At the time it was thesecond largest bank heistin U.S. history. 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. That 3-carat ring came back to haunt Michele Chambers at Tuesday's hearing. The True Story of David Ghantt and the Loomis Fargo Heist, Get Free Guides to Boost Your SAT/ACT Score, check out some of these books on our AP History Exam reading list. Everybody thinks being famous and being an actor is stupendous, and the money is fantastic, but they kind of live in afish bowl. 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. The pair began to daydream about whether they could really pull off the heist. He completed his prison sentence in November 2006. A: I hate to think about what I'd be doing if I hadn't gotten caught. Generally, the events of the film are fairly close to reality when they follow the broad details of the case. Authorities say Steve and Michele Chambers moved from a mobile home into a $635,000 house three weeks after the theft. CREATIVE. You may email him here, follow him on Twitter, or listen to his weekly TV podcast, Podjiba. Kate. He then began loading $17 million in unmarked bills inside a company van before driving away. Two days later, when the FBI found the Loomis Fargo armored van, they discovered almost $3.3 million in cash left in the back of the van; it was later discovered that the thieves had miscalculated the sheer bulk of the small denomination currency, and that they simply left the cash that they could not take with them in the back of the van. Masterminds is an atrociously bad comedy, and absolutely everyone is to blame. David Scott Ghantt Ghantt, his former co-worker Kelly Campbell and her friends Steve and Michelle Chambers carried out the Loomis Fargo heist on Oct. 4, 1997. 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. Ghantt was the vault manager. ", 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. But even though he worked for a company that regularly moved millions of dollars, David Ghantt himself was underpaid. [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. AI Chatbots are Even Scarier Than You Think, DeSantiss Educational Policies Come Right Out of the Fascist Playbook, Erase the Memory to Erase a People? Jared Hess directed Masterminds, and god bless the guy, but if Gentlemen Broncos and Nacho Libre were not proof enough that Napoleon Dynamite was a fluke, Masterminds should seal the deal. For Christmas, Steve Chambers gave his wife a $43,000 diamond ring. Lees ons privacybeleid en cookiebeleid voor meer informatie over hoe we uw persoonsgegevens gebruiken. 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. A: I'm in dire need for some RO's barbecue and some Tony's Ice Cream. Loomis Fargo employee David Ghantt and his partners nearly pulled off the perfect crime, but it would be their lavish spending, and an alleged murder plot, that would be their undoing. 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. Learning about US history? Ghantts accomplices soon showed up but now they had another problem. Ghantt, in order to conserve this money, curtailed his spending. [1], 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, Philip Noel Johnson stole $18.8 million from the Loomis Fargo armored vehicle he was driving.[2]. You can reach Kevin Ellis at 704-869-1823 or www.Twitter.com/TheGazetteKevin. Campbell and Chambers made themselves easy to catch, what with their lavish spending. Anonymous tips had the FBI monitoring Chambers calls. 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. 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. The problem with the movie, however, is that the talented cast had no idea what the hell they were trying to do. In February 2009 the Associated Press reported that Chambers had chosen to describe himself as "changed". The College Entrance Examination BoardTM does not endorse, nor is it affiliated in any way with the owner or any content of this site. They also bought a BMW Z3 with cash and made several large purchases, including a $600 cigar store Indian. 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. Just days after agreeing to the plan, the group set a day to carry out the robbery. The FBI knew they needed to make their move. U kunt uw keuzes te allen tijde wijzigen door te klikken op de links 'Privacydashboard' op onze sites en in onze apps. Ghantt believed the new employee would make a good replacement for his wife, but the feelings were not necessarily reciprocated. I wasnt attracted to him or anything, but he was a nice guy, Campbell said. Here, he amps up the most obnoxious excesses of his entire cast and lets their grating bad-improv skills run amok. 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. In spite of Chambers assurance that the money was, you know, totally not illegally acquired, the teller remained suspicious, especially because the stacks of cash still had Loomis Fargo wrappers on them. The former star . 1) David Ghantt is underpaid and unhappy. The only defendant to not plead guilty, Chambers's attorney Jeff Guller, was found guilty of money laundering and sentenced to eight years in prison. Do you still have contact with him? David Ghantt, who pulled off the Loomis, Fargo & Co. vault robbery in 1997 and was sentenced to seven years in prison for the crime, served as a consultant for the film (in theaters Friday).. I knew it was over then, Ghantt said. 29 David Ghantt Photos and Premium High Res Pictures - Getty Images. 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. All but one of the defendants pleaded guilty. Did you know that the SAT offers subject exams, too? Meanwhile, Ghantt would take $50,000, as much as could legally be carried across the border without questions, and flee to Mexico. David Scott Ghantt was the vault supervisor at the regional branch of Loomis, Fargo & Co. in Charlotte, North Carolina. I work construction. Lindy Hop: The Dance That Defined The Golden Age of Jazz, Inside The Unsolved Disappearance Of Jennifer Kesse, What Stephen Hawking Thinks Threatens Humankind The Most, 27 Raw Images Of When Punk Ruled New York, Join The All That's Interesting Weekly Dispatch, David Ghantt attends the 2016 after party for the Hollywood premiere of. On similar grounds, four other people were ultimately also charged with money laundering. David Ghantt : [voice-over] Steve was a petty thief, mostly known for stealing tiny wheelchairs from pediatric hospitals. Create your free profile and get access to exclusive content. Over the years many of his social . Hes a great person. The next day, the Chambers, Campbell, and some other notable parties were arrested in Charlotte. "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. By now, you probably know the names -- David Ghantt, Steve Chambers and his wife Michelle, and Kelly Campbell. Within two days, the investigators found the van with $3 million in cash and the security camera tapes inside. 33. What SAT Target Score Should You Be Aiming For? 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. 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? See how other students and parents are navigating high school, college, and the college admissions process. This page was last edited on 21 February 2023, at 16:45. 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. 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. Some people screw up big like you, some people screw up small.". I'll take the live one. 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. You'd be amazed at how much stress you can relieve yourself from in your life by just taking 20 or so minutes a day for yourself and just letting the world go. dvelopper et amliorer nos produits et services. Als u uw keuzes wilt aanpassen, klik dan op 'Privacyinstellingen beheren'. 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. We were two paychecks away from being homeless at any given time.. Chambers had broached the possibility of a robbery to Campbell earlier in the summer. 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. START or Stop: Do Nuclear Weapons Treaties Matter? 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. After this look at David Ghantt and the Loomis Fargo heist, read about a more successful robbery, the Antwerp diamond heist. afficher des publicits et des contenus personnaliss en fonction de vos profils de centres dintrt; mesurer lefficacit des publicits et contenus personnaliss; et. 43-year-old Margret and her mother both died in 2012 . David Ghantt And The Loomis Fargo Heist: The Outrageous True Story. Ghantts wife was reportedly nothing like the bizarre, robotic fiance character in the film, for instance. As Campbell would later explain, If David got killed, there couldnt be any finger pointing. The Proposed TikTok Ban Goes Too Far. At the time it was the second largest cash robbery ever to happen on US soil. 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. Ten days later, the group was indicted for bank larceny and money laundering. Chambers promised to wire him money in Mexico until the investigation blew over and Ghantt could return to North Carolina. After finding himself in prison he made a concious choice to do things differently. On the night of October 4, the plan went into action. They got to work planning the straightforward heist that would rely on Ghantts existing access to the vault, fewer staff at the warehouse on the weekends, and the ability to use one of the companys armored trucks to make the successful getaway. During the next few months they bought a BMW-Z3 roadster and tens of thousands of dollars in antiques, furniture and decorations. [citation needed], The defendants were the targets of many barbed jokes in Charlotte and across the country, in part because of their extravagant spending. Robbing the 7-Eleven and getting $40 bucks and a pack of Marlboros was not for me. There was also no dramatic showdown between Chambers and Ghantt as the movie suggests. Ghantt was sentenced to seven and a half years in prison, though he was released on parole after five. He was also married. Naturally, Ghantt started to run out of cash and turned to Chambers, who was annoyed by his requests for more money. As it turns out, the heist did in fact go as well as you might expect. ``I wish she'd gotten less. 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. Theyre meant to be trailer-park trash, but they come off as character experiments on a bad night at the Groundlings. The couple was married for 22 years before her untimely death in 2012. She had previously been making frequent small deposits to avert suspicion. #CLXGaming#CLXRa#evokethegods 1 2 I got no real complaints, not at this point., The heist became the premise for the movie,Masterminds, released in September 2016. Prosecutors also resisted Culler's efforts to downplay Michele Chambers' role in the theft. Hayley Milliman is a former teacher turned writer who blogs about education, history, and technology. 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. Nous, Yahoo, faisons partie de la famille de marques Yahoo. On Oct. 4, Ghantt sent home the employee he was training and disabled two security cameras near the vault in preparation for the heist.
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