"its a great readsuspenseful, often funny, just the thing for those wondering what it might feel like to have, as these hapless, small-town criminals did, literally too darn much cash lying around. " His collection case closes in two years. Campbell used to work for Loomis and continued the friendship with Ghantt, eventually hooking him up with Chambers. The Star-Ledger, 06/15/2015On October 4, 1997, an amateurish gang robbed Loomis, Fargo & Co. in Charlotte, NC of $17 million, the second largest heist in U.S. history. Burks was also ordered to serve 15 years in prison, limiting his ability to balance his books. Clerk of Court Frank Johns of Charlotte. You have permission to edit this article. 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. They had initially agreed to control their spending for a year or two, in the belief that the government would vigorously track the spending habits of any and all suspects for at least a year before relenting. But on Oct. 4, 1997, that no longer mattered and Ghantt took off with $17.3 million. [SIGN UP: Action News Jax Daily Headlines Newsletter]. 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. She had previously been making frequent small deposits to avert suspicion. However, Chambers had no intention of following those rules, believing the FBI would never connect him to Ghantt. 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. What that says is, We will never forgive you for what youve done. In one case, the restitution for a Loomis defendant may be a moving target. Michelle Chambers paid off only $27,000. Driving away, he said he felt a mix of fear, confidence and excitement that he outsmarted the FBI. Conversations about stealing from the company weren't rare for Loomis employees. His collection case, which closes in November 2026, got credit for the couples $540,000 house on Cramer Mountain in Gaston County, Butcher says. But he wasn't finished. One day, Campbell was speaking to an old friend named Steve Chambers. Many of the lesser players in the conspiracy have been the most effective in paying their debts. I think if you remember some of her early photographic opportunities, shall we put it that way, she was sort of laughing, not seeming to take it seriously.. For example, Steve Chambers and his wife were living in a. Then they returned it. (LogOut/ You can seize property. The walk-in vault was a fortified gray room, more wide than long, with shelves, cabinets, desks, and multiple pushcarts stocked with shrink-wrapped cash. 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). Restitution is a familiar part of sentencing in federal court. Its in the ether. There are multiples of thousands of these things coming every year. Library Journal "highly entertaining." A connection between each suspect began to emerge slowly, and as the intensity of spending grew, suspicion did as well. They had met in December 1995 on one of her first days at Loomis. You Save 23%. David and Steve had never met, but Steve had already secured somebody else's birth certificate and social security card for him and given it to Kelly to pass along. Jeff Diamant was a reporter for the Charlotte Observer when the heist took place. Getting restitution, its like pulling teeth.. Investigators considered Ghantt to be the prime suspect almost from the beginning. Next month, Payne will back in the Charlotte federal courthouse, this time to be sentenced from weapons and methamphetamine trafficking charges. The police almost immediately called theFBI, since 95% of the money handled at the facility was owned by banks. Once they were in custody, the overwhelming task of clearing out possessions possibly purchased with the stolen money began. Learn about careers at Cox Media Group. Breakdown by congressional district, States' push to define sex decried as erasing trans people, North Carolina Supreme Court hears felony voting rights case, North Carolina House GOP modifies rules on veto overrides, N. 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An additional tip reached the FBI when Michelle Chambers made a large deposit at a bank. 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. All of the defendants are out of prison -- the longest sentence was 11 years. (John D. Simmons/The Charlotte Observer via AP). It's still the hot topic . Steve Chambers and his wife were living in a trailer and upgraded to what would today be a multi-million-dollar mansion at Cramer Mountain. [DOWNLOAD: Free Action News Jax app for alerts as news breaks]. If we work together, we can all have plenty of pie.. Kelly Campbell, who one day visited a Toyota dealership to purchase a minivan with twenty-dollar bills. (John D. Simmons/The Charlotte Observer via AP). Butcher says the federal courts in the Western District of North Carolina have never handled a case quite like Loomis. Probably very egotistical of me, I thought, Yeah, sure, I can beat them, theyre college smart and thats about it, Ghantt said. In preparation for what lay ahead, David had backed an unmarked company Ford Econoline van near the vault entrance and opened the van's back door. Unexplained Mysteries and Strange Things,Cool Interesting stuff has been online since early 2011. At 2:20 p.m., the phone rang; it was Kelly again. It was 2:00 p.m. on October 4, 1997, and tension was building between two planners of what would rank high among the largest heists in United States history. Theres no way to get it back,, And with Loomis, were looking at only one case. They swept the surrounding counties, locating Kelly Campbell and Eric Payne in their homes. It just happened to fall on my desk.. Current price is $11.49, Original price is $14.99. You can garnish wages. But opting out of some of these cookies may affect your browsing experience. "Don't back out on us. LETTER TO THE EDITOR: But where will they park? The October 4 shift was lasting longer than expected, due to delays involving pickups and deliveries. You also have the option to opt-out of these cookies. 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Tips had led the FBI to begin monitoring Chambers (and his wifes) activities, but it was not until the FBIrecorded a phone callfrom Ghantt in Mexico that the final connection was made. - Jeffrey Guller, who at 81 is by far the oldest of the Loomis defendants, still owes almost $1.1 million on his original court debt of $1.14 million and will remain on the governments books for another four years. Moving the money into the van quickly proved an onerous task. All but one of the 24 defendants pleaded guilty, and the one who didnt take the deal was convicted. This category only includes cookies that ensures basic functionalities and security features of the website. Steve's a serious guy.". "So he stays behind and moving over two thousand pounds of . The bigger the amount, however, the bigger the damages to victims that likely will never be repaid: Amy Paynes collection account was closed in 2020 with her having paid $53,000 of the $274,000 she owed. 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. Notifications from this discussion will be disabled. A couple by the names of Steve and Shelley Chambers also became people of interest in the investigation due to their extreme sudden increase in spending. 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 . Some of the biggest numbers remaining on the Loomis collection board, as is the case with Campbell, belong to those who played the biggest role in the crime: - David Ghantt, the Loomis employee who loaded all that money 2,800 pounds in all into the back of a company van before escaping to Mexico, has paid just under $50,000 of the $3.81 million he was assessed. 2023 Cox Media Group. And they hit the jackpot -- FBI video shows agents recovering most of the stolen cash. What that says is, We will never forgive you for what youve done.. Aprs de nombreux seconds rles comiques au cinma, elle parvient percer en co-crivant et tenant le rle principal de la Investigators also found Ghantts pickup truck, abandoned at the warehouse. 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. His collection case, which closes in November 2026, got credit for the couples $540,000 house on Cramer Mountain in Gaston County, Butcher says. So the pieces were falling into place for investigators. First, they tapped the Chambers phone, and began listening in on February 11th, 1998. My knee-jerk reaction was to be angry, and then the sarcastic ass side of me started laughing about it, Ghantt said. Spunk. You can have your whole career and not have a case like that. Stealing from Loomis Fargo could make him rich, if he got away with it. >> PHOTOS: The Loomis Fargo heist, 25 years later. 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 . The money weighed as much as a compact car and he did it all by himself. His eyes widened and he stopped breathing as he realized that something as mundane as a malfunctioning gate might ruin their entire plan. What that says is, We will never forgive you for what youve done.'. Clerk of Court Frank Johns of Charlotte. Records show the government has garnished his Social Security checks. The trainee didn't know to check to make sure it was closed. "Just remind Steve," he said, "that I might be trouble my own self." In Florida, a Loomis Fargo employee had pulled a gun on his coworkers and gotten away with $18 million, a move that FBI agents theorize Ghantt, Campbell and other employees all sat around talking about - and what they would do with that amount of money - for a while. But if you did, youll never forget it. These (Loomis) guys, not so much.. Of course the problem was, the money belonged to someone else. Expanded two-hour true crime story about the 1997 Loomis-Fargo armored car heist in North Carolina and the serio-comic fate of its bumbling underdog perpetra. By using this website, you accept the terms of our Visitor Agreement and Privacy Policy, and understand your options regarding Ad Choices. Fourteen defendants were ordered to make restitution payments to Loomis Fargo totaling almost $19 million. Records show the government has garnished his Social Security checks. Inside $3.3 million was located along with the two stolen surveillance tapes, apparently left due to the robber and his accomplices being sloppy, or in a hurry. : The .17 Million Loomis Fargo Theft [Jeff Diamant] on Amazon.com. Eric Payne got out of prison in 2006 for his role in the heist and has since paid $11,357 on his $292,000 debt. Some of that money is just gone. Now, at 7:45 p.m., with all the money finally inside the van, his aching muscles could take a breather. He waffled on the heist idea three or four times from late August to mid-September. Diamant, a journalist who reported on the case at the time, goes into meticulous detail on how the heist was pulled off and its aftermath. Campbell led Ghantt to think she loved him and they would flee to Mexico together, but she actually wanted to make a better life for herself in the U.S. With the plan in place, Ghantt sent a newly hired employee he had been assigned to train home early (reportedly, at 6 p.m.) and then proceeded to load a little more than $17.3 million in cash (approximately $11 million of which was in$20 bills) into the back of a company van. Turns out, most of the thieves and their accomplices have been about as effective coming up with their court-ordered restitution as they were hiding their original crimes.
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