SAT is a registered trademark of the College Entrance Examination BoardTM. (renews at {{format_dollars}}{{start_price}}{{format_cents}}/month + tax). What ACT target score should you be aiming for? The jokes between Ghantt and Campbell about their disgruntlement with their jobs took on a more serious note when Campbell introduced Ghantt to an old high school classmate of hers named Steve Chambers. Kelly Campbell is scheduled to be sentenced in October. Ghantt was sentenced to seven and a half years in prison, though he was released on parole after five. Q: Do you appreciate your normal life now more than you would if you hadn't spent years in prison? Masterminds (2016) - IMDb Masterminds - Zach Galifianakis 'David Ghantt' [On-Set Interview]SUBSCRIBE HERE: http://goo.gl/SrrTlTSUBSCRIBE MOVIE TRAILERS: http://goo.gl/8WxGeDA night gu. But there was just one thing the group hadnt been counting on: the massive weight of that amount of cash. Going to prison helped me grow up as a human being. Her husband, Steve Chambers, whom prosecutors have called the main defendant, began serving an 11-year sentence earlier this year. 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. The additions come as KFC recently removed some menu items, including wings, popcorn chicken and cookies, to make room for new additions. Lorsque vous utilisez nos sites et applications, nous utilisons des, authentifier les utilisateurs, appliquer des mesures de scurit, empcher les spams et les abus; et. Q: How do you tell prospective employers you once stole $17 million? Together with his wife, Chambers bought a new luxury home (upgrading from his mobile home), a BMW Z3, and some extravagant furnishings. When the rest of the Loomis Fargo employees showed up the next morning and found that they couldnt open the vault, they called the police. 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. For the New York State assemblyman, see. 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. David Ghantt And The Loomis Fargo Heist: The Outrageous True Story When Ghantt called Chambers to have the latter wire him more money, Chambers sent just a few thousand dollars. Two days after the heist, the FBI found the missing van with $3.3 million of cash left in it. Day in and day out, he drives an armored vehicle,. Although the history of the predecessor Wells Fargo & Company dates back to 1852, Loomis Fargo & Company was established in 1997 by the consolidation of Wells Fargo Armored Service and Loomis Armored Inc.; the resulting corporation employed 8,500 people and provided armored transportation, cash handling services, and automatic teller machine maintenance. CREATIVE. Of course, the FBI was already aware of Chambers and his free-spending ways, and the murder plot helped federal agents find Ghantt south of the border. After meeting up with Chambers, Campbell, and some other co-conspirators, Ghantt hightailed it to Mexico with $50,000 in cash in his car. An additional tip reached the FBI when Michelle Chambers made a large deposit at a bank. Also charged were several innocent relatives that the robbers had enlisted to help get safety deposit boxes in various banks. 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 CNBCs Super Heists, airing Monday at 10 p.m. 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. For Christmas, Steve Chambers gave his wife a $43,000 diamond ring. 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. Based on a true story, the premise itself is fascinating, which makes Masterminds all the more a waste. Ghantt's spending in Mexico was extravagant at first. He stayed at a luxury hotel and took scuba diving lesson. There was also no dramatic showdown between Chambers and Ghantt as the movie suggests. David Bowie 's widow recently took to Instagram to post selfies, while promoting both her makeup brand and fashion line. 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. You may email him here, follow him on Twitter, or listen to his weekly TV podcast, Podjiba. By now, you probably know the names -- David Ghantt, Steve Chambers and his wife Michelle, and Kelly Campbell. The plan to rob Loomis Fargo was spawned by Campbell and her friend Steve Chambers, during a casual bonfire at Chambers home. Although the FBI investigation was able to quickly connect Ghantt to Campbell, connecting Ghantt to Chambers was a more difficult task. Its about the 1997 Loomis Fargo robbery also known as the hillbillly heist the second largest cash robbery in the history of the United States. 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.. It's the little things like that that gnaw on you. Get all your true crime news from Oxygen. Three of the 21 defendants in the case haven't been sentenced. 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. DUMB & - The Washington Post I realized a lot of things that were wrong with me as a person. 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. 'Masterminds' Review - The Hollywood Reporter I felt cornered and one day the joking in the break room about robbing the place suddenly didnt seem so far-fetched.. The 5 Strategies You Must Be Using to Improve 160+ SAT Points, How to Get a Perfect 1600, by a Perfect Scorer, Free Complete Official SAT Practice Tests. He had never been in trouble with the law. Its a farce that never farces; a comedy without jokes. I didnt even know about it and overlooked it, he said. After this look at David Ghantt and the Loomis Fargo heist, read about a more successful robbery, the Antwerp diamond heist. He was angry a lot. 121 90 1,443 Show this thread David GhanttRetweeted C.A. David Ghantt, a Gulf War veteran, had never been in trouble with the law. David Ghantt normally came home between 6 and 8 p.m., and often he was late, his wife said. I work construction. They kept several furnishings from the previous owners, including a painting of Elvis Presley on black velvet. According to Campbell, Chambers could help Ghantt execute a massive cash robbery of the vault at Loomis Fargo in one night. The pair began to daydream about whether they could really pull off the heist. "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. 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 Ghantt discovers the true meaning of adventure far beyond his wildest dreams. Chambers wife, Michelle, bought a minivan in cash and began taking frequent trips to the bank to make deposits. 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. 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. ``I'm glad she didn't get nine years,' said Sandra Floyd, her mother. Question: Which do you regret more, stealing the money or getting caught? In November 1990, David married Margaret in San Diego, California. As Campbell would later explain, If David got killed, there couldnt be any finger pointing. You've decided to give up on a part of your life. As Predators' David Poile braces for retirement, wife reveals love story 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. I started just chucking it as fast as I could, he said, adding the sweat was pouring off of me.. But neither of those things would matter after he met Kelly Campbell. 43-year-old Margret and her mother both died in 2012 . Instead, the bandits just started throwing as much money as they could into the van until they couldnt fit anymore. Its gone! Degrowth or Debunk: Do Degrowth proponents have a strategy? so make sure youre taking the right ones for you. But because he still owes millions to the IRS, he couldnt be paid. The pair were both from the United States but had lived in the Peloponnese region of Greece for the past few years. I mean, thats pretty much why I did it. 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. Will Mcintyre/The LIFE Images Collection/Getty Images. Ghantt has never explained where that money went. If so,check out some of these books on our AP History Exam reading list. They received sentences and probation ranging from several years to 11 years and three months in federal prison for Steve Chambers, who was also fined more than $3,500,000. Masterminds is an atrociously bad comedy, and absolutely everyone is to blame. The FBI quickly connected Ghantt to Campbell, who was a former Loomis Fargo employee. The judge said he would recommend that Michele Chambers be given mental health treatment in prison. ``This defendant was second to Steve Chambers in (benefiting) from the crime,' he said. 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. Dont worry, its not drug money.. Get the latest articles and test prep tips! From Oct. 6 through Feb. 20, the couple made 47 deposits totaling $271,500 at a Belmont bank, and at. WOMAN GETS TIME IN LOOMIS HEIST - Greensboro News and Record 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. START or Stop: Do Nuclear Weapons Treaties Matter? Robbing the 7-Eleven and getting $40 bucks and a pack of Marlboros was not for me. In fact, David Ghantt was about to commit the heist of a lifetime. Over the next months, Ghantt, Campbell, and Chambers developed a plan. ', He explained the glorification and glamour often associated with bank heists and bank robberies in Hollywood films is far from reality. Her reaction seems so far away now, all these years and a Hall of Fame career later. 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. That suspicion was immediately confirmed by a quick glance at the security camera footage that showed Ghantt doing a little dance after loading all the cash into the van. I really don't miss that guy. Chambers and his wife also made some cash payments on a few cars. What SAT Target Score Should You Be Aiming For? Explain: The scary part is that as soon as you put that little bit of money in the van, that there's no going back. By comparison, Ghantt served seven years in prison and was fined $26,000. Generally, the events of the film are fairly close to reality when they follow the broad details of the case. 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. 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? [citation needed], It was later confirmed by the FBI that more than 88% of the stolen cash had been located or otherwise accounted for. He was released in 2006. But even though he worked for a company that regularly moved millions of dollars, David Ghantt himself was underpaid. Michele Chambers declined to make a statement at the hearing. 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. [citation needed], The defendants were the targets of many barbed jokes in Charlotte and across the country, in part because of their extravagant spending. 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. 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. The true crime behind Asheville-based Galifianakis film The plan went off with few problems, but after Ghantt was safely in Mexico, his partners were left storing large amounts of cash. It's been 20 years since the Loomis Fargo heist. - Charlotte Observer 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. If you're trying to make yourself better today, that's all most people care about. Investigators also found Ghantt's pickup truck, abandoned at the warehouse. In the end, eight co-conspirators were indicted for the Loomis Fargo heist. Whisler told the judge that the couple had searched for a new house before the theft, and that Michele Chambers bought rubber bands from Wal-Mart to count the money the night of the crime. ``There are many people with those factors who don't resort to crime,' he said. Project #ShowUs. He was insecure. We were two paychecks away from being homeless at any given time.. So Chambers decided to solve the problem by putting a hit on Ghantt. CLICK HERE FOR PHOTOS FROM MASTERMIND MOVIE. Former Cramerton Police Chief David Young soon got wind of the Chambers excessive spending spree and reached out to the FBI. Chambers, who made an ill-fated decision to buy a home in the gated Cramer Mountain community with his newfound wealth, now runsa gym on Lowell-Bethesda Road. Back then all I really wanted to do was just, I wanted to change my life. Philosophically, now looking back I wouldnt be who I am now if I hadnt gone through all that, said David Scott Ghantt in an interview with the Observer. Based on the October 1997 Loomis Fargo robbery. In August 1997, Campbell informed Ghantt of an old high school friend of hers, Steve Chambers, who could assist Ghantt in executing a massive cash robbery of the Loomis Fargo vault in one night. So he hatched a plan to rob his employers. #CLXGaming#CLXRa#evokethegods 1 2 Create a free profile to get unlimited access to exclusive videos, breaking news, sweepstakes, and more! 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. He was also married. The police then called the FBI because most of the money handled at the facility belonged to banks, which technically made it a bank robbery a federal offense.[5]. Separating the Red and Blue. 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. However, the fact that a man who formerly lived in a mobile home was lavishly spending money on a luxury home ($635,000 in cash), expensive cars, and a ring ($42,000 in cash) eventually made it easy to connect the dots. Q: You came to the North Carolina mountains during Hurricane Irma, but what do you miss about Gastonia? 25th anniversary of the incredible Loomis Fargo bank heist | wcnc.com Will California Save the Iconic Joshua Tree? At the time it was the second largest cash robbery ever to happen on US soil. Ghantt and seven others eventually pleaded guilty in federal court to charges directly related to one of the largest cash heists in history while more than a dozen other family members, friends and associates of those involved in the theft were found guilty of related charges, including money laundering. Eventually, Ghantt would return to the United States and the full sum would be split up between the conspirators. In October of 1997, I was a vault supervisor for armored truck company Loomis Fargo, when I made off with $17.3 million. In addition to his phone calls with Ghantt, Chambers began extravagantly spending the money, even though the co-conspirators had agreed to lay low for a year or two. Youre better at planning bank heists than David Ghantt. 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. 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. 'When you have money, you just have different problems': The Loomis 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 completed his prison sentence in November 2006. But as Ghantt admitted, the film took some liberties with specific details and characters to make the film funnier. My name is David Scott Ghantt. But even though he worked for a company that regularly moved millions of dollars, David Ghantt himself was underpaid. Now, here we are, two years later. No rift here! Chambers would hold on to most of the remaining cash and wire it to Ghantt as needed. A comedy film called Masterminds, based on the Loomis Fargo heist and starring Zach Galifianakis, Kristen Wiig, Owen Wilson, and Jason Sudeikis, was released in 2016. Chambers had broached the possibility of a robbery to Campbell earlier in the summer. Coverage of the latest true crime stories and famous cases explained, as well as the best TV shows, movies and podcasts in the genre. 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. 20 years ago,on the night ofOctober 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. Michele Chambers 1998 BMW for sale following the prosecutions of the Loomis Fargo heist conspirators. 'Sister Wives': Everything We Know About David Woolley's Late Wife Defense lawyer Andy Culler sought a seven-year, three-month sentence. But last Oct. 4, when he still hadn't gotten home by 2:30 a.m., she called his parents in. All of the cash from the Loomis Fargo heist was recovered or accounted for, except for $2 million. 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. I didnt even have a real home life because I was never there. https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=9LCR9zyGkbo. You see, theres a reason Loomis Fargo used armored cars to move large amounts of cash. The odds of you actually getting away with something these days is pretty damn slim. A: When I first got in, I thought, "What in my life has led me to this?" 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. I wasnt attracted to him or anything, but he was a nice guy, Campbell said. Within two days, the investigators found the van with $3 million in cash and the security camera tapes inside. 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. The couple was married for 22 years before her untimely death in 2012. 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? Defense attorney Jim Griffin laid out his team's side of the case to the jury for more than two hours, arguing . ", The much-faster-than-expected economic recovery thats followed the easing of the coronavirus pandemic has produced several encouraging develo. twitter.com Sarah Hartsfield: Brother of David Bragg killed by Chambers County They also bought a BMW Z3 with cash and made several large purchases, including a $600 cigar store Indian. It was over. David Scott Ghantt: Vault Supervisor David Scott Ghantt was the vault supervisor at the regional branch of Loomis, Fargo & Co. in Charlotte, North Carolina. David Ghantt was a nuisance to Steve Chambers and Kelly Campbell, John Wydra, a retired FBI agent who handled the case, told Super Heists.. [7][8], Rocket Science, a 1998 double-disc album by Charlotte-based radio personalities John Boy & Billy, includes a track ("Marvin: The Loomis Caper") mocking the defendants. Fact check: Is there much truth to the new 'Masterminds' movie followed by "Don't worry, it is not drug money," the bank filled out a suspicious activity report, which ultimately reached the FBI. You can't get barbecue slaw in this hedonistic state (Florida), and there's nowhere to get real ice cream here like Tony's. The two struck up a friendship during work that would continue after Campbell left the company. Most high schools offer a variety of history classes, so make sure youre taking the right ones for you. Said Ghantt, one day life kinda slapped me in the face. Outside the building, Ghantt met up with Campbell, Chambers, and others who were involved in the plot, and drove off to a printing business called Reynolds & Reynolds in northwest Charlotte. Campbell was receptive and brought the idea up to Ghantt. He was like OK, yeah, we can do that, she recalled. His partners, who planned to stay behind, agreed to send him his full cut of the money after the heat from investigators had died down. And, with the help of several others David made off with $17.3 million dollars, 11 million of which was in 20's. 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. On March 12, a Charlotte grand jury indicted the eight co-conspirators for bank larceny and money laundering; the latter offense was included because of how they spent the stolen money. All of the defendants except for one pleaded guilty and accepted their sentences. I did get to meet him. Campbell and Chambers made themselves easy to catch, what with their lavish spending. A lot of people ask me, Oh, do you have any regrets? No, not really. David Ghantt on stealing 17 million dollars from Loomis Fargo (Crime & Entertainment Full Interview) Crime & Entertainment 3.77K subscribers Subscribe 4.8K views 1 year ago David Ghantt. A former co-worker told me, "Everybody has screwed up. [15], "David Ghantt" redirects here. I figured it had to be me. 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. Hes a great person. Please subscribe to keep reading. Als u niet wilt dat wij en onze partners cookies en persoonsgegevens voor deze aanvullende doeleinden gebruiken, klik dan op 'Alles weigeren'. Pour en savoir plus sur la faon dont nous utilisons vos donnes personnelles, veuillez consulter notre politique relative la vie prive et notre politique en matire de cookies. The FBI investigation was aided by the gang's extravagant spending. The defense has finished its closing argument in the murder trial of Alex Murdaugh.