The phone calls began to get more intense when Steve and Eric got suspicious of a man who was running hismouth about them and the vault job over in Charlotte. What we know. Ultimately, even though the film is a slightly exaggerated version of the actual events, it is not far from reality. Almost 19 years after Ghantt and a group of friends from Gaston County pulled off one of the largest cash heists in U.S. history, the movie "Masterminds" will play up the caper for laughs. where he earned $360 a week and befriended Kelly Campbell (Wiig), who got Ghantt . .component--type-recirculation .item:nth-child(5) { When Ghantt was found in Playa del Carmen, Mexico, five months after the heist, DePriest and photographer Kent Johnson raced to the airport, according to Observer records. He and co-worker Kelly Campbell, 27, had developed a close relationship and were spending time together outside of work. Now they only had to track down Ghantt and his accomplices. 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. Authorities were notified of the robbery in the morning, when employees couldnt open the vault. 1997, with David Ghantt, a Loomis supervisor who stole . Later, they also arrested Nathans older brother. First, they tapped the Chambers phone, and began listening in on February 11th, 1998. https://www.charlotteagenda.com/67457/loomis-fargo-heist-masterminds-movie/, http://www.charlotteobserver.com/news/state/article104506876.html, https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/October_1997_Loomis_Fargo_robbery#Company, http://retroclt.blogspot.com/2014/07/loomis-fargo-heist.html, . He then broached the possibility of a robbery to Campbell; who subsequently introduced Ghantt to Chambers. display: none; Its available to stream on Netflix, and the description on the site starts with the phrase Four dim-witted Southerners, which should tip you off that this retelling deserves a few grains of salt. I'll never pay it off on my paycheck." Michelle Chambers received a few more months than Ghantt, because she had violated several bond conditions. Along with Ghantt and Campbell, there were eight others, including Campbell's former high school friend Steve Chambers and his wife, Michelle. The Loomis Fargo Bank Robbery was a robbery of $17.3 million in cash from the Charlotte, North Carolina, regional office vault of Loomis, Fargo & Co. on the evening of October 4, 1997, by vault supervisor David Scott Ghantt, his married girlfriend Kelly Campbell (a former Loomis co-worker), Steve Chambers, his wife Michelle Chambers, Michael Gobbies and four other co-conspirators. After years of working hard, the realisation hit him that he was working 75-80 hrs a week for $8.15 an hour which left him feeling unhappy. Campbellwho was married herselfrepresented something new and exciting. } Steve Chambers would keep the rest. Most people are going to forgive you. ``This defendant was second to Steve Chambers in (benefiting) from the crime,' he said. Ghantt, his former co-worker Kelly Campbell and her friends Steve and Michelle Chambers carried out the Loomis Fargo heist on Oct. 4, 1997. . Of course, I went on a spending spree. But former Kings Mountain resident David Scott Ghantt can. My knee-jerk reaction was to be angry, and then the sarcastic ass side of me started laughing about it, Ghantt said. A series of snapshots published in the Observer on March 8, 1998, just as the FBI and everyone else was getting a grip on just how strange the heist had been. Authorities had the receipt and had known it was missing. Keeping with the plan, Ghantt took $50,000, which was the maximum that could by law be taken across the border of Mexico without authorization. Downtown Asheville was cast as a movie set this week, as a major motion picture production filmed in the city center on Tuesday and Wednesday. All but one took plea deals, including Ghantt, who was sentenced to seven years in prison. And theres the story of then-Observer reporter Joe DePriests race to Mexico to catch Ghantt as he was getting arrested. ENTERTAINMENT. Ghantt didnt know the full extent of what was happening back home -- how that lay low plan turned into a flurry of extravagant spending. As Ghantt and seven others await hearings on charges from the October theft, authorities still have a big unanswered question: Where's most of the money? Please subscribe to keep reading. Chambers and his wife Michele moved out of a trailer and into a luxury mansion in a nice neighborhood. For Christmas, Steve Chambers gave his wife a $43,000 diamond ring. The Loomis Fargo Bank Robbery was the $17.3 million cash robbery of the Charlotte, North Carolina, regional office vault of Loomis Fargo & Company on the evening of October 4, 1997, by armored car driver and vault supervisor David Scott Ghantt.An FBI criminal investigation (which became international in scope) ultimately resulted in the arrest and conviction of eight people . David Ghantt, Kelly Campbell, and their friends stole an astonishing $17.3 million. The case had gotten national publicity and was the subject of numerous articles, documentaries and even a movie. While Ghantt fled to Mexico, the others went no farther than Cramer Mountain. As Ghantt was the only employee absent, he was marked as the obvious suspect. Kelly Campbell, a former firm employee, pleaded guilty to bank larceny, money laundering, and murder conspiracy charges earlier this year. On Oct. 5, 1997, Ghantt carried out the heist during his regular shift after sending another employee home, stealing more than $17 million from the bank vault. I ride motorcycles and fish -- normal guy, Ghantt told Counts. From the start, David Ghatt was considered to be a prime suspect. Ghantt, his former co-worker Kelly Campbell and her friends Steve and Michelle Chambers carried out the Loomis Fargo heist on Oct. 4, 1997. He was also married, but none of those things would matter after he met Kelly Campbell. David Ghantt : Oh, Rio, yeah, yeah. David Ghantt's fame was short-lived as he was a prime suspect from the start. The plan was to maintain a low profile and wait for things to cool off, allowing Ghantt to return to the states and collect his cut. In the first couple of weeks, they had heard both Steve and Shelley bragging about their new-found fortune, and spending remarkable amounts of money. You should definitely start your own blog, I highly recommend it. Steve Chambers would keep the rest . Several cars and nine safety deposit boxes were seized, authorities said. jim martin death couples massage class san diego beaver falls football real kelly campbell loomis fargo heist. A woman by the name of Kelly Campbell had worked there in 1996, and she and Ghantt had become friends in that time. Masterminds: Directed by Jared Hess. Ghantt and seven others eventually pleaded guilty in federal court to charges . Loomis Fargo heist: 25 years later David Ghantt took $50,000 for himself and fled to Cozumel, Mexico. One of them was a former Loomis employee. In addition, he also rented Mike his own apartment, paid him $400/weekly and bought him a gun. Word trickled in to the FBI that Ghantt had a romantic interest in a former coworker, Kelly Campbell, who one day visited a Toyota dealership to purchase a minivan with twenty-dollar bills. The movie, about a famous Charlotte bank . Not many people can say they stole $17 million from their employer and had Zach Galifianakis play them in a movie. 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 . 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. He has a regular life now, but 25 years ago, David Ghantt was the mastermind behind the 3rd largest bank robbery in U.S. history. I wish them all a happy life and that's about it. Campbell and her husband had always been just scraping by, however in the weeks following the robbery, the two seemed to have more money than they've ever had. Galifianakis can pull off broad comedy effortlessly, a skill which catapulted him to . 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. To make a successful getaway, Ghantt had to lift nearly 2,800 pounds of currency. 0:00. From my standpoint it was just a business deal, Ghantt said. In that time, I realized most of my problems were because of me. I wasnt attracted to him or anything, but he was a nice guy, Campbell said. 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. $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. David Ghantt, a Gulf War veteran, . Ghantt, his former co-worker Kelly Campbell and her friends Steve and Michelle Chambers, carried out the Loomis Fargo heist on Oct. 4, 1997. How I held it together is beyond me, Ghantt said. The affidavit also cited telephone conversations between Steve Chambers and McKinney that indicated they may have been plotting Ghantt's murder in Mexico only days ago. Afterward, outside the courthouse, her parents said the length was about what she had expected. David ist einer der Mnner, die fr Banken Unsummen an Dollars von A nach B fahren. This story was originally published October 1, 2017, 6:44 PM. They had to be extremely careful not to tip off the group, as they could lose potential conspirators or more information important to a conviction. A third surveillance tape was carelessly left behind, and the company was able to identify the man who robbed the vault as David Ghantt. CLICK HERE FOR PHOTOS FROM 1998 and ACTORS IN MOVIE. FINANCE. 69-year-old suffers stroke in his home; Realtor showing house leaves him there. But Ghantt, who served as an unpaid consultant to the movie and attended the big Los Angeles premiere earlier in the week, has no such reservations. You have permission to edit this article. Because Ghantt was the only employee who wasn't there that morning, he became the obvious suspect. When Loomis Fargo employees could not open the vault the following day, they called authorities, and the investigation was started. 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. Armored car driver David Ghantt, played here by Zach Galifianakis, conspired with friends of his crush Kelly Campbell, played by Kristen Wiig, to steal $17 million in cash from the company . . Probably very egotistical of me, I though yeah, sure, I can beat them, theyre college smart and thats about it, Ghantt said. He was eventually approached to be a consultant for the 2016 movie Masterminds, which is based on the Loomis Fargo heist. Just days after agreeing to the plan, the group set a day to carry out the robbery. Shortly after, investigators found Ghantt's pickup truck abandoned at the warehouse. 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. Diamant captures the human side of the crime as well as the bizarre details, including a clown-faced lava lamp. In the coming years, a movie was made about the Loomis Fargo heist, called the Masterminds. Ghantt, who by then was long out of prison, served as a consultant. Before long, the tales of high living by Chambers and his now former wife, Michelle, led the thieves to be labeled either the "Cramer Mountain Hillbillies" or "The gang that couldn't steal straight." Le seul rayon de soleil dans son existence banale, c'est sa jolie collgue, Kelly Campbell. Loomis Fargo heist: 25 years later David Scott Ghantt speaks with Channel 9's Glenn Counts 25 years after the robbery. The robbers left it behind as they simply didnt have room for all that cash. Chaque jour, c'est la mme routine : au volant de son camion blind, il transporte des millions de dollars qui ne lui appartiennent pas. Two of them, Mike and Kim Goodman, are scheduled to be sentenced today. By using this website, you accept the terms of our Visitor Agreement and Privacy Policy, and understand your options regarding Ad Choices. A connection between each suspect began to emerge slowly, and as the intensity of spending grew, suspicion did as well. It's said that Chambers approached Campbell in the summer of 1997 about executing a $17.3 million robbery (which today means $ 25.9 million) at her former job. MAIL. Also charged with money laundering were innocent relatives and friends who had co-signed safe deposit boxes. Let me see! While listening in, they uncovered another more sinister alleged plan to kill Ghantt. Your California Privacy Rights / Privacy Policy. The next morning, the vault at Loomis Fargo could not be opened, so the employees called the police. 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 . Question: Are you happy that Wilkesboro-nativeZach Galifianakis plays you in the movie? Steve hires hitman Mike McKinney to kill David, but the two become friends. The next day, before Mike was able to leave the country, the FBI arrested him in his hotel room. ``None of these defendants , in this court's opinion, are capable of making substantial restitution, no matter what they do, or no matter what they try,' Mullen said. Copyright 2023 CBS Interactive Inc. All rights reserved. Ghantt was the vault manager and was surrounded daily by millions of dollars-worth of temptation. But neither of those things would matter after he met Kelly Campbell. Campbell, a mother of two, was in the process of divorcing her husband. Steve and Michelle Chambers moved from a mobile home into the $635,000 house. When did you conclude yeah Im actually going to do this? Counts asked. Campbell was receptive and brought the idea to Ghantt. Ghantt was sentenced to seven and a half years in prison. David Ghantt : I've never even been to the airport but about twice in my life. I wanted to make a drastic change and I went for it," Ghantt said. I found the young woman who worked as a hotel receptionist and remembered many details about Ghantt: how he stayed in Room 101 eating M&Ms, chain-smoking Marlboro Lights, reading Superman comics and listening to the Eagles, DePriest wrote. Instead, he was plotting to kill Ghantt - and burning through a great deal of cash. Ghantt was the vault manager and was surrounded daily by millions of dollars-worth of temptation. >> PHOTOS: The Loomis Fargo heist, 25 years later. 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