"Just think about it," she said. We are happy to work with other website publishers. One number is working in Campbells favor. Temptation to do something that you think you normally wouldnt do can change a lot of minds when its that kind of cash, and thats what it was., (WATCH BELOW: VIDEO: The Loomis Fargo heist: 25 years later). He realized his life wouldn't improve unless he did something drastic. Federal law stops government collection efforts 20 years after a defendant leaves prison. Four-wheeling. Youre supposed to get less time for cooperating, a lesser penalty, and instead, you see what she got hit with. Gronquist said. Campbell used to work for Loomis and continued the friendship with Ghantt, eventually hooking him up with Chambers. David knew this was important from having followed the recent news about a Florida man who had brazenly committed the biggest heist from an armored-car company in United States history, a loner named Philip Noel Johnson, who also had worked for Loomis. : The .17 Million Loomis Fargo Theft . He put on his best pair of jeans, a button-down shirt, and his nicest cowboy boots. This category only includes cookies that ensures basic functionalities and security features of the website. 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. The loot would later be divided among David, Kelly, and Steve. Winds ENE at 5 to 10 mph.. Clear skies. So the original gang was all totally shocked, Wydra said. Husband and wife Steven and Michelle Chambers, whose conspicuous consumption of a luxury home, a BMW convertible, breast implants and a $600 wooden Indian, among other purchases, helped the FBI solve the crime, were assessed $3.81 million and $4.8 million, respectively. Its in the ether. of violence, racism, anti-Semitism, or The plan to rob Loomis Fargo was spawned by Campbell and her friend Steve Chambers, during a casual bonfire at Chambers' home. 12) Loomis Fargo heist- The aftermath Ultimately, eight co-conspirators were indicted for the Loomis Fargo bank heist. The FBI began to question past and current employees of Loomis Fargo. 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. (John D. Simmons/The Charlotte Observer via AP). Restitution is a familiar part of sentencing in federal court. This station is part of Cox Media Group Television. The case had gotten national publicity and was the subject of numerous articles, documentaries and even a movie. You can have your whole career and not have a case like that. "I've got a friend," she said, "who can hook you up with a new ID.". The site features a collection of unexplained, strange and odd mysteries. Sunny. That sounds like a lot of money until its compared to the $18,930,201.26 the group was ordered to pay. But on Oct. 4, 1997, that no longer mattered and Ghantt took off with $17.3 million. According to Butcher, Campbells last official payment came in June 2021 when the government appears to have seized a tax refund of $81.24. In fact, he had recently finished a book about the FBI and felt it provided insight into the agency's investigative techniques, insight he thought could help the little gang succeed. Learn how to enable JavaScript on your browser. After discussing his job, his marriage, and his everyday struggles, they joked about Loomis and about how easy it would be to steal from the place. Kelly had approached David with the idea in the summer, knowing he had a crush on her and winning him over with the promise that a shady friend of hers with Mafia ties would help them. The trainee didn't yet know how the place worked, a fact David planned to use to his advantage. Anybody who gets caught up in the system is getting chewed up by it, the now-retired Gronquist told the Observer. These (Loomis) guys, not so much.. It has a certain feel, a smell and weight to it. But after one visit, she asked a teller How much can I deposit before you have to report it to the feds? followed by Dont worry, it is notdrug money, the bank filled out asuspicious activity report, which ultimately reached the FBI. The figures can be astounding. Theres no way to get it back, Butcher told The Charlotte Observer. Ghantt had struck up a relationship with a fellow Loomis Fargo employee, Kelly Campbell; they continued to maintain contact even after Campbell left the company. Many of the lesser players in the conspiracy have been the most effective in paying their debts. 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.. But you cant get blood from a stone, Johns said. After marrying Tammy in 1992, he worked fueling airplanes at the airport in Hilton Head, South Carolina. Curiously, Payne had recently paid of his Visa in one payment and had been driving around new and rented vehicles for the past weeks. And Kelly thought he was funny. 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A report by the General Accounting Office found that as of budget year 2016, $110 billion in restitution ordered by the federal courts was outstanding and that more than 90% of the amount had been classified as uncollectible.. Though much of the cash was already stacked on pushcarts in the vault, other stacks were on shelves or the floor, and they were heavy. LETTER TO THE EDITOR: But where will they park? Investigators considered Ghantt to be the prime suspect almost from the beginning. Youre supposed to get less time for cooperating, a lesser penalty, and instead, you see what she got hit with. Gronquist said. In 1994, they moved to Gastonia, North Carolina, where they had grown up, and David took a job driving a forklift. And then I realized that a lot of people knew who I was and they had followed the case.. They swept the surrounding counties, locating Kelly Campbell and Eric Payne in their homes. Next month, Payne will back in the Charlotte federal courthouse, this time to be sentenced from weapons and methamphetamine trafficking charges. It is mandatory to procure user consent prior to running these cookies on your website. They also bought aBMW Z3with cash and made several large purchases, including a $600 statue of aNative American. So they went to Mexico and arrested Ghantt in order to protect him. 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. Fourteen defendants were ordered to make restitution payments to Loomis Fargo totaling almost $19 million. The biggest restitution numbers for victims of financial crimes generally involve Ponzi schemes or sweepstakes fraud, not cash thefts. Ghantt said he believes in redemption, and that his mistake 25 years ago brought him all the things that are important in his life today. Ghantt was sentenced to seven and a half years in prison. 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. She will never get beyond the debt. 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.. The Loomis case is another example where the amount of restitution ordered vs. what is actually paid are two dramatically different numbers. 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. Hes a family man with a wife and daughter. He deserved better. Winds light and variable. 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The investigation ultimately resulted in the conviction of eight people directly involved, as well as sixteen others who had indirectly helped them. shaka wear graphic tees is candy digital publicly traded ellen lawson wife of ted lawson real kelly campbell loomis fargo heist 25 Feb/23 (No Ratings Yet) Their only intimate physical contact had been kissing on a mid-September night when they had driven her pickup truck to a field behind a shooting range in Gaston County to discuss their plans and the theft's chance of success. 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. It was the second-largest. He hired a hitman to take Ghantt out, tying up the ultimate loose end. she asked again. 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Marine Fisheries Commission advocates for water quality, North Carolina the only state allowing unnecessary killing of sea turtles, 'Pagan' bike gang leader in N. Carolina sentenced to prison, Deputy cleared in shooting death of Gloucester woman, Beaufort amends charter to allow four-year mayoral term. 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. 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. CHARLOTTE (AP) During one overnight shift, a bumbling conspiracy of thieves just west of Charlotte stole more than $17 million from Loomis Fargo. 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. Then 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, Wydra said. sole discretion of the site administrators and repeat offenders may None of the suspects had been in any serious trouble before this. If a prank seemed dangerous, David backed out. Campbell, a mother of two, was in the process of divorcing The movie was called Masterminds and stars Zach Galifianakis, Kristen Wiig and Owen Wilson. The FBI began to question past and current employees of Loomis Fargo. Of course the most famous thing inside the home was a velvet Elvis portrait. A connection between each suspect began to emerge slowly, and as the intensity of spending grew, suspicion did as well. Sure to be in demand as the book has been made into a movie, Masterminds, to be released in August.Michael Sawyer, Pine Bluff, AR. Loomis Fargo heist: 25 years later David Scott Ghantt, his former co-worker Kelly Campbell and her friends Steve and Michelle Chambers carried out the Loomis Fargo heist on Oct. 4, 1997. Its said the current owner now has it in storage in Phoenix, Arizona. When Ghantt called Campbell asking for more money, a plan was set in motion to take him out. The unsolved crime mystery of Marilyn Sheppard. The Loomis Fargo heist: 25 years later 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.