Inside without a hiccup, he placedthe $17 million cash, in bags that altogether weighed more than 2,700 pounds, onto carts and into a van. David Ghantt had been a model employee for an armored car company before pulling off the s Just head on out. And so, he did. He stayed at a luxury hotel and took scuba diving lesson. Chambers would then occasionally wire Ghantt money and see to his basic financial needs; when "the heat was off," Ghantt was to re-enter the U.S. and the money would be split up among all of the co-conspirators. Ghantt started at Loomis Fargo in 1994, and soon worked his way up from an armored car driver to a vault supervisor. David Ghantt was portrayed by Zackary Hatfield. I studied up on the FBI. There used to be a consulate in Cancun. They called the police, who brought in the FBI, classifying the heist as a bank robbery. And so this third camera caught everything that happened next. In 2020, the television show Super Heists portrayed the heist in Episode 3, "Van Full of Dollars". I knew that if we could stay off the radar for about a year, we could basically live a vacation life, Ghantt said. The next morning, Loomis Fargo employees were unable to open the vault. Then, keeping with the plan, Ghantt took $50,000 (the maximum that could by law be taken across the border without further authorization) with him and left for Mexico, winding up at the popular Yucatan Peninsula resort-island of Cozumel. David Ghantt, a Gulf War veteran, had never been in trouble with the law. Within two days, the investigators found the van with $3 million in cash and the security camera tapes inside. As Campbell would later explain, If David got killed, there couldnt be any finger pointing. Heres your money. Then he turns around and leaves., The problem was, it was nowhere near the amount Ghantt had expected: Im looking at it, and theres maybe $8,000. I said, Probably, the best time would be on the weekend; theres fewer people there. It was an ear-biting, Pierce Brosnan-loving, comet-obsessed world, and were here to relive every minute of it. There was one problem: he forgot to remove the tape from the third security camera. Soon thereafter, he met Kelly Campbell, a co-worker at Loomis Fargo. He became the target of a nationwide FBI manhunt and was arrested five months later near the Mexican resort of Cozumel. Ghantt and one other employee were the last to leave. Twice a week over the next 12 months, we will take you back to the winter of sheep cloning and the summer of Con Air. Basically, he needed a score to make his problems go away. Websacramento drug bust; montage los cabos wedding cost. I thought, Okay, if I get out of that bubble because the cops depend on that, even the feds my chances to get away go way up.. Ghantt was working a late shift, and just after 6:30 p.m., his coworkers were packing up and heading for home. 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. The best states in the U.S. come from coast to coast. WebHolding 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 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. By March, Steve Chambers decided he needed to do something more drastic about Ghantt, making plans to send a hitman to Mexico to silence him for good. We spoke to the FBI agents who investigated the case who say the real-life masterminds couldnt contain their spending-spree. In Florida, a Loomis Fargo employee had pulled a gun on his coworkers and gotten away with $18 million, a move that FBI agents theorize Ghantt, Campbell and other employees all sat around talking about and what they would do with that amount of money for a while. Not Ghantt. The next morning, Loomis Fargo employees were unable to open the vault. The leader was Allen Pace, who turned out to be the worst safety inspector the Dunbar Armored trucking company ever employed. Webbird adoption adelaide real life kelly campbell loomis fargo. Said Ghantt, one day life kinda slapped me in the face. 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, Phillip Noel Johnson stole $18.8 million from the Loomis Fargo armored vehicle he was driving.October 1997 Loomis Fargo robbery. Robbing the 7-Eleven and getting $40 bucks and a pack of Marlboros was not for me. In 2017, for example, Paul Burks of Lexington was ordered to pay $244 million to the victims of his worldwide Ponzi scheme, Zeek Rewards. [15], "David Ghantt" redirects here. 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. From there, the money was moved from the company vehicle to private vehicles. [citation needed], It was later confirmed by the FBI that more than 88% of the stolen cash had been located or otherwise accounted for. Ghantts wife was reportedly nothing like the bizarre, robotic fiance character in the film, for instance. More than 95% of the cash that stolen was accounted for. Before he decided to steal $17 million from the bank, Ghantt had worked for years as a relatively taciturn and compliant employee. I had a four-hour layover there, and then from New Orleans to Cancun.. Eventually, Ghantt would return to the United States and the full sum would be split up between the conspirators. Florida Gov. Ghantt and his compatriots, it turns out, had underestimated how bulky money is. Neighbors and friends noticed the suspicious activity and reported the members to the FBI. Her sentence was delayed until Jan. 1 so she could spend the holidays with her family. He was the only employee unaccounted for the next morning, and videotapes recovered at the Loomis Fargo Charlotte office showed Ghantt removing "cubes of cash" and loading it into a Loomis Fargo armored van for over an hour. How to Market Your Business with Webinars? Thatd probably been the best thing for me to do, really. All of the cash from the Loomis Fargo heist was recovered or accounted for, except for $2 million. If you want me to leave, Ill leave. Then, Ghantt went into another room. Then Michele made a trip to the bank. Ghantt, meanwhile, was losing his patience and starting to make threats. The Dunbar Armored robbery is the largest cash robbery to have occurred in the United States. 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. The pal part is true: The real amateur killer Chambers sent couldnt pull off the crime after traveling to Mexico. From there, hed meet Campbell, Chambers and Grant, a friend of Chambers, in a parking lot, from where they would head to an industrial warehouse and load all but $50,000 into a rental van. When she realized Ghantt never came home from work the night before, she contacted the police and filed a missing persons report. He has been a staff writer for the Star-Ledger in New Jersey since 2000. The plan to rob Loomis Fargo was spawned by Campbell and her friend Steve Chambers, during a casual bonfire at Chambers home. Only a nickel on every dollar have been collected so far. David Ghantt attends the after party for the Premiere Of Relativity Media's "Masterminds" on September 26, 2016 in Hollywood, California. As the FBI listened in to Chambers calls, they discovered that he was also planning to have Ghantt assassinated, hoping to keep all the money for himself. The FBI investigation was aided by the gang's extravagant spending. WebFILE - 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 Check out never-before-seen content, free digital evidence kits, and much more! Ghantt simply got ready for work one morning knowing it would be his last day on the job. Or as he tells me, How many people in the United States havent thought about robbing a bank? Fourteen defendants were ordered to make restitution payments to Loomis Fargo totaling almost $19 million. Hed be in contact. And I think that makes it all the more funny, because it really offends my co-defendants. This article will teach you more about the SAT subject testsasync src='https://pagead2.googlesyndication.com/pagead/js/adsbygoogle.js' and help you decide whether you should take them. Before he left, he went into his managers office and removed tapes from two of the security cameras. 2022 marks the 25th anniversary of the year that everything happened 1997. On Monday, October 6th, the FBI agents who were investigating the robbery located the Loomis Fargo van abandoned in the woods. 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. Because Ghantt was the only employee who wasnt there that morning, he became the obvious suspect. Pocketing $50,000 for himself, that man, named David Ghantt, hopped into a car of his own and headed towards Mexico. I just had to call you., Today, Ghantt cant look back on the whole ordeal without some degree of pride. Too bad it was so poorly planned. Ghantt was sentenced to seven and a half years in prison, though he was released on parole after five. She just called me up on the phone and said, Hey, lets meet one day after work. And then, we were talking and she says, How do you feel about robbing Loomis Fargo? Ghantt tells me. Ghantt believed the new employee would make a good replacement for his wife, but the feelings were not necessarily reciprocated. Two days after theyd robbed the Loomis Fargo truck the very same day the police found the abandoned van in the woods Steve and Michelle Chambers walked into a bank and deposited their cut of the stolen money into their account. Im on the phone with Kelly [Campbell], and Im like, Hey, I really was expecting a package to arrive. 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. We were two paychecks away from being homeless at any given time.. The connection to Chambers took more time. Fourteen defendants were ordered to make restitution payments to Loomis Fargo totaling almost $19 million. hilary farr design assistant 9, Juin, 2022 Campbell was receptive and brought the idea up to Ghantt. And going to see the Mayan ruins. Where did the masterminds live after the heist? Things were spiraling fast. so make sure youre taking the right ones for you. Theres no way to get it back, Butcher told The Charlotte Observer. Also charged were several innocent relatives that the robbers had enlisted to help get safety deposit boxes in various banks. On his way out, he grabbed the surveillance video, hoping to cover his tracks. Chambers, his wife, and several of their accomplices were arrested the next day. 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. I was working sometimes 75-80 hrs a week for $8.15 an hour, I didnt even have a real home life because I was never there I was working all the time and unhappy which is understandable considering how old I was at the time. At first, I just blended in with the tourists and picked up a few translation books, Ghantt explains. I really enjoyed the little scuba diving trip. WebWas Loomis Fargo heist real? Ridicule of those involved in what remains one of the largest cash thefts in U.S. history would soon begin. 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. It was over. 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. Many of the lesser players in the conspiracy have been the most effective in paying their debts. When I call Ghantt to discuss his involvement in the Loomis Fargo heist, he confesses that hes feeling a bit tired from a day of honest labor. I mean, it was dark, Ghantt explains. But it didnt really hit me until later., On March 2nd, when the FBI agents walked up to Ghantt in Playa del Carmen and told him he was under arrest, Ghantt was relieved. Retro CharlotteFBI security footage of David Ghantt in the midst of the Loomis Fargo heist. $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. I told the lead investigator I was glad to see him.. So he got in a cab and went to a mall. Chambers served 11 years before being released. All of the defendants except for one pleaded guilty and accepted their sentences. I was just going to get the money into the van. 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. WebAydin Properties > Uncategorized > real kelly campbell loomis fargo heist. ACT Writing: 15 Tips to Raise Your Essay Score, How to Get Into Harvard and the Ivy League, Is the ACT easier than the SAT? As for his new wife, when the two just started dating, he was nervous about letting her know about his past, but he wanted to be honest. So I was glad it was over. When Chambers and the two Erics were done loading the stolen millions into barrels, they abandoned the van in the woods. The obvious suspect the Full sum would be his last day on the phone and said, Probably, television! Loomis Fargo totaling almost $ 19 million headed towards Mexico located the Loomis real kelly campbell loomis fargo heist in banks! 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