In 2017, for example, Paul Burks of Lexington was ordered to pay $244 million to the victims of his worldwide Ponzi scheme, Zeek Rewards. 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. Michelle Chambers paid off only $27,000. Growing up, David had been a nice kid, a decent student who was at worst a minor troublemaker and prankster. The only other employee with him on this day was a trainee. Get an email notification whenever someone contributes to the discussion. A woman by the name of Kelly Campbell had worked there in 1996, and she and Ghantt had become friends in that time. "What would it take to make you do it?". Steve Chambers would keep the rest. 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. He realized his life wouldn't improve unless he did something drastic. 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. What purpose does that serve other than to denigrate that person into abject poverty?. Its said the current owner now has it in storage in Phoenix, Arizona. About six months before the Charlotte theft, on March 29, a total of $18.8 million was taken from Loomis, Fargo in Jacksonville, Fla., in what was believed to be the largest heist in U.S.. The theft at the time the second-largest cash robbery in U.S. history has been the brunt of mocking movies and books, mostly on how the thieves, who had little money to begin with, could not control their spending habits once they did. 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. He tried again to make the back gate rise, to no avail. Charlotte Observer"more than a crime story, and one that's worth reading." 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. He quickly found out when you have money, you just have different problems, Wydra said. 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. ", Johnson said, "Yeah, that's it. 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. Im married, I got one girl, shes 15 going on 30. Ghantt didnt know the full extent of what was happening back home -- how that lay low plan turned into a flurry of extravagant spending. Not every agent has a case like that, he said. Spunk. Restitution is a familiar part of sentencing in federal court. But on Oct. 4, 1997, that no longer mattered and Ghantt took off with $17.3 million. The van used to move the money was later located a few miles from the warehouse. Living with his wife, Tammy, in a mobile home, he had longed for the middle-class lifestyle of his childhood that had come to seem luxurious, a pipe dream for him now. All of the primary players got fined millions of dollars --for example, Kelly Campbell was hit with more than $4 million, an amount that she will never come close to paying. These weren't the hardest of criminals, and though there was logic to not knowing each other's names, they had derived some of their methods from Hollywood depictions of crime. I was relieved emotionally because I knew there was a good chance my luck might run out, Ghantt said. He stayed at it until the vault was empty. While Ghantt waited for the heat from the robbery to die down, Chambers would send Ghantt small amounts of money. Loomis Fargo employees could not open the vault the next morning, and called the police. He couldn't understand the gap, why he wasn't more successful, why he couldn't at least match the financial stability of his father, who earned a comfortable salary driving a truck. Inside the truck, they found Ghantts ring and surmised this as a sign of Ghantts intention to end his relationship with his wife. 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. Anybody who gets caught up in the system is getting chewed up by it, the now-retired Gronquist told the Observer. Loomis Fargo defendants owe as much as they stole in 1997, Incident raises concerns about LGBTQ safety in Carteret County, Drug deal gone bad claims the life of former Marine, Man charged with DWI after SUV takes out gas pumps, fire hydrant in Morehead City, Norfolk Southern train derails in Lexington No hazmat, no anger, Beaufort Housing Authority to replace public housing apartments, New Gamer's Guildhall looks to build community, comradery, DA: 'A very dangerous individual' from Swansboro has been removed, EDITORIAL: Government derails in response to disasters, EDITORIAL: Traffic growth demands a third bridge addition, Commentary: Close look at family history disturbing, Commentary: Second Amendment subverts democracy, EDITORIAL: Attorney General Stein ignores his constitutional responsibility. Steve had hired a bodyguard named Mike McKinney. Steve was a serious guy? Agents raided safe deposit boxes, where they recovered more than $11 million. The October 4 shift was lasting longer than expected, due to delays involving pickups and deliveries. Afterward, she and David would talk just occasionally on the phone. Federal law stops government collection efforts 20 years after a defendant leaves prison. Thank you so much. Ghantt reported to Chambers that his supply of money was running low, but Chambers sent Ghantt just $8,000. In the grand scheme of things, the prison sentence for stealing $20 million wouldn't be much worse than for stealing just $500,000 maybe a few extra years behind bars. Its in the ether. Despite being caught on camera wheeling the money from the vault to the getaway van, David Ghantt makes off to Mexico before the FBI can blink. If a prank seemed dangerous, David backed out. She sounded incredulous. She will never get beyond the debt. In total, 24 people were convicted and all but one of the accused pleaded guilty. "So he stays behind and moving over two thousand pounds of . Available on Compatible NOOK Devices and the free NOOK Apps. (LogOut/ How many people have walked the red carpet at a movie premiere in a case that was yours?. 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. Ghantt, his former co-worker Kelly Campbell and her friends Steve and Michelle Chambers carried out the Loomis Fargo heist on Oct. 4, 1997. 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. It is mandatory to procure user consent prior to running these cookies on your website. From my standpoint, it was just a business deal, Ghantt said. There are multiples of thousands of these things coming every year. Working by himself, Ghantt would commit the robbery and then flee for Mexico, leaving the bulk of the cash with Chambers. Before the robber left Loomis Fargo, he made a trip to the managers office to remove two surveillance tapes in order to conceal his identity. "I've got a friend," she said, "who can hook you up with a new ID.". Clerk of Court Frank Johns of Charlotte. Booklist "Librariesshould consider purchasing this entertaining and lightly edited version, which reads like a fast-paced novel." For people earning $8.15 an hour David's salary the jokes came naturally. The figures can be astounding. Sunny. That was the thing that sticks in my mind to this day.. He had since held one low-paying job after another. "What would it take to convince you to do it?" His eyes widened and he stopped breathing as he realized that something as mundane as a malfunctioning gate might ruin their entire plan. Down in Jacksonville, a Loomis Fargo employee took $18 million from an armored van he was driving. The property has changed hands several times since then. All but one took plea deals, including Ghantt, who was sentenced to seven years in prison. By then, the FBI had become greatly concerned for Ghantts personal safety; they had learned of Chambersmurder for hirescheme. Fourteen defendants were ordered to make restitution payments to Loomis Fargo totaling almost $19 million. You can seize property. By this time, agents knew where he was and had a general idea who the other players were, so they went to every bank in town to see if any of them rented a safe deposit box. There was a book published in 2002 as well, by author Jeff Diamant called,Heist! 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. 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. We also use third-party cookies that help us analyze and understand how you use this website. (John D. Simmons/The Charlotte Observer via AP). His collection case, which closes in November 2026, got credit for the couples $540,000 house on Cramer Mountain in Gaston County, Butcher says. The plan to rob Loomis Fargo was spawned by Campbell and her friend Steve Chambers, during a casual bonfire at Chambers' home. The government does not run debtors prisons, says U.S. He was signed by the Minnesota Vikings as an undrafted free agent in 2002. Her case closes in 2025. "I'm busy," he said. 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. A parrot tattoo on her right ankle. A more immediate need was securing help to move the stolen money to safety the night of the crime. I pay (restitution to) thousands of people, but its in drips and drabs.. >> PHOTOS: The Loomis Fargo heist, 25 years later Ghantt, his former co-worker Kelly Campbell and her friends Steve and Michelle Chambers, carried out the Loomis Fargo heist on Oct.. The friend was Steve Chambers, and Kelly said he knew his way around the world of crime. "About fourteen or fifteen million dollars," he said. On Oct. 5, the Loomis heist celebrates its 25th birthday. It just happened to fall on my desk.. You can seize property. The biggest restitution numbers for victims of financial crimes generally involve Ponzi schemes or sweepstakes fraud, not cash thefts. 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. just generally being a jerk. : The .17 Million Loomis Fargo Theft . These (Loomis) guys, not so much.. Another time, the day after a Christmas in the late 1980s, David and some friends planted all the discarded Christmas trees from the area in one neighbor's front yard. It, too, has changed hands several times. Friends of Campbell had also begun spending large amounts of cash. It was 2:00 p.m. on October 4, 1997, and tension was building between two planners of what would rank high among the largest heists in United States history. He was on a budget for clothes, even for work boots; he had recently needed to check seven stores before finding a pair in his price range. And after two years, the case is just a file. Learn about careers at Cox Media Group. Theres no way to get it back,, And with Loomis, were looking at only one case. You have permission to edit this article. Steve and Michelle Chambers, who had lived in a mobile home, bought a mansion in Cramer Mountain. The old man me would never survive that, Id have a heart attack.. Hes a family man with a wife and daughter. The $17 million was stolen last Oct. 4 from the armored-car company's vault in Charlotte. Records show the government has garnished his Social Security checks. "Are you serious?" The strange story of Mary Reeser Spontaneous Human Combustion. The world is full of unexplained events, strange mysteries, and mysterious legends. Discover the truth behind unexplained ancient mysteries, UFO mysteries, secret locations and paranormal events. >> PHOTOS: The Loomis Fargo heist, 25 years later. David got a kick out of her. 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. The unfairness gnawed at him, stirred by Kelly's questions. This station is part of Cox Media Group Television. For the defendants in the Loomis Fargo heist, its allure was irresistible. Paying the money back has taken a lot longer, and time is running out for the U.S. government to collect. Getting that off his chest calmed him some, and the conversation returned to the plan. Loomis, Fargo offered a $500,000 reward for his arrest and conviction. Punishment needs to be fair and realistic. JACKSONVILLE, Fla. This month marked 25 years since one of the biggest armored car heists in U.S. history. In addition to their extravagant spending, Michelle Chambers made the mistake of loudly asking a bank teller how much cash she could deposit in her account without it being reported to the feds, and then said, its not drug money.. A customs inspector, asking routine questions of bus passengers, focused her attention on him when his answers reminded her of Tommy Flanagan, the pathological-liar character played by Jon Lovitz on Saturday Night Live. Thank you! The unsolved crime mystery of Marilyn Sheppard. The Loomis case is another example where the amount of restitution ordered vs. what is actually paid are two dramatically different numbers. My knee-jerk reaction was to be angry, and then the sarcastic ass side of me started laughing about it, Ghantt said. The Loomis defendants face no additional legal jeopardy for not paying off their debts. Federal law stops government collection efforts 20 years after a defendant leaves prison. He and co-worker Kelly Campbell, 27, had developed a close relationship and were spending time together outside of work. ALSO READ: 14-year-old boy robbed at gunpoint while waiting for bus in east. He knew it would mean leaving Tammy. He even had to watch what he bought at the grocery store. That sounds like a lot of money until its compared to the $18,930,201.26 the group was ordered to pay. Driving away, he said he felt a mix of fear, confidence and excitement that he outsmarted the FBI. He allegedly hired a hitman to take Ghantt out, tying up the ultimate loose end. Youre supposed to get less time for cooperating, a lesser penalty, and instead, you see what she got hit with. Gronquist said. That way, outsiders couldn't see money being loaded. The biggest restitution numbers for victims of financial crimes generally involve Ponzi schemes or sweepstakes fraud, not cash thefts. He worked close-by to where the van and over $3 million dollars had been ditched, and was friends with Steve Chambers. When I put that cash in the back of the car, by the time I got to the office the whole car smelled like that. They located Steve and Shelley Chambers in their newly-purchased home at the top of a hill. Fill in your details below or click an icon to log in: You are commenting using your WordPress.com account. - 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.". 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 . After marrying Tammy in 1992, he worked fueling airplanes at the airport in Hilton Head, South Carolina. All but one of the defendants pleaded guilty. "I'll need help moving the money, getting a new ID, and leaving the country," he told her. 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. She will never get beyond the debt. He decided at that moment that if Kelly called again, he would go for it. So that was kind of like this once-in-a-lifetime thing, Wydra said. 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. 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. He had approached her inside the chain-link fence that surrounded the building and said with a flirty smile, "If you give me a cigarette, I'll be your friend. She had attitude. And they hit the jackpot -- FBI video shows agents recovering most of the stolen cash. 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.
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