The unsolved crime mystery of Marilyn Sheppard. He had approached her inside the chain-link fence that surrounded the building and said with a flirty smile, "If you give me a cigarette, I'll be your friend. The FBI heard about the plot and agents knew they could no longer wait. Soon thereafter, he met Kelly Campbell, a co-worker at Loomis Fargo. Who was she to be pressuring him? You can have your whole career and not have a case like that. [SIGN UP: Action News Jax Daily Headlines Newsletter]. Thank you so much. Was the temptation too much? Former FBI agent John Wydra, who helped crack the case, sat down with Channel 9 Reporter Glenn Counts to talk about the clues that led to solving the crime, and how the group got caught. The unfairness gnawed at him, stirred by Kelly's questions. Campbell, a former Loomis employee and one of the original masterminds of the caper, has paid off less than $21,000 of the $4,701,694.18 she was docked. This was several years before the advent of smartphones and the post-9/11 increase in federal surveillance of electronic communications, and public knowledge about this tracking was less widespread. Now and again I run into blog posts that tends to make me want to get started on bloggin myself. 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 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. If the American Dream involved being better off as adults than your parents were, David was experiencing a version of the American Nightmare. Michelle Chambers received a few more months than Ghantt, because she had violated several bond conditions. Authorities were notified of the robbery in the morning, when employees couldnt open the vault. The plan to rob Loomis Fargo was spawned by Campbell and her friend Steve Chambers, during a casual bonfire at Chambers' home. document.getElementById( "ak_js_1" ).setAttribute( "value", ( new Date() ).getTime() ). David Ghantt was just an average Joe with an average low-wage job. However, Chambers had no intention of following those rules, believing the FBI would never connect him to Ghantt. The actual crime itself required none of Hollywood's imagination. Ghantt took $50,000 for himself and fled to Cozumel, Mexico. A parrot tattoo on her right ankle. He and co-worker Kelly Campbell, 27, had developed a close relationship and were spending time together outside of work. He says the Loomis case shows how the criminal justice system and the courts treat lower-income people differently. That first day in prison was scary, Ghantt said. 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.. Ghantt, in order to conserve this money, curtailed his spending. A more immediate need was securing help to move the stolen money to safety the night of the crime. Learn about careers at Cox Media Group. It was released in 2016 and Wydra was invited to the premiere. 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. 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. 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. be blocked or permanently banned without warning. : The .17 Million Loomis Fargo Theft [Jeff Diamant] on Amazon.com. He also stole both existing sets of vault keys and hurried into the manager's office, where three TV security screens and two VCRs were visible. When I put that cash in the back of the car, by the time I got to the office the whole car smelled like that. The case resurfaced in the federal courts on Thursday, Sept. 1, when the U.S. Attorneys Office in Charlotte posted a public reminder in the case file of Loomis defendant Kelly Campbell that she had fallen behind in her restitution. "I've got a friend," she said, "who can hook you up with a new ID.". David's vision for all of this actually derived more from books than from movies. He realized his life wouldn't improve unless he did something drastic. Its in the ether. All but one took plea deals, including Ghantt, who was sentenced to seven years in prison. The plan was for Ghantt to commit the actual robbery and then quickly leave the country forMexico but to leave the bulk of the cash with Chambers. So the original gang was all totally shocked, Wydra said. On the evening ofOctober 4, 1997, the Loomis Fargo & Co branch in Charlotte, North Carolina was in the process of being plundered. FILE - 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 home near. "I don't have time to mess with you. The gang made numerous mistakes. The government does not run debtors prisons, says U.S. Ghantt had worked with the branch since 1994, and had been promoted from a driver to the vault supervisor. FILE - 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 home near Mount Holly, N.C. on Aug 16, 1999. Ghantt was sentenced to seven and a half years in prison. "Do you know how much there's gonna be?" While Ghantt trusted Chambers enough to leave his cut behind, Chambers had other plans. The biggest restitution numbers for victims of financial crimes generally involve Ponzi schemes or sweepstakes fraud, not cash thefts. This website uses cookies to improve your experience while you navigate through the website. The movie was called Masterminds and stars Zach Galifianakis, Kristen Wiig and Owen Wilson. All but one of the defendants pleaded guilty. The stated plan was for her to move to Mexico to be with him after the theft. The gang made numerous mistakes. Another name the FBI had become very interested in is Eric Payne. LETTER TO THE EDITOR: Is this really about the needs of the poor? 12) Loomis Fargo heist- The aftermath Ultimately, eight co-conspirators were indicted for the Loomis Fargo bank heist. But this time on the phone, Kelly wasn't joking. He was on a budget for clothes, even for work boots; he had recently needed to check seven stores before finding a pair in his price range. CHARLOTTE, N.C. - Kelly Campbell, the woman who helped plan the $17 million robbery of armored-car company Loomis, Fargo was sentenced yesterday to nearly six years in prison and ordered to. But after a year, they cut it down to two agents. At that point, Kelly and David had known each other for two years. The FBI says Chambers hired a hitman to tie up the ultimate loose end -- Ghantt. He hired a hitman to take Ghantt out, tying up the ultimate loose end. Thats pretty standard in restitution matters. Change), You are commenting using your Twitter account. Since then, there have been numerous articles, books, documentaries and even a movie about this gang -- the gang that couldnt shoot straight. "Don't back out on us. Libraries without that edition should consider purchasing this entertaining and lightly edited version, which reads like a fast-paced novel. To the community, the Loomis Fargo heist was a big joke -- the largest hillbilly caper of all time. (John D. Simmons/The Charlotte Observer via AP). Burks was also ordered to serve 15 years in prison, limiting his ability to balance his books. You can seize property. The case had gotten national publicity and was the subject of numerous articles, documentaries and even a movie. The FBI began to question past and current employees of Loomis Fargo. Theres no way to get it back, Butcher told The Charlotte Observer. Campbell, a former Loomis employee and one of the original masterminds of the caper, has paid off less than $21,000 of the $4,701,694.18 she was docked. Campbell was another employee at Loomis Fargo and she and Ghantt quickly struck up a relationship, one that Campbell denies was ever romantic though FBI evidence says otherwise, and one that continued after she left the company. Records show the government has garnished his Social Security checks. Ghantt, who by then was long out of prison, served as a consultant. Any cookies that may not be particularly necessary for the website to function and is used specifically to collect user personal data via analytics, ads, other embedded contents are termed as non-necessary cookies. LETTER TO THE EDITOR: But where will they park? What that says is, We will never forgive you for what youve done.. So the pieces were falling into place for investigators. Clerk of Court Frank Johns of Charlotte. Not all of them, but some of them are going to forgive you, theyre going to overlook it., he said. Probably very egotistical of me, I thought, Yeah, sure, I can beat them, theyre college smart and thats about it, Ghantt said. None of the suspects had been in any serious trouble before this. And they hit the jackpot -- FBI video shows agents recovering most of the stolen cash. There was a book published in 2002 as well, by author Jeff Diamant called,Heist! These (Loomis) guys, not so much.. Jim Gronquist was Campbells defense attorney. FBI video shows agents searching the Cramer Mountain home and finding stacks of cash. When Ghantt called Campbell however, the FBI was able to track his location, and arrested him with the help of the Mexican police onMarch 1, 1998. Despite being caught on camera wheeling the money from the vault to the getaway van, David Ghantt makes off to Mexico before the FBI can blink. In the parking lot, David sat in his pickup truck smoking a cigarette and waving good-bye as the trainee drove home. David got a kick out of her. He has been a staff writer for the Star-Ledger in New Jersey since 2000. His collection case closes in two years. The hillbilly outfit did more that just drop a few breadcrumbs. But being the vault supervisor at Loomis Fargo had one perk -- exposure to tons of cash. On Oct. 5, the Loomis heist celebrates its 25th birthday. Ghantt didnt know the full extent of what was happening back home -- how that lay low plan turned into a flurry of extravagant spending. CHARLOTTE, N.C. (AP) During one overnight shift, a bumbling conspiracy of thieves just west of Charlotte stole more than $17 million from Loomis Fargo. She had previously been making frequent small deposits to avert suspicion. The Loomis Fargo Heist Over the next months, Ghantt, Campbell, and Chambers developed a plan. Asked the purpose of his visit, Johnson had replied, "To visit friends. Its attracted workers like Ghantt. He is a graduate of Yale and has worked for the Connecticut Post, the Associated Press, and the Palm Beach Post. It all went down in Charlotte, North Carolina, and the man at the center of that heist, David Scott Ghantt, now lives in Jacksonville. It just happened to fall on my desk.. NASCAR. For a better shopping experience, please upgrade now. Besides her prison sentence, Campbell must undergo mental health and drug treatment and spend two years in a supervised release program. Anybody who gets caught up in the system is getting chewed up by it, the now-retired Gronquist told the Observer. If we can sit on the money for a year, maybe two, it could work.". In 2017, for example, Paul Burks of Lexington was ordered to pay $244 million to the victims of his worldwide Ponzi scheme, Zeek Rewards. Heist! They succeeded in removing $17 million from the safe. After hanging up on her, David returned to work. Lacking a college degree, he found that his army skills felt meaningless in the 1990s job market. Heist! 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. In the movie: Campbell invites Ghantt to a restaurant under the auspices of a date, but then springs the idea of the heist on him, as Chambers and two associates join the conversation from an . A former FBI agent who helped crack the case sat down with Channel 9 Reporter Glenn Counts to talk about the clues that led to solving the crime, and how the group got caught. The trainee didn't know to check to make sure it was closed. He worked close-by to where the van and over $3 million dollars had been ditched, and was friends with Steve Chambers. Working by himself, Ghantt would commit the robbery and then flee for Mexico, leaving the bulk of the cash with Chambers. Many of the lesser players in the conspiracy have been the most effective in paying their debts. Chambers had no intention of wiring any money to Ghantt and intended to have him killed to keep him from implicating the others. He had stayed in a luxury hotel and paid for expensive food and activities such asscuba divingandparasailing. David's share would be sent to Mexico, where he planned to hide and where he expected Kelly to join him. Chambers had broached the possibility of a robbery to Campbell earlier in the summer.