• Mar 19, 2023
• wilmington, nc obituaries

As a child, he had preferred reading to playing sports, and he would say, as an adult, that although he couldn't have told you "who was on first," he knew as a kid who the Egyptian god of the dead was. 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). Learning from this error, David planned to leave the stolen money behind with his coconspirators while he fled to Mexico. He had since held one low-paying job after another. On Oct. 5, the Loomis heist celebrates its 25th birthday. A parrot tattoo on her right ankle. The supervisor liked him and gave him the job. Ghantt studied how to rob his employer and advised the others not to spend the money lavishly. A woman by the name of Kelly Campbell had worked there in 1996, and she and Ghantt had become friends in that time. Their only intimate physical contact had been kissing on a mid-September night when they had driven her pickup truck to a field behind a shooting range in Gaston County to discuss their plans and the theft's chance of success. true story that has captivated American audiences on the news and now on the big screen in the major motion picture, Masterminds. Ghantt took $50,000 for himself and fled to Cozumel, Mexico. Jim Gronquist, Campbells defense attorney during the Loomis case, says the financial penalties levied against his client and her co-defendants are grossly excessive and unjust, particularly since most of the stolen Loomis money was actually recovered. Inside the truck, they found Ghantts ring and surmised this as a sign of Ghantts intention to end his relationship with his wife. Who all wanted a Rambo movie which explored his time training as a green beret and his time serving in Vietnam as a prequel to first blood WATCH Antebellum 2020 FULL MOVIE. One number is working in Campbells favor. The world is full of unexplained events, strange mysteries, and mysterious legends. Thirty years! Ghantt, who by then was long out of prison, served as a consultant. David and the trainee left the warehouse. Its in the ether. Loomis Fargo defendants owe as much as they stole in 1997, Incident raises concerns about LGBTQ safety in Carteret County, Drug deal gone bad claims the life of former Marine, Man charged with DWI after SUV takes out gas pumps, fire hydrant in Morehead City, Norfolk Southern train derails in Lexington No hazmat, no anger, Beaufort Housing Authority to replace public housing apartments, New Gamer's Guildhall looks to build community, comradery, DA: 'A very dangerous individual' from Swansboro has been removed, EDITORIAL: Government derails in response to disasters, EDITORIAL: Traffic growth demands a third bridge addition, Commentary: Close look at family history disturbing, Commentary: Second Amendment subverts democracy, EDITORIAL: Attorney General Stein ignores his constitutional responsibility. His eyes widened and he stopped breathing as he realized that something as mundane as a malfunctioning gate might ruin their entire plan. They knew Steve Chambers had worked as an informant in the past, and were nervous he would smell out an undercover. And Kelly thought he was funny. Restitution is a familiar part of sentencing in federal court. He knew they were nervous outside waiting for him, but he also knew he wouldn't stop stealing until he had taken everything. He angrily hung up the phone at Loomis, Fargo & Co., his soon-to-be former employer in Charlotte, North Carolina. He knew his mother would be traumatized, shocked, and appalled. 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. Agents raided safe deposit boxes, where they recovered more than $11 million. You can garnish wages. Just after the last employees left that day, surveillance footage shows a man enter the vault, and begin to load more than 2,740 pounds in cash into a nearby van, totaling around over $17 million. David was supposed to be showing him the ropes of the job, which included cash pickups and deliveries. That sounds like a lot of money until its compared to the $18,930,201.26 the group was ordered to pay. In fact, he had recently finished a book about the FBI and felt it provided insight into the agency's investigative techniques, insight he thought could help the little gang succeed. Federal law stops government collection efforts 20 years after a defendant leaves prison. My knee-jerk reaction was to be angry, and then the sarcastic ass side of me started laughing about it, Ghantt said. 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. Paying the money back has taken a lot longer, and time is running out for the U.S. government to collect. That was taking the long view. Who was she to be pressuring him? Thank you so much. Thats pretty standard in restitution matters. It was released in 2016 and Wydra was invited to the premiere. As an adult, he preferred Shakespeare, Tom Clancy, and any book he could find about the Federal Bureau of Investigation. But that only tells part of the story. 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. People dont seem to understand human nature. More than 2 million dollars are still missing to this day. 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. He hated his job and his bosses, he'd lost hope in his marriage, he wasn't going to advance at Loomis, and he couldn't afford to quit to enroll in college. Many of the lesser players in the conspiracy have been the most effective in paying their debts. La vie de David Ghantt n'a rien de compliqu. 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. As beads of sweat formed under his red hair, he loaded up another cart and repeated the process. I actually loved reading through this post. The inspiration behind the major motion picture Masterminds starring Zach Galifianakis, Owen Wilson, Kristen Wiig, and Jason Sudeikis! 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.. So we were able to figure out with all the denominations, it would require about 20 safe deposit boxes to store it all.. While David Ghantt trusted Steve Chambers enough to leave his cut behind, Chambers had other plans. Chambers had broached the possibility of a robbery to Campbell earlier in the summer. Then one day, while reviewing his and Tammy's credit card bill, he did some quick math and realized that even if they met the minimum monthly payments, the bill would take thirty years to pay. Fourteen defendants were ordered to make restitution payments to Loomis Fargo totaling almost $19 million. In the end, the FBI was able to capture the original gang in five months, snaring 21 individuals for their participation in the crime. Kelly Campbell, 29, a former company employee, entered guilty pleas earlier to bank larceny, money laundering and conspiracy to commit murder charges. Although the FBI investigation was able to quickly connect Ghantt to Campbell, connecting Ghantt to Chambers was a more difficult task. Anybody who gets caught up in the system is getting chewed up by it, the now-retired Gronquist told the Observer. 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. Some of that money is just gone. The bag held his mobile phone and handgun. ALSO READ: 14-year-old boy robbed at gunpoint while waiting for bus in east. 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. Four-wheeling. By using this website, you accept the terms of our Visitor Agreement and Privacy Policy, and understand your options regarding Ad Choices. This website uses cookies and some data tracking to improve your experience and serve adverts, We assume you're ok with this, you can opt-out if you wish. 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. What purpose does that serve other than to denigrate that person into abject poverty?. David said he needed Kelly to drive to Loomis before the theft that night to remove a duffel bag from his parked pickup truck. 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. In addition, he also rented Mike his own apartment, paid him $400/weekly and bought him a gun. In 2017, for example, Paul Burks of Lexington was ordered to pay $244 million to the victims of his worldwide Ponzi scheme, Zeek Rewards. Was the temptation too much? However, Chambers had no intention of following those rules, believing the FBI would never connect him to Ghantt. So we were able to figure out with all the denominations, it would require about 20 safe deposit boxes to store it all.. He'd already done enough, he realized, to get himself fired and arrested, even if the gate prevented him from moving the money outside the building. There was no reason to leave anything, he felt. ", "I don't need any more friends," she'd shot back. He decided at that moment that if Kelly called again, he would go for it. LETTER TO THE EDITOR: Remember why you were elected! 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. In one case, the restitution for a Loomis defendant may be a moving target. They also found several stacks of money with Loomis bands still attached throughout all the homes searched. "What would it take to convince you to do it?" It took me going to prison to realize I was a bag of worms, and it took me years of work to be somebody worthy to come back into our society, he said. Guller was the attorney for Steven Chambers, who came up with the original idea for the Loomis theft. Steve had hired a bodyguard named Mike McKinney. In total, 24 people were convicted and all but one of the accused pleaded guilty. CHARLOTTE (AP) During one overnight shift, a bumbling conspiracy of thieves just west of Charlotte stole more than $17 million from Loomis Fargo. In this outrageously entertaining book, Jeff Diamant, the Charlotte Observer's lead reporter on the case, offers the definitive inside account of this astonishing. The stated plan was for her to move to Mexico to be with him after the theft. '. Winds ENE at 5 to 10 mph.. Clear skies. Except for the kiss in the pickup truck a few weeks before the heist, Kelly had kept things platonic. Theres no way to get it back, Butcher told The Charlotte Observer. And they hit the jackpot -- FBI video shows agents recovering most of the stolen cash. In August 1997, Campbell informed Ghantt about an old high school friend of hers named Steve Chambers, who could assist Ghantt to execute a massive cash robbery of the Loomis Fargo vault in one night. In one case, the restitution for a Loomis defendant may be a moving target. 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. Fill in your details below or click an icon to log in: You are commenting using your WordPress.com account. And with Loomis, were looking at only one case. Low 46F. A few of the Loomis restitution cases have already been closed either because the amount was paid in full or because the 20-year clock wound down. All of the defendants are out of prison -- the longest sentence was 11 years. At about 6:40 p.m., he went back inside. Ghantt had struck up a relationship with a fellow Loomis Fargo employee, Kelly Campbell; they continued to maintain contact even after Campbell left the company. Tuesday marked 25 years since a group of buddies pulled off the third-largest money grab in U.S. history -- the Loomis Fargo heist. The gang made numerous mistakes. The old man me would never survive that, Id have a heart attack.. ", Johnson said, "Yeah, that's it. Loomis Fargo employees could not open the vault the next morning, and called the police. She was five-foot-seven, had dirty-blond hair, and had worked with him for about a year at Loomis Fargo, until she left for another job in 1996. "I've got a friend," she said, "who can hook you up with a new ID.". Money. Commentary: Denial of racism is coping mechanism, Carteret Community College honors top students during 26th annual Black History Celebration, Peletier board delays action on fine for alleged practice time violation at racetrack, Commentary: State schools are funding corporation tax cuts, EDITORIAL: A paralyzed congress dances on debt limit, Sponsors sought for summer feeding program, LETTER TO THE EDITOR: More of the Truist story, Post-pandemic report shows significant increase in dropouts, crime, suspensions in county schools, Affordable housing construction begins in Beaufort, LETTER TO THE EDITOR: Existing school calendar law deserves our support, Carteret Community College to hold national anthem auditions, Topsail Island panel to lobby for terminal groin funding, LETTER TO THE EDITOR: Water contamination in Atlantic, EDITORIAL: School board resolution ignores tourism impact, Peletier will try to sell steel purchased in 2018 for never-constructed community building, Peletier board tables vegetative waste site ordinance on advice of town attorney, N.C. Marine Fisheries Commission advocates for water quality, North Carolina the only state allowing unnecessary killing of sea turtles, 'Pagan' bike gang leader in N. Carolina sentenced to prison, Deputy cleared in shooting death of Gloucester woman, Beaufort amends charter to allow four-year mayoral term. (LogOut/ 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. 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. be blocked or permanently banned without warning. He worked close-by to where the van and over $3 million dollars had been ditched, and was friends with Steve Chambers. Ghantt was sentenced to seven and a half years in prison. Prosecutors say a vault. Its in the ether. The theft at the time the second-largest cash robbery in U.S. history has been the brunt of mocking movies and books, mostly on how the thieves, who had little money to begin with, could not control their spending habits once they did. Twenty people were convicted of roles big and small in the massive 1997 armored-car warehouse heist in west Charlotte. Growing up, David's family went to Disney World, sent him to religious school, and shopped at places he couldn't afford as a self-supporting adult. Winds light and variable. Soon thereafter, he met Kelly Campbell, a co-worker at Loomis Fargo. While Ghantt trusted Chambers enough to leave his cut behind, Chambers had other plans. 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. He has been a staff writer for the Star-Ledger in New Jersey since 2000. Its a once-in-a-lifetime thing, and I went down and talked to them, got to meet Zach Galifianakis and the director, Ghantt said. Another time, the day after a Christmas in the late 1980s, David and some friends planted all the discarded Christmas trees from the area in one neighbor's front yard. Conversations about stealing from the company weren't rare for Loomis employees. According to Butcher, Campbells last official payment came in June 2021 when the government appears to have seized a tax refund of $81.24. 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. Then 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, Wydra said. 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. "I'm busy," he said. Authorities were notified of the robbery in the morning, when employees couldnt open the vault. He put on his best pair of jeans, a button-down shirt, and his nicest cowboy boots. Meanwhile, Ghantt's gang spent wildly and paid their family members and friends to hide money. Asked the purpose of his visit, Johnson had replied, "To visit friends. Ghantt, his former co-worker Kelly Campbell and her friends Steve and Michelle Chambers, carried out the Loomis Fargo heist on Oct. 4, 1997. "I'll need help moving the money, getting a new ID, and leaving the country," he told her. Thank you! Lacking a college degree, he found that his army skills felt meaningless in the 1990s job market. But being the vault supervisor at Loomis Fargo had one perk -- exposure to tons of cash. FBI video shows agents searching the Cramer Mountain home and finding stacks of cash. Learn about careers at Cox Media Group. Theres no way to get it back,, And with Loomis, were looking at only one case. "About fourteen or fifteen million dollars," he said. He also took various measures to change his appearance, such asshaving, after a patron at a restaurant pointed out to him that he looked like the man who robbed a bank of $20 million.. Michelle Chambers paid off only $27,000. "Don't double-cross us," the woman on the phone told David Ghantt. The government does not run debtors prisons, says U.S. Burks was also ordered to serve 15 years in prison, limiting his ability to balance his books. Copyright The Nashua Telegraph | https://www.nashuatelegraph.com | 110 Main St, Ste 1, Nashua, NH 03060 | 603-882-2741, Loomis Fargo defendants owe as much as they stole in 1997, Thats pretty standard in restitution matters. In the first couple of weeks, they had heard both Steve and Shelley bragging about their new-found fortune, and spending remarkable amounts of money. 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. Steve was a serious guy? Most people are going to forgive you. Some of that money is just gone. 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.. That was the thing that sticks in my mind to this day.. They also purchased expensive cars, jewelry and a breast enhancement or two. So its one thing to go from up here, thought, to action, he said. The plan was to maintain a low profile and wait for things to cool off, allowing Ghantt to return to the states and collect his cut. 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. Yet their lives seemed far easier and better than his. In Campbells case, Gronquist says his client was buried in court-ordered debt despite the fact that she took responsibility for what she had done and cooperated with prosecutors and the FBI. In 1994, they moved to Gastonia, North Carolina, where they had grown up, and David took a job driving a forklift. 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. JACKSONVILLE, Fla. This month marked 25 years since one of the biggest armored car heists in U.S. history. Ghantt was working as a vault supervisor for Loomis Fargo in Charlotte in 1997, earning about $8 an hour and tired of his humdrum life. The $17 million was stolen last Oct. 4 from the armored-car company's vault in Charlotte. When Ghantt called Campbell asking for more money, a plan was set in motion to take him out. Then, he proceeded to load 2,800 pounds of cash into a van. Loomis Fargo heist: 25 years later David Scott Ghantt, his former co-worker Kelly Campbell and her friends Steve and Michelle Chambers carried out the Loomis Fargo heist on Oct. 4, 1997. just generally being a jerk. Oh were not going to talk to anybody, theyre not going to be able to convict us, that bravado happens in the beginning and then it often gets worn down by the reality, Gronquist said. You can garnish wages. For people earning $8.15 an hour David's salary the jokes came naturally. LeVaughn Kelly Campbell (born July 23, 1980 in Atlanta, Georgia) is a former football wide receiver. Clerk of Court Frank Johns of Charlotte. But you cant get blood from a stone,, Criminals dont usually get high-paying jobs after leaving prison. One number is working in Campbells favor. Necessary cookies are absolutely essential for the website to function properly. After marrying Tammy in 1992, he worked fueling airplanes at the airport in Hilton Head, South Carolina. "Don't back out on us. Loomis Fargo heist: 25 years later 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. "Everything's gonna be all right," she told him. Chambers had broached the possibility of a robbery to Campbell earlier in the summer. She will never get beyond the debt. But this time on the phone, Kelly wasn't joking. He and his wife, Michele, moved from theirmobile homeinLincoln Countyto a luxury house in the wealthy Cramer Mountain section ofCramerton. 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. He waffled on the heist idea three or four times from late August to mid-September. contact us to submit an unexplained mystery article, or to join the team on the email address below. Johnson had stolen $18.8 million earlier in the year, on March 19, 1997, only to be caught five months later, in late August, while crossing into Texas from Mexico to retrieve some of the money, which he'd hidden in a shed in mountainous western North Carolina. Twenty years ago this Wednesday, a small group of people stole $17 million in cash from the main vault of a Loomis Fargo & Co. armored-car warehouse in west Charlotte. Sun, sand and beaches are all part of why Jacksonville is a popular destination. The site features a collection of unexplained, strange and odd mysteries. To visit friends.". 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. This station is part of Cox Media Group Television. They hadn't slept together or even fooled around much, but he was ready to commit. But on Oct. 4, 1997, that no longer mattered and Ghantt took off with $17.3 million. Youre supposed to get less time for cooperating, a lesser penalty, and instead, you see what she got hit with. Gronquist said. Booklist "Librariesshould consider purchasing this entertaining and lightly edited version, which reads like a fast-paced novel." Get an email notification whenever someone contributes to the discussion. Twenty people were convicted of roles big and small in the massive 1997 armored-car warehouse heist in west Charlotte. (John D. Simmons/The Charlotte Observer via AP) They kept several furnishings from the previous owners, including avelvet Elvis.

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