Then, he proceeded to load 2,800 pounds of cash into a van. Campbell and her husband had always been just scraping by, however in the weeks following the robbery, the two seemed to have more money than theyve ever had. He wanted to leave his wife for her, and Kelly, who also was married, let him think she wanted the same. This station is part of Cox Media Group Television. The figures can be astounding. Johnson had stolen $18.8 million earlier in the year, on March 19, 1997, only to be caught five months later, in late August, while crossing into Texas from Mexico to retrieve some of the money, which he'd hidden in a shed in mountainous western North Carolina. Breakdown by congressional district, States' push to define sex decried as erasing trans people, North Carolina Supreme Court hears felony voting rights case, North Carolina House GOP modifies rules on veto overrides, N. 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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. In preparation for what lay ahead, David had backed an unmarked company Ford Econoline van near the vault entrance and opened the van's back door. I appreciate your kind words! David got a kick out of her. Its said the current owner now has it in storage in Phoenix, Arizona. "Just think about it," she said. It all went down in Charlotte, North Carolina, and the man at the center of that heist, David Scott Ghantt, now lives in Jacksonville. David told Kelly they would have to control themselves and not spend the money too quickly, because the FBI could electronically trace a suspect's recent spending activity through bank papers, credit card records, and land transactions. : The .17 Million Loomis Fargo Theft . 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. On the evening ofOctober 4, 1997, the Loomis Fargo & Co branch in Charlotte, North Carolina was in the process of being plundered. Theres no way to get it back,, And with Loomis, were looking at only one case. Loomis Fargo heist: 25 years later Steve Chambers and his wife were living in a trailer and upgraded to what would today be a multi-million-dollar mansion at Cramer Mountain. 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. The hillbilly outfit did more that just drop a few breadcrumbs. In this outrageously entertaining book, Jeff Diamant, the Charlotte Observer's lead reporter on the case, offers the definitive inside account of this astonishing. He said at first, they were very proud of what they had been able to do. In Reservoir Dogs, released just five years earlier, the pawns in a robbery knew each other only by assigned colors: Mr. Campbell left her job in the summer of 1997, but she would later use Ghantt's feelings for her to her own advantage to get him to agree to carry out the multi-million-dollar heist. Former FBI agent John Wydra, who helped crack the case, sat down with Channel 9 Reporter Glenn Counts to talk about the clues that led to solving the crime, and how the group got caught. The $17 million was stolen last Oct. 4 from the armored-car company's vault in Charlotte. The FBI heard about the plot and agents knew they could no longer wait. A third surveillance tape was carelessly left behind, and the company was able to identify the man who robbed the vault as David Ghantt. 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. This website uses cookies and some data tracking to improve your experience and serve adverts, We assume you're ok with this, you can opt-out if you wish. Of course the problem was, the money belonged to someone else. He even had to watch what he bought at the grocery store. He knew it would mean leaving Tammy. 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. Steve Chambers and his wife were living in a trailer and upgraded to what would today be a multi-million-dollar mansion at Cramer Mountain. The Charlotte area's economy was booming all around him, and he felt passed over. After marrying Tammy in 1992, he worked fueling airplanes at the airport in Hilton Head, South Carolina. However, Chambers had no intention of following those rules, believing the FBI would never connect him to Ghantt. Unexplained Mysteries - owned by Aliens since 2011. Growing up, David's family went to Disney World, sent him to religious school, and shopped at places he couldn't afford as a self-supporting adult. Sunny. 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. The robbery was committed by David Scott Ghantt who was the vault supervisor and accomplices Kelly Campbell, Steve Chambers, Michelle Chambers, Michael Gobies, and other four members. And Kelly thought he was funny. But opting out of some of these cookies may affect your browsing experience. FBI video shows agents searching the Cramer Mountain home and finding stacks of cash. Then they returned it. He'd already done enough, he realized, to get himself fired and arrested, even if the gate prevented him from moving the money outside the building. 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 . Fourteen defendants were ordered to make restitution payments to Loomis Fargo totaling almost $19 million. Out of these, the cookies that are categorized as necessary are stored on your browser as they are essential for the working of basic functionalities of the website. Thank you! Probably very egotistical of me, I thought, Yeah, sure, I can beat them, theyre college smart and thats about it, Ghantt said. He allegedly hired a hitman to take Ghantt out, tying up the ultimate loose end. David and Steve had never met, but Steve had already secured somebody else's birth certificate and social security card for him and given it to Kelly to pass along. 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. Change). A woman by the name of Kelly Campbell had worked there in 1996, and she and Ghantt had become friends in that time. Perry identified the other six people arrested as Steve and Michelle Chambers; Kelly Jane Campbell, a former Loomis employee; Michael L. McKinney; Thomas Nathan Grant; and Eric Haley Payne.. Her case closes in 2025. Oh were not going to talk to anybody, theyre not going to be able to convict us, that bravado happens in the beginning and then it often gets worn down by the reality, Gronquist said. 12) Loomis Fargo heist- The aftermath Ultimately, eight co-conspirators were indicted for the Loomis Fargo bank heist. She had previously been making frequent small deposits to avert suspicion. What purpose does that serve other than to denigrate that person into abject poverty?. 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. It was released in 2016 and Wydra was invited to the premiere. Change), You are commenting using your Facebook account. While David Ghantt trusted Steve Chambers enough to leave his cut behind, Chambers had other plans. Even with several vehicles, they underestimated how much space they would need and they had to leave $3 million behind. Not all of them, but some of them are going to forgive you, theyre going to overlook it., he said. FBI video shows the agency searching that home and finding drawers full of cash. He knew his mother would be traumatized, shocked, and appalled. The Loomis case is another example where the amount of restitution ordered vs. what is actually paid are two dramatically different numbers. I dont know if Steve would have done it himself, but he definitely was capable of buying someone to do it for him and I think that was going to happen if we didnt step in and arrest Ghantt, Wydra said. White-collar criminals are pretty good at hiding their money, she said. sole discretion of the site administrators and repeat offenders may 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. "But you can still have a cigarette.". People dont seem to understand human nature. David placed their odds of success at 85 percent, a confidence inspired by faith not just in his planning but also in his feelings for Kelly. From my standpoint, it was just a business deal, Ghantt said. Butcher says the federal courts in the Western District of North Carolina have never handled a case quite like Loomis. Conversations about stealing from the company weren't rare for Loomis employees. The government does not run debtors prisons, says U.S. >> PHOTOS: The Loomis Fargo heist, 25 years later. This was several years before the advent of smartphones and the post-9/11 increase in federal surveillance of electronic communications, and public knowledge about this tracking was less widespread. 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. More than half of the amount came from the seizure of a luxury home purchased by husband-and-wife defendants during their post-heist spending spree. Steve had hired a bodyguard named Mike McKinney. just generally being a jerk. In 2017, for example, Paul Burks of Lexington was ordered to pay $244 million to the victims of his worldwide Ponzi scheme, Zeek Rewards. She had attitude. These cookies do not store any personal information. On Oct. 5, the Loomis heist celebrates its 25th birthday. Butcher says the federal courts in the Western District of North Carolina have never handled a case quite like Loomis. We are happy to work with other website publishers. Javascript is not enabled in your browser. David and Kelly had driven to Rock Hill, South Carolina, and used the documents to obtain a fake ID that David would also rely on after the theft. contact us to submit an unexplained mystery article, or to join the team on the email address below. Paying the money back has taken a lot longer, and time is running out for the U.S. government to collect. A parrot tattoo on her right ankle. As a child, he had preferred reading to playing sports, and he would say, as an adult, that although he couldn't have told you "who was on first," he knew as a kid who the Egyptian god of the dead was. Down in Jacksonville, a Loomis Fargo employee took $18 million from an armored van he was driving. Clerk of Court Frank Johns of Charlotte. Cool interesting stuff features everything odd, weird, bizzare, strange or unusual. Copyright The Nashua Telegraph | https://www.nashuatelegraph.com | 110 Main St, Ste 1, Nashua, NH 03060 | 603-882-2741, Loomis Fargo defendants owe as much as they stole in 1997, Thats pretty standard in restitution matters. 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. One day, Campbell was speaking to an old friend named Steve Chambers. The bag held his mobile phone and handgun. (John D. Simmons/The Charlotte Observer via AP). We also use third-party cookies that help us analyze and understand how you use this website. Learn how to enable JavaScript on your browser. ", "I don't need any more friends," she'd shot back. OWLS director fired in wake of new board taking over, New rules will require flood history disclosure in real estate, North Carolina recreational spring flounder season canceled for 2023, Supreme Court seems ready to sink student loan forgiveness, Beach commission gets update on search for new sources of sand for beach nourishment. There are multiples of thousands of these things coming every year. Campbell used to work for Loomis and continued the friendship with Ghantt, eventually hooking him up with Chambers. He would then have the bulk of his share sent south of the border. "I'll need help moving the money, getting a new ID, and leaving the country," he told her. true story that has captivated American audiences on the news and now on the big screen in the major motion picture, Masterminds. How he and his wife had trouble communicating. Afterward, she and David would talk just occasionally on the phone. Fill in your details below or click an icon to log in: You are commenting using your WordPress.com account. So its one thing to go from up here, thought, to action, he said. But he wasn't finished. He deserved better. Join thousands already receiving our daily newsletter. Each cart, holding about $2 million, was taking David seven or eight minutes to stack, push, and empty into the van, and there were about eight cartloads' worth in the vault. Of course, this would all be a radical departure for him, and thoughts of his wife and parents did give him pause. Getting restitution, its like pulling teeth.. David Ghantt was just an average Joe with an average low-wage job. But they'd stayed in touch, and now they were poised to attempt a crime like almost no other. From there, the money was moved from the armored car to private vehicles. Tuesday marked 25 years since a group of buddies pulled off the third-largest money grab in U.S. history -- the Loomis Fargo heist. The actual crime itself required none of Hollywood's imagination. 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. Some of that money is just gone. Loomis Fargo heist: 25 years later While David Ghantt trusted Steve Chambers enough to leave his cut behind, Chambers had other plans. Some of the biggest numbers remaining on the Loomis collection board, as is the case with Campbell, belong to those who played the biggest role in the crime: David Ghantt, the Loomis employee who loaded all that money 2,800 pounds in all into the back of a company van before escaping to Mexico, has paid just under $50,000 of the $3.81 million he was assessed. "Are you serious?" He decided at that moment that if Kelly called again, he would go for it. He could even be famous, perhaps joining the ranks of legendary master thieves. 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. '. NASCAR. Restitution is a familiar part of sentencing in federal court. They swept the surrounding counties, locating Kelly Campbell and Eric Payne in their homes. 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. LeVaughn Kelly Campbell (born July 23, 1980 in Atlanta, Georgia) is a former football wide receiver. This website uses cookies to improve your experience while you navigate through the website. "Do you know how much there's gonna be?" The figures can be astounding. He also took various measures to change his appearance, such asshaving, after a patron at a restaurant pointed out to him that he looked like the man who robbed a bank of $20 million.. For example, Steve Chambers and his wife were living in a trailer and upgraded to what would today be a multi-million-dollar mansion at Cramer Mountain. 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. When they hung up, she called his pager and left the code 1-4-3, beeper-speak for "I love you," based on the number of letters in each word. (John D. Simmons/The Charlotte Observer via AP). "What would it take to convince you to do it?" Learn about careers at Cox Media Group. Well they were in some sense celebrities, Gronquist said. Any cookies that may not be particularly necessary for the website to function and is used specifically to collect user personal data via analytics, ads, other embedded contents are termed as non-necessary cookies. They succeeded in removing $17 million from the safe. Steve was a serious guy? All of the co-defendants were arrested the next day, about six months after the heist. Its attracted workers like Ghantt. It has a certain feel, a smell and weight to it. This category only includes cookies that ensures basic functionalities and security features of the website. Money. 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. According to Butcher, Campbells last official payment came in June 2021 when the government appears to have seized a tax refund of $81.24. They could talk about anything, even topics he couldn't discuss with his wife. At 2:20 p.m., the phone rang; it was Kelly again. Why do we feel its so necessary to treat people like this, to say, OK, well just ruin the rest of your life because you made a bad decision., Punishment should not last a lifetime. In all, agents arrested 24 people in the heist. Ghantt took $50,000 for himself and fled to Cozumel, Mexico. 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. Many of the lesser players in the conspiracy have been the most effective in paying their debts. Get an email notification whenever someone contributes to the discussion. remove comments that contain spam, advertising, vulgarity, threats He and Tammy could have one or two meals each week that he really liked, but the rest were hot dogs or Hamburger Helper. Steve Chambers would keep the rest. The police almost immediately called theFBI, since 95% of the money handled at the facility was owned by banks. On Oct. 5, the Loomis heist celebrates its 25th birthday. of violence, racism, anti-Semitism, or 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.
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