish spending, and an alleged murder plot, that would be their undoing. But it was Ghantt, now 47 and living with his wife and daughter in Jacksonville, Florida,who actually took more than 2,000 pounds of cash and just drove away from his job. He would eventually be arrested in Mexico in March 1998 after one of his co-conspirators put out a hit on him under the false suspicion he was the only prime suspect authorities were aware of at the time. Campbell used part of her share of the money to buy a Toyota Sienna minivan in two cash installments. 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. Just days after agreeing to the plan, the group set a day to carry out the robbery. But even though he worked for a company that regularly moved millions of dollars, David Ghantt himself was underpaid. We caught up with David Ghantt about life after his $17m heist, hanging out with Zach Galifianakis and the accuracy of Masterminds, a new movie based on. The FBI quickly connected Ghantt to Campbell, who was a former Loomis Fargo employee. Its 90-minutes of mugging for the camera, but the only people who feel mugged are those that pay to see Masterminds. ", After successfully tracing Ghantt's phone call, FBI agents coordinated with Mexican police to arrest Ghantt on March 1, 1998, at Playa del Carmen, a city near Cancun. 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. The connection to Chambers took more time. The Proposed TikTok Ban Goes Too Far. How Did David Ghantt, Kelly Campbell, Steve Chambers Steal More Than So with the assistance of a co-worker and possible love interest as well as a small-time criminal, David Ghantt pulled off the then-second-largest cash heist in U.S. history. The Loomis Fargo heist became something of a media lightning rod. Todd Williamson/Getty ImagesDavid Ghantt attends the 2016 after party for the Hollywood premiere of Masterminds, based on the Loomis Fargo heist that he helped carry out. You see, theres a reason Loomis Fargo used armored cars to move large amounts of cash. Parishioners filled the pews for a memorial mass held for Bishop David O'Connell Wednesday night at the St. John Vianney Catholic Church in Hacienda Heights. It's the little things like that that gnaw on you. [1], 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, Philip Noel Johnson stole $18.8 million from the Loomis Fargo armored vehicle he was driving.[2]. Just the ability to come and go as I please and walk barefooted in the backyard means so much. They asked me how I felt about it and I said, Its my story, but its your movie so have at me. He worked fueling airplanes, driving a forklift, and in 1994 he got a job as a vault superintendent at Loomis. Ten days later, the group was indicted for bank larceny and money laundering. The thieves had simply abandoned whatever they couldnt carry away. (His wife tells him to change that word to "selfish."). 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