Director Jared Hess Writers Chris Bowman (screenplay) Hubbel Palmer (screenplay) Emily Spivey (screenplay) Stars Zach Galifianakis Kristen Wiig Owen Wilson He was also married. See how other students and parents are navigating high school, college, and the college admissions process. It was an open-and-shut case and all authorities had to do now was to find the culprit and identify Ghantts accomplices. You have permission to edit this article. The judge said he doubted she would be able to pay the $4.8 million restitution, but said federal law required him to impose it. Together with his wife, Chambers bought a new luxury home (upgrading from his mobile home), a BMW Z3, and some extravagant furnishings. 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. Its about the 1997 Loomis Fargo robbery also known as the hillbillly heist the second largest cash robbery in the history of the United States. 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. Lees ons privacybeleid en cookiebeleid voor meer informatie over hoe we uw persoonsgegevens gebruiken. ``I'm glad she didn't get nine years,' said Sandra Floyd, her mother. What happens at the end of mastermind? 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. He told me they were in the dirt business, so he didn't have to worry too much about me. Thats going to be your life for quite some time, typically. Chambers and his wife Michele moved out of a trailer and into a luxury mansion in a nice neighborhood. Generally, the events of the film are fairly close to reality when they follow the broad details of the case. Campbell left her job in the summer of 1997, but she would later use Ghantts feelings for her to her own advantage to get him to agree to carry out the multi-million-dollar heist. The thieves had simply abandoned whatever they couldnt carry away. 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. He also took various measures to change his appearance, such as shaving, after a patron at a restaurant pointed out to him that he "looked like the man who robbed a bank of $20 million. 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. Hayley Milliman is a former teacher turned writer who blogs about education, history, and technology. [1], Steven Chambers finished serving his sentence in November 2006. An additional tip reached the FBI when Michelle Chambers made a large deposit at a bank. They received sentences and probation ranging from several years to 11 years and three months in federal prison for Steve Chambers, who was also fined more than $3,500,000. In November 1990, David married Margaret in San Diego, California. 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. Once the heat was off, Ghantt would return and they would split the haul evenly. At the time it was thesecond largest bank heistin U.S. history. U kunt uw keuzes te allen tijde wijzigen door te klikken op de links 'Privacydashboard' op onze sites en in onze apps. 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? 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. Its a farce that never farces; a comedy without jokes. 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. his wife-to-be. Here, he amps up the most obnoxious excesses of his entire cast and lets their grating bad-improv skills run amok. In February 2009 the Associated Press reported that Chambers had chosen to describe himself as "changed". [citation needed], It was later confirmed by the FBI that more than 88% of the stolen cash had been located or otherwise accounted for. As it turns out, the heist did in fact go as well as you might expect. I knew that if we could stay off the radar for about a year, we could basically live a vacation life, Ghantt said. Q: North Carolina native Zach Galifianakis portrayed you in "Masterminds." In fact, David Ghantt was about to commit the heist of a lifetime. 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. 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. He worked fueling airplanes, driving a forklift, and in 1994 he got a job as a vault superintendent at Loomis. They kept several furnishings from the previous owners, including a painting of Elvis Presley on black velvet. Three of the 21 defendants in the case haven't been sentenced. Ghantt and seven others eventually pleaded guilty in federal court to charges directly related to one of the largest cash heists in history while more than a dozen other family members, friends and associates of those involved in the theft were found guilty of related charges, including money laundering. In 97 me and my wife were just barely scraping by, Ghantt recalled in Mondays episode. It wasa painful process, but I learned to be happy with me and with what I've got. But neither of those things would matter after he met Kelly Campbell. I started just chucking it as fast as I could, he said, adding the sweat was pouring off of me.. Instead, the two started hanging out on the beach together and became friends. Two days after the heist, the FBI found the missing van with $3.3 million of cash left in it. Lorsque vous utilisez nos sites et applications, nous utilisons des, authentifier les utilisateurs, appliquer des mesures de scurit, empcher les spams et les abus; et. Sign up forOxygen Insiderfor all the best true crime content. Chambers wife, Michelle, bought a minivan in cash and began taking frequent trips to the bank to make deposits. 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. Galifianakis seems to be playing a character out of Dumb and Dumber 3: The Dumbening; Kristen Wiig plays what could only be described as her worst SNL character; Owen Wilson plays an Owen Wilson character; and Sudeikis plays a bumbling hitman who cant pull the trigger after he finds out his target shares the same name and birthdate, which is the dumbest twist since the Martha revelation in Batman vs. Superman. On Oct. 4, 1997, former Kings Mountain resident David Scott Ghantt finished his shift as a vault supervisor for Loomis Fargo in Charlotte. All rights reserved. $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. Question: Which do you regret more, stealing the money or getting caught? 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. ``I wish she'd gotten less. 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. They also bought a BMW Z3 with cash and made several large purchases, including a $600 cigar store Indian. 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. The additions come as KFC recently removed some menu items, including wings, popcorn chicken and cookies, to make room for new additions. Ghantt plead guilty to his charges andserved six years in prison, along with21 other defendantswho received chargesrangingfrom money laundering to bank larceny. How? He completed his prison sentence in November 2006. All rights reserved. "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. Wyatt Redd is a freelance writer from Nashville, Tennessee. Just days after agreeing to the plan, the group set a day to carry out the robbery. Chambers also promised to join Ghantt in Mexico as soon as she could, but she admitted to Super Heists she never had any intention of actually making the trip. 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. A lot of people ask me, Oh, do you have any regrets? No, not really. Chambers would hold on to most of the remaining cash and wire it to Ghantt as needed. hbspt.cta.load(360031, '4efd5fbd-40d7-4b12-8674-6c4f312edd05', {}); Have any questions about this article or other topics? ", The much-faster-than-expected economic recovery thats followed the easing of the coronavirus pandemic has produced several encouraging develo. Philosophically, now looking back I wouldnt be who I am now if I hadnt gone through all that, said David Scott Ghantt in an interview with the Observer. 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. One day, Campbell was speaking to an old friend named Steve Chambers. There is nothing of value in this movie. In August 1997, Campbell informed Ghantt of an old high school friend of hers, Steve Chambers, who could assist Ghantt in executing a massive cash robbery of the Loomis Fargo vault in one night. 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. He was angry a lot. Steven Chambers, left, and David Scott Ghantt leave federal court. This article will teach you more about the SAT subject tests. He then began loading $17 million in unmarked bills inside a company van before driving away. Answer: The painful one is getting caught. Ghantt was the vault manager. Bubbling under the surface, however, was a deep frustration at the way he was treated. After meeting up with Chambers, Campbell, and some other co-conspirators, Ghantt hightailed it to Mexico with $50,000 in cash in his car. Its easy to get somebody to do something if you know that they are that infatuated with you.. 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. Get all your true crime news from Oxygen. Nous, Yahoo, faisons partie de la famille de marques Yahoo. Meanwhile, David Ghantt was relaxing on a beach in Cozumel, Mexico. Ghantts wife was reportedly nothing like the bizarre, robotic fiance character in the film, for instance. In the meantime, however, Chambers not only refused to wire money to Ghantt in Mexico, but ultimately hired a hitman (Jason Sudeikis) to take him out. Galifianakis will play the armored car driver, David, who evades authorities, will be searching for his co-conspirators who betrayed him, Kelly (Kristen Wiig) and Steve (Owen Wilson). His wife, they said, got breast implants and used cash to purchase a 1998 BMW Z3 sports car. 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. Ask below and we'll reply! He was insecure. My Proof: https://twitter.com/DavidGhantt/status/827476087596789760, My AMA time is up now, but thank you all for your participation in the Ask Me Anything session :-), New comments cannot be posted and votes cannot be cast, https://twitter.com/DavidGhantt/status/827476087596789760. At the time it was the second largest cash robbery ever to happen on US soil. Where ever it was, it is long gone now. Also charged were several innocent relatives that the robbers had enlisted to help get safety deposit boxes in various banks. Whisler told the judge that the couple had searched for a new house before the theft, and that Michele Chambers bought rubber bands from Wal-Mart to count the money the night of the crime. At the. Robbing the 7-Eleven and getting $40 bucks and a pack of Marlboros was not for me. Within two days, the investigators found the van with $3 million in cash and the security camera tapes inside. A former co-worker told me, "Everybody has screwed up. Separating the Red and Blue. David Ghantt was a nuisance to Steve Chambers and Kelly Campbell, John Wydra, a retired FBI agent who handled the case, told Super Heists.. [citation needed], The defendants were the targets of many barbed jokes in Charlotte and across the country, in part because of their extravagant spending. In total, 24 people were convicted. 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. The move bought him a little extra time to make his escape. ``This defendant was second to Steve Chambers in (benefiting) from the crime,' he said. That 3-carat ring came back to haunt Michele Chambers at Tuesday's hearing. Authorities say Steve and Michele Chambers moved from a mobile home into a $635,000 house three weeks after the theft. Her husband, Steve Chambers, whom prosecutors have called the main defendant, began serving an 11-year sentence earlier this year. Some people screw up big like you, some people screw up small.". Campbell used part of her share of the money to buy a Toyota Sienna minivan in two cash installments. 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. [15], "David Ghantt" redirects here. The FBI (Leslie Jones, Jon Daly) made easy work of the case, however, and everyone involved was eventually arrested and imprisoned. Ghantt has never explained where that money went. 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. 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. By Dustin Rowles | Film | September 30, 2016 |. 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. All of the cash from the Loomis Fargo heist was recovered or accounted for, except for $2 million. David Ghantt (@DavidGhantt) is a man that still holds the record for the second largest bank heist on American Soil. And drastic it was. [7][8], Rocket Science, a 1998 double-disc album by Charlotte-based radio personalities John Boy & Billy, includes a track ("Marvin: The Loomis Caper") mocking the defendants. 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. One of the best ways to learn more about U.S. history is to make sure youre taking history classes. Ill never pay it off on my paycheck, Ghantt said. I work construction. While Ghantt waited for the heat from the robbery to die down, Chambers would send Ghantt small amounts of money. Please subscribe to keep reading. They took a lot of liberty with the story here and there. CLICK HERE FOR PHOTOS FROM MASTERMIND MOVIE. David GhanttRetweeted Iraqveteran8888 @Iraqveteran8888 Dec 9, 2022 Elect me President and I'll fire everyone, free Julian Assange, and pardon Edward Snowden. All but one of the defendants pleaded guilty. I was working sometimes 75-80 hours a week at $8.15 an hour. The couple was married for 22 years before her untimely death in 2012. 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. Naturally, Ghantt started to run out of cash and turned to Chambers, who was annoyed by his requests for more money. The two struck up a friendship during work that would continue after Campbell left the company. As he later recalled about his life before the 1997 heist that changed his life forever: Prior to, I would have never even considered it but one day life kinda slapped me in the face. Outside the building, Ghantt met up with Campbell, Chambers, and others who were involved in the plot, and drove off to a printing business called Reynolds & Reynolds in northwest Charlotte. You take a movie like Oceans Eleven, the whole concept of that movie is so farfetched, its not even funny. The morning after the height, employees of Loomis Fargo realized they couldnt open the vault. Prosecutors also resisted Culler's efforts to downplay Michele Chambers' role in the theft. Before he decided to steal $17 million from the bank, Ghantt had worked for years as a relatively taciturn and compliant employee. Authorities began to hone in on the group and put a wire tap on Campbell's phones. 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. The FBI investigation was aided by the gang's extravagant spending. (His wife tells him to change that word to "selfish."). Ghantts accomplices soon showed up but now they had another problem. By comparison, Ghantt served seven years in prison and was fined $26,000. Masterminds which opens nationwide today (though youd be hard pressed to know that given the decided lack of promotion) is proof again that all the talent in the world cannot salvage a bad script, and not even a good screenwriter can make up for terrible performances. I was working sometimes 75-80 hrs a week for $8.15 an hour, I didnt even have a real home life because I was never there I was working all the time and unhappy which is understandable considering how old I was at the time.
How To Use Throttle Body Cleaner, Articles D