Dont come to me for a treasure map, Ill put it to you that way., Michael Sainatos writing has appeared in the Guardian, Miami Herald, Baltimore Sun, Denver Post, Buffalo News, the Hill, Alternet, and several other publications . I started just chucking it as fast as I could, he said, adding the sweat was pouring off of me.. What happens at the end of mastermind? Will California Save the Iconic Joshua Tree? Oxygen Insider is your all-access pass to never-before-seen content, free digital evidence kits, and much more. Michele Chambers declined to make a statement at the hearing. {{start_at_rate}} {{format_dollars}} {{start_price}} {{format_cents}} {{term}}, {{promotional_format_dollars}}{{promotional_price}}{{promotional_format_cents}} {{term}}, Nebraska cheerleader competes by herself at state competition, but crowd doesn't let her feel alone, Police identify victim who died Wednesday in Greensboro's 11th homicide of 2023, William Sturkey: Chapel Hill trustees 'hellbent' on winning campus culture wars, Rob Schofield: North Carolinas chronic public employee shortage wasnt an accident, KFC is bringing back a fan favorite after a nearly 10-year hiatus, Richard Groves: What the 'He Gets Us' media campaign says about the decline of Christianity, Two Things: Victim's family not surprised by no show; hospital wars in Greensboro and money well spent, Mark Elliott and Jeremy Rinker: Budget reductions at UNCG punish it for serving disadvantaged students, Samet: Guilford County wanted more black-owned businesses added to construction project after the bids were opened, Former Page High School teacher arrested on child sex charges, records show, Proposed rules for Airbnb, other short-term rentals advance in Greensboro, 'A bizarre case': Greensboro TikTok star found not guilty in fatal 2019 crash, Atrium Health Wake Forest Baptist proposes community hospital in Greensboro, Greensboro police officer involved in confrontation on Golden Gate Drive resigns, Jaydon Young's lessons of sacrifice mix with two-hour transfer, Virginia Tech and 2023 tournament. Even the outtakes during the credits are bad. Creative Insights. [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]. Q: Your troubles were self-inflicted, but you seem happy. You may email him here, follow him on Twitter, or listen to his weekly TV podcast, Podjiba. She wondered how much she could deposit without attracting the attention of the FBI, so she decided to just ask the teller: How much can I deposit before you have to report it to the feds? she asked. Get the latest articles and test prep tips! But before thehit could be carried out, the FBI swooped in and arrested Ghantt and the others. Michele Chambers 1998 BMW for sale following the prosecutions of the Loomis Fargo heist conspirators. We were in Old Fortwhen they were shooting the movie and went out to eat. Two days after the heist, the FBI found the missing van with $3.3 million of cash left in it. When he was done, the man drove off to a nearby printing press, where the money was distributed into private vehicles amongst a handful of people. A: When I first got in, I thought, "What in my life has led me to this?" Ghantt was joking in the breakroom with fellow Loomis Fargo employee Kelly Campbell. Ghantt sent home a new employee and quickly loaded the money into the back of a bank van. I got to eat my meal perfectly, but every 5 minutes, someone wanted to shoot a selfie with Zach or an autograph from Zach. All rights reserved. Ghantt plead guilty to his charges andserved six years in prison, along with21 other defendantswho received chargesrangingfrom money laundering to bank larceny. Naturally, Ghantt started to run out of cash and turned to Chambers, who was annoyed by his requests for more money. Q: You came to the North Carolina mountains during Hurricane Irma, but what do you miss about Gastonia? For instance, after stealing $17.3 million $11 million of which was in $20 bills the conspirators had to leave behind $3 million in cash because they couldnt fit all of it in their cars. Afterward, outside the courthouse, her parents said the length was about what she had expected. Ghantt and his compatriots, it turns out, had underestimated how bulky money is. David Ghantt discovers the true meaning of adventure far beyond his wildest dreams. Chambers had known enough to insist that no one blows through a ton of cash immediately after the robbery, but once he actually had his hands on the money, he couldnt follow his own advice. I figured it had to be me. During the hearing, Culler recounted his client's difficult personal life: her parents' divorce when she was 2 or 3 years old; a teenage stay in a Baptist Children's home; a teenage pregnancy; and various medical conditions. so make sure youre taking the right ones for you. David Ghantt And The Loomis Fargo Heist: The Outrageous True Story. You've decided to give up on a part of your life. SAT is a registered trademark of the College Entrance Examination BoardTM. 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. Degrowth or Debunk: Do Degrowth proponents have a strategy? By Dustin Rowles | Film | September 30, 2016 |. I knew that if I did something like that, I would take a huge amount of money, Ghantt said of the brash robbery on an upcoming episode of CNBCs Super Heists, airing Monday at 10 p.m. 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. If you can see the obvious flaw in this plan, namely that Chambers would have no reason whatsoever to actually wire Ghantt any money, then congratulations. From there, the money was moved from the company vehicle to private vehicles. Chambers and his wife Michele moved out of a trailer and into a luxury mansion in a nice neighborhood. Q: North Carolina native Zach Galifianakis portrayed you in "Masterminds." Ghantt was already married when he took part in the heist, to a woman named Tammy - who author Diamant described as "very nice." It is true, however, that she had no idea about the plot and that. Chambers would hold on to most of the remaining cash and wire it to Ghantt as needed. Ghantt @ChristyGhantt Dec 7, 2022 I just entered the @clxgaming Ra PC Giveaway! Even though they drove away with less than they had initially intended, they still had more than $17 million in hand. Ghantt has never explained where that money went. Check out our top-rated graduate blogs here: PrepScholar 2013-2018. Everybody thinks being famous and being an actor is stupendous, and the money is fantastic, but they kind of live in afish bowl. I got no real complaints, not at this point., The heist became the premise for the movie,Masterminds, released in September 2016. But it was Ghantt, now 47 and living with his wife and daughter in Jacksonville, Florida,who actually took more than 2,000 pounds of cash and just drove away from his job. 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. Chambers was a small-time crook who suggested to Campbell that they rob Loomis Fargo. The FBI quickly connected Ghantt to Campbell, who was a former Loomis Fargo employee. If I hadnt of done that, Id probably still be in North Carolina and I would not have got to meet a lot of the interesting people that Ive got to meet. I really don't miss that guy. Also charged were several innocent relatives that the robbers had enlisted to help get safety deposit boxes in various banks. Thats going to be your life for quite some time, typically. 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. The connection to Chambers took more time. David Bragg . But even though he worked for a company that regularly moved millions of dollars, David Ghantt himself was underpaid. 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. Chambers, who made an ill-fated decision to buy a home in the gated Cramer Mountain community with his newfound wealth, now runsa gym on Lowell-Bethesda Road. 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. 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. FBI security footage of David Ghantt in the midst of the Loomis Fargo heist. 33. Its easy to get somebody to do something if you know that they are that infatuated with you.. Project #ShowUs. She had previously been making frequent small deposits to avert suspicion. Question: Which do you regret more, stealing the money or getting caught? When asked what the dumbest thing was that Ghantt spent money on, he admitted: The 4 pairs of boots I bought in one day [shrug] what can I say they were nice and I was impulse shopping.. Pocketing $50,000 for himself, that man, named David Ghantt, hopped into a car of his own and headed towards Mexico. If you're trying to make yourself better today, that's all most people care about. After a Gulf War stint in the Army, David got married in 1992. The missing couple were identified as David Harrison Robinson and his wife Lucretia Robinson. Until it's gone, you don't appreciate it. Michelle Chambers received a harsher sentence than Ghantt seven years and eight months because she had violated several bond conditions. The former star . Get all your true crime news from Oxygen. That usually takes the shine right off of it, when you start explaining that. He continued, Youd be wearing a lot of khaki brown and eating crappy food., Since the films release and its recent Netflix debut, Scott Ghent cited that the most common question he receives is about the missing $2 million never recovered by the FBI; Ive had people actually ask me that question. Ghantt added, I really enjoyed the movie. Of course, the FBI was already aware of Chambers and his free-spending ways, and the murder plot helped federal agents find Ghantt south of the border. I knew that if we could stay off the radar for about a year, we could basically live a vacation life, Ghantt said. 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. Learning about US history? (renews at {{format_dollars}}{{start_price}}{{format_cents}}/month + tax). Vous pouvez modifier vos choix tout moment en cliquant sur le lien Tableau de bord sur la vie prive prsent sur nos sites et dans nos applications. Authorities say Steve and Michele Chambers moved from a mobile home into a $635,000 house three weeks after the theft. When the cheerleading coach broke the news to Katrina Kohel that she was the only one left on the cheer squad, Kohel was determined to compete anyway. Meanwhile, Ghantt would take $50,000, as much as could legally be carried across the border without questions, and flee to Mexico. His wife, they said, got breast implants and used cash to purchase a 1998 BMW Z3 sports car. I learned that I was an a--hole. And Ghantt hadnt really thought about the physical challenge of moving such a large sum of money. He then began loading $17 million in unmarked bills inside a company van before driving away. They left behind the cash they couldnt fit in their cars. VIDEO. 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. Her reaction seems so far away now, all these years and a Hall of Fame career later. The additions come as KFC recently removed some menu items, including wings, popcorn chicken and cookies, to make room for new additions. Here, he amps up the most obnoxious excesses of his entire cast and lets their grating bad-improv skills run amok. From the beginning, the FBIs prime suspect was David Ghantt. AMA In October of 1997, I was a vault supervisor for armored truck company Loomis Fargo, when I made off with $17.3 million. Explain: The scary part is that as soon as you put that little bit of money in the van, that there's no going back. Ill never pay it off on my paycheck, Ghantt said. And, with the help of several others David made off with $17.3 million dollars, 11 million of which was in 20's. It was over. Back then all I really wanted to do was just, I wanted to change my life. Jandice : In any case, we got to talkin' afterwards, and I thought, well, that one's dead, this one's alive. Then, keeping with the plan, Ghantt took $50,000 (the maximum that could by law be taken across the border without further authorization) with him and left for Mexico, winding up at the popular Yucatan Peninsula resort-island of Cozumel. Unfortunately, he failed to disable the third camera. And drastic it was. David Ghantt was the vault supervisor for Loomis, Fargo & Co. armored cars, which managed the transportation of large sums of cash between banks in North Carolina. He and his wife, Michelle, moved from their mobile home in Lincoln County to a luxury house in the wealthy Cramer Mountain section of Cramerton. He told me they were in the dirt business, so he didn't have to worry too much about me. Where ever it was, it is long gone now. Steven Chambers, left, and David Scott Ghantt leave federal court. By then, the FBI had become greatly concerned for Ghantt's personal safety; they had learned that Chambers had plotted to have Ghantt killed in a murder for hire scheme using a "hit man" named Michael McKinney. Wyatt Redd is a freelance writer from Nashville, Tennessee. For a time, it was nicknamed "the hillbilly heist" because nearly all of the major players in the case came from small towns around Charlotte. Zach Galifianakis played David Scott Ghantt, with other roles played byOwen Wilson, Jason Sudeikis, Leslie Jones, Kristen Wiig and Kate McKinnon. ", The much-faster-than-expected economic recovery thats followed the easing of the coronavirus pandemic has produced several encouraging develo. (His wife tells him to change that word to "selfish."). (Ghantt works as a heavy machine operator in the construction industry.). A: I'm in dire need for some RO's barbecue and some Tony's Ice Cream. And with that, David Ghantt took off for Mexico. That suspicion was immediately confirmed by a quick glance at the security camera footage that showed Ghantt doing a little dance after loading all the cash into the van. What SAT Target Score Should You Be Aiming For? One of the best ways to learn more about U.S. history is to make sure youre taking history classes. ``I wish she'd gotten less. I work construction. So with the assistance of a co-worker and possible love interest as well as a small-time criminal, David Ghantt pulled off the then-second-largest cash heist in U.S. history. Once the hitman Chambers had hired arrived in Mexico, he found that he couldnt bring himself to kill Ghantt. You see, theres a reason Loomis Fargo used armored cars to move large amounts of cash. While she made small deposits at first, she became more reckless, eventually making a deposit of thousands of dollars in cash, telling the teller not to worry: Its not drug money.. 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. The College Entrance Examination BoardTM does not endorse, nor is it affiliated in any way with the owner or any content of this site. That 3-carat ring came back to haunt Michele Chambers at Tuesday's hearing. 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 Chambers, Michael Gobbies, and four other co-conspirators. When I interviewed for this job about three years ago, I told (my boss) that I had some dirt in my background, and if he went digging for it, he would find it. The morning after the height, employees of Loomis Fargo realized they couldnt open the vault. Once the heat was off, Ghantt would return and they would split the haul evenly. They called the police, who brought in the FBI, classifying the heist as a bank robbery. Retro CharlotteFBI security footage of David Ghantt in the midst of the Loomis Fargo heist. While Ghantt spent more than 6 1/2 years in federal prison, he said he usedthat time to"re-invent" himself. To its credit, Masterminds does nail down the broad strokes of the real story, although there were a couple of noteworthy details the film left out. 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. Investigators considered Ghantt to be the prime suspect almost from the beginning. ABC7 Eyewitness News Watch Now Q: How do you tell prospective employers you once stole $17 million? Campbell used part of her share of the money to buy a Toyota Sienna minivan in two cash installments. Inside the truck, they found Ghantt's ring and surmised this was a sign of Ghantt's intention to end his relationship with his wife. Playing upon David's obvious feelings for her, Kelly is the . $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. Masterminds - Zach Galifianakis 'David Ghantt' [On-Set Interview]SUBSCRIBE HERE: http://goo.gl/SrrTlTSUBSCRIBE MOVIE TRAILERS: http://goo.gl/8WxGeDA night gu. Ghantt, who had been with the bank since 1994, was promoted from driver to vault supervisor in 1997, where he earned $360 a week and befriended Kelly Campbell (Wiig), who got Ghantt mixed up in the plans for the heist after she left Loomis. 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. The police then called the FBI because most of the money handled at the facility belonged to banks, which technically made it a bank robbery a federal offense.[5]. They kept several furnishings from the previous owners, including a painting of Elvis Presley on black velvet. dvelopper et amliorer nos produits et services. Youre better at planning bank heists than David Ghantt. But last Oct. 4, when he still hadn't gotten home by 2:30 a.m., she called his parents in. He left his wedding ring behind and spent his days spending money on luxury hotels and scuba diving. If I could get far enough away in a very short amount of time, my odds of getting away with it were pretty high, Ghantt said. David Ghantt struck up a relationship with fellow Loomis Fargo employee Kelly Campbell, and they continued to maintain contact even after Campbell left the company. The move bought him a little extra time to make his escape. Three of the 21 defendants in the case haven't been sentenced. The thieves had simply abandoned whatever they couldnt carry away. Some of the friends and family members received parole, while Ghantt was sentenced to seven and a half years in prison.

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