Now, here we are, two years later. I learned that I was an a--hole. The scary one is stealing the money. He was like OK, yeah, we can do that, she recalled. A: People are very forgiving if you're open and honest right from the start. Ghantt was the vault manager. I wanted to make a drastic change and I went for it, Ghantt remembered later to the Gaston Gazette. But even though he worked for a company that regularly moved millions of dollars, David Ghantt himself was underpaid. 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. Ghantt, Chambers, and Campbell came up with the following plan: Ghantt would remain in the vault after his shift on the night of the heist, Oct. 4, 1997, and let his co-conspirators into the vault. Nine other relatives and friends were also charged with money laundering, as they had co-signed for safe deposit boxes used to store some of the money; prosecutors opted to charge them on the grounds that they should have known the money was obtained illegally. David Ghantt normally came home between 6 and 8 p.m., and often he was late, his wife said. I started just chucking it as fast as I could, he said, adding the sweat was pouring off of me.. Three of the 21 defendants in the case haven't been sentenced. Ask questions; get answers. In fact, David Ghantt was about to commit the heist of a lifetime. Ghantt believed the new employee would make a good replacement for his wife, but the feelings were not necessarily reciprocated. Get up-to-the-minute news sent straight to your device. All but one of the defendants pleaded guilty. 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. To make a successful getaway, Ghantt had to lift nearly 2,800 pounds of currency. afficher des publicits et des contenus personnaliss en fonction de vos profils de centres dintrt; mesurer lefficacit des publicits et contenus personnaliss; et. Kelly Campbell is scheduled to be sentenced in October. David Bowie 's widow recently took to Instagram to post selfies, while promoting both her makeup brand and fashion line. 43-year-old Margret and her mother both died in 2012 . Campbell and Chambers made themselves easy to catch, what with their lavish spending. dvelopper et amliorer nos produits et services. ', He explained the glorification and glamour often associated with bank heists and bank robberies in Hollywood films is far from reality. David Ghantt on stealing 17 million dollars from Loomis Fargo (Crime & Entertainment Full Interview) Crime & Entertainment 3.77K subscribers Subscribe 4.8K views 1 year ago David Ghantt. According to Campbell, Chambers could help Ghantt execute a massive cash robbery of the vault at Loomis Fargo in one night. Over the next months, Ghantt, Campbell, and Chambers developed a plan. Authorities say Steve. 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. Federal Judge Graham Mullen sentenced her to between those lengths. Kevin McCarthy is No Edward Snowden, But He Should Find the Comparison Flattering, Assessing Nicaraguas Long Haul toward Liberation and Economic Democracy, A National Divorce? Working by himself, Ghantt would commit the robbery and then flee for Mexico, leaving the bulk of the cash with Chambers. On March 1, 1988, Mexican police arrested Ghantt at Playa del Carmen. ", The much-faster-than-expected economic recovery thats followed the easing of the coronavirus pandemic has produced several encouraging develo. He made it across the border just as his deception was discovered. The FBI knew they needed to make their move. Investigators considered Ghantt to be the prime suspect almost from the beginning. The brother of a man killed by a woman now charged with murder in Chambers County said he sees similarities in his brother's case and the case of woman's latest husband's death. #CLXGaming#CLXRa#evokethegods 1 2 Based on a true story, the premise itself is fascinating, which makes Masterminds all the more a waste. Assistant U.S. Attorney Brian Whisler said he didn't think those factors should result in a reduced sentence. But Ghantt has been open about what he did and how he believes it changed him for the better. Harper Beckham and her dad David Beckham dressed in matching black outfits as they headed to a Paris Fashion Week event being thrown by Harper's mom and David's wife Victoria . It was over. 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]. Wyatt Redd is a freelance writer from Nashville, Tennessee. We caught up with David Ghantt about life after his $17m heist, hanging out with Zach Galifianakis and the accuracy of Masterminds, a new movie based on. An FBI criminal investigation ultimately resulted in the arrest and conviction of eight people directly involved in the heist, as well as sixteen others who had indirectly helped them, and the recovery of approximately 88% of the stolen money. With a cast like this, and Emily Spivey (Brooklyn Nine-Nine, Up All Night) as part of the writing team, Masterminds shouldnt be nearly as obnoxious and dull as it is, but nothing ever clicks. Q: How do you tell prospective employers you once stole $17 million? The thieves had simply abandoned whatever they couldnt carry away. 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. Even the outtakes during the credits are bad. Coverage of the latest true crime stories and famous cases explained, as well as the best TV shows, movies and podcasts in the genre. See how other students and parents are navigating high school, college, and the college admissions process. A movie based on the heist starring Zach Galifianakis, Kristen Wiig, Owen Wilson, Jason Sudeikis, Kate McKinnon and Leslie Jones and directed by Jared Hess (the guy who made Napoleon Dynamite) is out now on Blu-ray and DVD. He worked fueling airplanes, driving a forklift, and in 1994 he got a job as a vault superintendent at Loomis. 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. My name is David Scott Ghantt. The plan was for Ghantt to commit the robbery and then quickly leave the country for Mexico but to leave the bulk of the cash with Chambers. Create a free profile to get unlimited access to exclusive videos, breaking news, sweepstakes, and more! Q: Your troubles were self-inflicted, but you seem happy. This page was last edited on 21 February 2023, at 16:45. I didnt even have a real home life because I was never there. An elderly American couple who went missing in Greece in late January this year were discovered dead in Taygetos mountain range. He left his wedding ring behind and spent his days spending money on luxury hotels and scuba diving. 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.. He was released in 2006. After finding himself in prison he made a concious choice to do things differently. Ghantt was. Parishioners filled the pews for a memorial mass held for Bishop David O'Connell Wednesday night at the St. John Vianney Catholic Church in Hacienda Heights. Its heavy. Get the latest articles and test prep tips! ``I wish she'd gotten less. Ghantt was sentenced to seven and a half years in prison, though he was released on parole after five. People still laugh when they think of the "velvet Elvis" Chambershad in his Cramer Mountain mansion, or how his former wife showed upat a local bankto deposit wads of cash that she assured the teller was not "drug money.". . After this look at David Ghantt and the Loomis Fargo heist, read about a more successful robbery, the Antwerp diamond heist. Nous, Yahoo, faisons partie de la famille de marques Yahoo. https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=9LCR9zyGkbo. SAT is a registered trademark of the College Entrance Examination BoardTM. 33. As Campbell would later explain, If David got killed, there couldnt be any finger pointing. Some people screw up big like you, some people screw up small.". David Ghantt : [voice-over] Steve was a petty thief, mostly known for stealing tiny wheelchairs from pediatric hospitals. Si vous ne souhaitez pas que nos partenaires et nousmmes utilisions des cookies et vos donnes personnelles pour ces motifs supplmentaires, cliquez sur Refuser tout. Campbell used part of her share of the money to buy a Toyota Sienna minivan in two cash installments. CREATIVE. You see, theres a reason Loomis Fargo used armored cars to move large amounts of cash. Here's whatGhantt says now about the heist that madethe "Cramer Mountain Hillbillies" famous and changed him forever. 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 . To find out more about how the thieves got caught and how long they landed behind bars, tune in the Super Heists on CNBC on Monday at 10 p.m. ET/PT. But his partners soon began to get greedy and were spending large amountswith Chambers and his wife, Michelle, even buying an exclusive mansion in cash. Its kind of out of sight, out of mind, she said of the reasoning. The next day, the Chambers, Campbell, and some other notable parties were arrested in Charlotte. I didnt even know about it and overlooked it, he said. Lees ons privacybeleid en cookiebeleid voor meer informatie over hoe we uw persoonsgegevens gebruiken. As it turns out, the heist did in fact go as well as you might expect. For Christmas, Steve Chambers gave his wife a $43,000 diamond ring. David Ghantt (@DavidGhantt) is a man that still holds the record for the second largest bank heist on American Soil. On similar grounds, four other people were ultimately also charged with money laundering. It wasa painful process, but I learned to be happy with me and with what I've got. 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. Naturally, Ghantt started to run out of cash and turned to Chambers, who was annoyed by his requests for more money. Dustin is the founder and co-owner of Pajiba. Instead, the bandits just started throwing as much money as they could into the van until they couldnt fit anymore. Please subscribe to keep reading. Just days after agreeing to the plan, the group set a day to carry out the robbery. Over the years many of his social . Chambers served 11 years before being released. 2023 www.gastongazette.com. FBI security footage of David Ghantt in the midst of the Loomis Fargo heist. Now looking back, with the life I have now, Ive got a great family, got a great kid. 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. The defense has finished its closing argument in the murder trial of Alex Murdaugh. The odds of you actually getting away with something these days is pretty damn slim. 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. ``This defendant was second to Steve Chambers in (benefiting) from the crime,' he said.