(I) bought jewelry, bought a van, Campbell recalled of her own spending. While listening in, they uncovered another more sinister alleged plan to kill Ghantt. https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=9LCR9zyGkbo. Chambers was always considered the "mastermind" behind the theft, but he doesn't talkmuch about his Loomis heist days, not even when actor Owen Wilson portrayed him in the 2016comedy about the heist titled"Masterminds.". Hes a great person. Once the hitman Chambers had hired arrived in Mexico, he found that he couldnt bring himself to kill Ghantt. (His wife tells him to change that word to "selfish."). After years of working hard, the realisation hit . All but one of the defendants pleaded guilty. afficher des publicits et des contenus personnaliss en fonction de vos profils de centres dintrt; mesurer lefficacit des publicits et contenus personnaliss; et. When the cheerleading coach broke the news to Katrina Kohel that she was the only one left on the cheer squad, Kohel was determined to compete anyway. 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. From there, the money was moved from the company vehicle to private vehicles. Ghantt sent home a new employee and quickly loaded the money into the back of a bank van. 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. The pair began to daydream about whether they could really pull off the heist. 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. 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 . Chambers served 11 years before being released. 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. But Ghantt has been open about what he did and how he believes it changed him for the better. 20 years ago, on the night of October 4, 1997, David Scott Ghantt loaded $17.3 million of cash from the bank vault in Charlotte, North Carolina he was employed to supervise into a van. . The details of the heist itself, coupled with the missteps the crew made after stealing the money, attracted the attention of writers and movie producers. His wife, they said, got breast implants and used cash to purchase a 1998 BMW Z3 sports car. Get all your true crime news from Oxygen. Jandice : In any case, we got to talkin' afterwards, and I thought, well, that one's dead, this one's alive. From Oct. 6 through Feb. 20, the couple made 47 deposits totaling $271,500 at a Belmont bank, and at. Authorities say Steve. I knew it was over then, Ghantt said. I'll take the live one. The FBI continues to search for a missing $2 million from the theft. Afterward, outside the courthouse, her parents said the length was about what she had expected. The chief running joke in Masterminds is the Prince Valiant 'do gamely sported by Galifianakis as David Ghantt, . 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. 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. [1] Tips had led the FBI to begin monitoring Chambers's (and his wife's) activities, but it was not until the FBI recorded a phone call from Ghantt in Mexico that the final connection was made. More than 2 million dollars is still missing to this day. 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. [15], "David Ghantt" redirects here. Ghantt, now 29, was a tall, decorated Persian Gulf War veteran whom early newspaper reports likened to Huckleberry Finn. 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. Chambers had no intention of following those rules, believing the FBI would never connect him to Ghantt. On March 1, 1988, Mexican police arrested Ghantt at Playa del Carmen. Sign up forOxygen Insiderfor all the best true crime content. CLICK HERE FOR PHOTOS FROM MASTERMIND MOVIE. Ten days later, the group was indicted for bank larceny and money laundering. Naturally, Ghantt started to run out of cash and turned to Chambers, who was annoyed by his requests for more money. Although the FBI investigation was able to quickly connect Ghantt to Campbell, connecting Ghantt to Chambers was a more difficult task. 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. But even though he worked for a company that regularly moved millions of dollars, David Ghantt himself was underpaid. [citation needed], It was later confirmed by the FBI that more than 88% of the stolen cash had been located or otherwise accounted for. Biography Comedy Crime A guard at an armored car company in the Southern U.S. organizes one of the biggest bank heists in American history. Ask below and we'll reply! What ACT target score should you be aiming for? 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. hbspt.cta.load(360031, '4efd5fbd-40d7-4b12-8674-6c4f312edd05', {}); Have any questions about this article or other topics? Until it's gone, you don't appreciate it. In November 1990, David married Margaret in San Diego, California. They left behind the cash they couldnt fit in their cars. Ghantt, in order to conserve this money, curtailed his spending. Ill never pay it off on my paycheck, Ghantt said. All rights reserved. For instance, after stealing $17.3 million $11 million of which was in $20 bills the conspirators had to leave behind $3 million in cash because they couldnt fit all of it in their cars. Based on the October 1997 Loomis Fargo robbery. 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. {{start_at_rate}} {{format_dollars}} {{start_price}} {{format_cents}} {{term}}, {{promotional_format_dollars}}{{promotional_price}}{{promotional_format_cents}} {{term}}, Nebraska cheerleader competes by herself at state competition, but crowd doesn't let her feel alone, Police identify victim who died Wednesday in Greensboro's 11th homicide of 2023, William Sturkey: Chapel Hill trustees 'hellbent' on winning campus culture wars, Rob Schofield: North Carolinas chronic public employee shortage wasnt an accident, KFC is bringing back a fan favorite after a nearly 10-year hiatus, Richard Groves: What the 'He Gets Us' media campaign says about the decline of Christianity, Two Things: Victim's family not surprised by no show; hospital wars in Greensboro and money well spent, Mark Elliott and Jeremy Rinker: Budget reductions at UNCG punish it for serving disadvantaged students, Samet: Guilford County wanted more black-owned businesses added to construction project after the bids were opened, Former Page High School teacher arrested on child sex charges, records show, Proposed rules for Airbnb, other short-term rentals advance in Greensboro, 'A bizarre case': Greensboro TikTok star found not guilty in fatal 2019 crash, Atrium Health Wake Forest Baptist proposes community hospital in Greensboro, Greensboro police officer involved in confrontation on Golden Gate Drive resigns, Jaydon Young's lessons of sacrifice mix with two-hour transfer, Virginia Tech and 2023 tournament. I got to eat my meal perfectly, but every 5 minutes, someone wanted to shoot a selfie with Zach or an autograph from Zach. Q: Do you appreciate your normal life now more than you would if you hadn't spent years in prison? 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. When he was done, the man drove off to a nearby printing press, where the money was distributed into private vehicles amongst a handful of people. FBI security footage of David Ghantt in the midst of the Loomis Fargo heist. Dont worry, its not drug money.. In the end, eight co-conspirators were indicted for the Loomis Fargo heist. Some of the friends and family members received parole, while Ghantt was sentenced to seven and a half years in prison. 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 ordered to pay $4.8 million in restitution.It was the fourth-most severe sentence given in the case, which has 21 defendants. I was working sometimes 75-80 hours a week at $8.15 an hour. The FBI investigation was aided by the gang's extravagant spending. He was also married. Said Ghantt, one day life kinda slapped me in the face. 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. That 3-carat ring came back to haunt Michele Chambers at Tuesday's hearing. We were two paychecks away from being homeless at any given time.. Her reaction seems so far away now, all these years and a Hall of Fame career later. dvelopper et amliorer nos produits et services. Defense lawyer Andy Culler sought a seven-year, three-month sentence. One of the best ways to learn more about U.S. history is to make sure youre taking history classes. After finding himself in prison he made a concious choice to do things differently. With the plan in place, Ghantt sent a newly employed co-worker home early (reportedly at 6 p.m) who had been assigned to train with him. The additions come as KFC recently removed some menu items, including wings, popcorn chicken and cookies, to make room for new additions. 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. followed by "Don't worry, it is not drug money," the bank filled out a suspicious activity report, which ultimately reached the FBI. He was like OK, yeah, we can do that, she recalled. Authorities began to hone in on the group and put a wire tap on Campbell's phones. He completed his prison sentence in November 2006. Most high schools offer a variety of history classes, so make sure youre taking the right ones for you. . He worked fueling airplanes, driving a forklift, and in 1994 he got a job as a vault superintendent at Loomis. Thirteen friends and family members were also charged with money laundering, as they had helped Ghantt, Chambers, Campbell, and the others deposit money illegally. If I hadnt of done that, Id probably still be in North Carolina and I would not have got to meet a lot of the interesting people that Ive got to meet. Nous, Yahoo, faisons partie de la famille de marques Yahoo. Robbing the 7-Eleven and getting $40 bucks and a pack of Marlboros was not for me. VIDEO. By then, the FBI had become greatly concerned for Ghantt's personal safety; they had learned that Chambers had plotted to have Ghantt killed in a murder for hire scheme using a "hit man" named Michael McKinney. After loading the massive cache of loot into the armored truck, Ghantt set the time lock on the vault, which locked the door for days unless the employees drilled through the lock. People still laugh when they think of the "velvet Elvis" Chambershad in his Cramer Mountain mansion, or how his former wife showed upat a local bankto deposit wads of cash that she assured the teller was not "drug money.". Ghantts wife was reportedly nothing like the bizarre, robotic fiance character in the film, for instance. 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. Steven Chambers, left, and David Scott Ghantt leave federal court. 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. This Wednesday marks the 20th anniversary of the notorious Loomis Fargo heist. 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. When Seymour Hersh Strained to Keep Up With CounterPunch, Nichole Stephens, Administrative Assistant. 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. Chambers promised to wire him money in Mexico until the investigation blew over and Ghantt could return to . A lot of people ask me, Oh, do you have any regrets? No, not really. Ghantt was joking in the breakroom with fellow Loomis Fargo employee Kelly Campbell. Unfortunately, he failed to disable the third camera. Generally, the events of the film are fairly close to reality when they follow the broad details of the case. The painful part is that when you get caught, that the part of your brain that was trying to talk to you when you first started the robbery was right, and that's like a dump truck running over you. Learning about US history? Day in and day out, he drives an armored vehicle,. Campbell was receptive and brought the idea up to Ghantt. And so this third camera caught everything that happened next. 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? Investigators considered Ghantt to be the prime suspect almost from the beginning. Get an all-access pass to never-before-seen content, free digital evidence kits, and much more! 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. BBC Motion Gallery. The move bought him a little extra time to make his escape. In 2020, the television show Super Heists portrayed the heist in Episode 3, "Van Full of Dollars". Chambers, it turned out, became the biggest source of evidence for the FBI. David Ghantt was portrayed by Zackary Hatfield. At the time it was the second largest cash robbery ever to happen on US soil. See how other students and parents are navigating high school, college, and the college admissions process. 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. But even though he worked for a company that regularly moved millions of dollars, David Ghantt himself was underpaid. Ask questions; get answers. Michele Chambers' sentence was two months longer than that given to David Scott Ghantt, the Loomis employee who removed the money from the company vault on Oct. 4, 1997. Robbing the 7-Eleven and getting $40 bucks and a pack of Marlboros was not for me. In addition to her work for PrepScholar, Hayley is the author of Museum Hack's Guide to History's Fiercest Females. Her sentence would've been ``substantially' less if she hadn't kept it, officials said. While she made small deposits at first, she became more reckless, eventually making a deposit of thousands of dollars in cash, telling the teller not to worry: Its not drug money.. The former star . That usually takes the shine right off of it, when you start explaining that. He continued, Youd be wearing a lot of khaki brown and eating crappy food., Since the films release and its recent Netflix debut, Scott Ghent cited that the most common question he receives is about the missing $2 million never recovered by the FBI; Ive had people actually ask me that question. You can reach Kevin Ellis at 704-869-1823 or www.Twitter.com/TheGazetteKevin. Elizabeth Poile was in 10th . ", 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. Just days after agreeing to the plan, the group set a day to carry out the robbery. You have permission to edit this article. You've decided to give up on a part of your life. The plan to rob Loomis Fargo was spawned by Campbell and her friend Steve Chambers, during a casual bonfire at Chambers home. This article will teach you more about the SAT subject tests. A: When I first got in, I thought, "What in my life has led me to this?" Si vous ne souhaitez pas que nos partenaires et nousmmes utilisions des cookies et vos donnes personnelles pour ces motifs supplmentaires, cliquez sur Refuser tout. 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. ``This defendant was second to Steve Chambers in (benefiting) from the crime,' he said. He and his wife,. David Scott Ghantt was the vault supervisor at the regional branch of Loomis, Fargo & Co. in Charlotte, North Carolina. He was angry a lot. My Proof: https://twitter.com/DavidGhantt/status/827476087596789760, My AMA time is up now, but thank you all for your participation in the Ask Me Anything session :-), New comments cannot be posted and votes cannot be cast, https://twitter.com/DavidGhantt/status/827476087596789760. Campbell used to work for Loomis and continued the friendship with Ghantt, eventually . Ghantt, Chambers, and Campbell came up with the following plan: Ghantt would remain in the vault after his shift on the night of the heist, Oct. 4, 1997, and let his co-conspirators into the vault. Campbellwho was married herselfrepresented something new and exciting. He left his wedding ring behind and spent his days spending money on luxury hotels and scuba diving. In the meantime, however, Chambers not only refused to wire money to Ghantt in Mexico, but ultimately hired a hitman (Jason Sudeikis) to take him out. Q: North Carolina native Zach Galifianakis portrayed you in "Masterminds." Assistant U.S. Attorney Brian Whisler said he didn't think those factors should result in a reduced sentence. Ghantt plead guilty to his charges andserved six years in prison, along with21 other defendantswho received chargesrangingfrom money laundering to bank larceny. In fact, David Ghantt was about to commit the heist of a lifetime. If so,check out some of these books on our AP History Exam reading list. David Ghantt is more than just a man who was a part of one of the worlds largest heists, he's more than a funny name associated with a comedy movie, he's actually just an every day person who once made a really bad decision. (Ghantt works as a heavy machine operator in the construction industry.). mesurer votre utilisation de nos sites et applications. Q: How do you tell prospective employers you once stole $17 million? But of course, then they had to decorate that spectacular new space and so they spent tens of thousands of dollars on things like cigar store Indians, paintings of Elvis, and a bulldog dressed up like George Patton. By Dustin Rowles | Film | September 30, 2016 |. ``I wish she'd gotten less. Wyatt Redd is a freelance writer from Nashville, Tennessee. Guided by federal sentencing rules, prosecutors had requested a sentence of nine years for Michele Chambers. For the New York State assemblyman, see. The Army veteran and Hunter Huss High graduate was captured in Mexico five months later when one of the others involved in the theft, Steve Chambers, decided he needed to tie up loose ends by having Ghantt killed. The FBI knew they needed to make their move. Too bad it was so poorly planned. Three of the 21 defendants in the case haven't been sentenced. The Loomis Fargo robbery was one of the largest heists in history, with $2 million in stolen funds still unaccounted for. I didnt even know about it and overlooked it, he said. 4 million images and real time event coverage from coast to coast , ImageCollect is the only celebrity photo site you'll ever need.
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