David Ghantt was a nuisance to Steve Chambers and Kelly Campbell, John Wydra, a retired FBI agent who handled the case, told Super Heists.. All of the defendants except for one pleaded guilty and accepted their sentences. When the rest of the Loomis Fargo employees showed up the next morning and found that they couldnt open the vault, they called the police. 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. In the end, eight co-conspirators were indicted for the Loomis Fargo heist. Its 90-minutes of mugging for the camera, but the only people who feel mugged are those that pay to see Masterminds. The Loomis Fargo robbery was one of the largest heists in history, with $2 million in stolen funds still unaccounted for. But even though he worked for a company that regularly moved millions of dollars, David Ghantt himself was underpaid. AMA In October of 1997, I was a vault supervisor for armored truck company Loomis Fargo, when I made off with $17.3 million. Director Jared Hess Writers Chris Bowman (screenplay) Hubbel Palmer (screenplay) Emily Spivey (screenplay) Stars Zach Galifianakis Kristen Wiig Owen Wilson 1) David Ghantt is underpaid and unhappy. The pair began to daydream about whether they could really pull off the heist. 33. As Campbell would later explain, If David got killed, there couldnt be any finger pointing. After years of working hard, the realisation hit . The next day, Steve and Michelle Chambers, Kelly Campbell, and four others were arrested.[6]. 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. Q: Your troubles were self-inflicted, but you seem happy. I didnt even know about it and overlooked it, he said. David Ghantt spent 11 years in the military and now works as a film consultant on the side. 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. Answer: The painful one is getting caught. You've decided to give up on a part of your life. 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. Coverage of the latest true crime stories and famous cases explained, as well as the best TV shows, movies and podcasts in the genre. I mean, thats pretty much why I did it. WOMAN GETS TIME IN LOOMIS HEIST - Greensboro News and Record David Ghantt Photos and Premium High Res Pictures - Getty Images I got to eat my meal perfectly, but every 5 minutes, someone wanted to shoot a selfie with Zach or an autograph from Zach. The Thieves Who Couldn'T Cope With $17 Million Investigators considered Ghantt to be the prime suspect almost from the beginning. Hes a great person. START or Stop: Do Nuclear Weapons Treaties Matter? They asked me how I felt about it and I said, Its my story, but its your movie so have at me. Ghantt was. The Loomis Fargo heist became something of a media lightning rod. 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. I learned that I was an a--hole. I really don't miss that guy. 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. On similar grounds, four other people were ultimately also charged with money laundering. ", The much-faster-than-expected economic recovery thats followed the easing of the coronavirus pandemic has produced several encouraging develo. 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. Ghantts accomplices soon showed up but now they had another problem. Culler acknowledged that she had overheard her husband and co-defendant Kelly Campbell talk about the plan, ``but she thought it was fantasy world.'. ``There are many people with those factors who don't resort to crime,' he said. 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 . Across the border in Mexico, Ghantt was also living it up. Ghantt was the vault manager. He was angry a lot. Creative Insights. David Ghantt had been a model employee for an armored car company before pulling off the second biggest cash heist in U.S. history, fleeing with more than $17 million in untraceable bills in 1997. 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. Did you know that the SAT offers subject exams, too? hbspt.cta.load(360031, '4efd5fbd-40d7-4b12-8674-6c4f312edd05', {}); Have any questions about this article or other topics? 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. Her reaction seems so far away now, all these years and a Hall of Fame career later. ``This defendant was second to Steve Chambers in (benefiting) from the crime,' he said. 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. AI Chatbots are Even Scarier Than You Think, DeSantiss Educational Policies Come Right Out of the Fascist Playbook, Erase the Memory to Erase a People? All rights reserved. The True Story of David Ghantt and the Loomis Fargo Heist - PrepScholar And with that, David Ghantt took off for Mexico. Its kind of out of sight, out of mind, she said of the reasoning. Some of the friends and family members received parole, while Ghantt was sentenced to seven and a half years in prison. That 3-carat ring came back to haunt Michele Chambers at Tuesday's hearing. . I started just chucking it as fast as I could, he said, adding the sweat was pouring off of me.. He stayed at a luxury hotel and took scuba diving lesson. Chambers promised to wire him money in Mexico until the investigation blew over and Ghantt could return to . In 2020, the television show Super Heists portrayed the heist in Episode 3, "Van Full of Dollars". (renews at {{format_dollars}}{{start_price}}{{format_cents}}/month + tax). BBC Motion Gallery. Im like, You need to understand that, that money has been missing for 20 years. 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. Kelly Campbell is scheduled to be sentenced in October. 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. [1] Tips had led the FBI to begin monitoring Chambers's (and his wife's) activities, but it was not until the FBI recorded a phone call from Ghantt in Mexico that the final connection was made. Guided by federal sentencing rules, prosecutors had requested a sentence of nine years for Michele Chambers. Although the history of the predecessor Wells Fargo & Company dates back to 1852, Loomis Fargo & Company was established in 1997 by the consolidation of Wells Fargo Armored Service and Loomis Armored Inc.; the resulting corporation employed 8,500 people and provided armored transportation, cash handling services, and automatic teller machine maintenance. mesurer votre utilisation de nos sites et applications. David Ghantt And The Loomis Fargo Heist: The Outrageous True Story. David Scott Ghantt was the vault supervisor at the regional branch of Loomis, Fargo & Co. in Charlotte, North Carolina. The next day, the Chambers, Campbell, and some other notable parties were arrested in Charlotte. Then you end up in a eight by ten cube and youre going to share that cube with two other people. 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. Hes way smarter than youd think he would be because he tends to play Bozos. Si vous souhaitez personnaliser vos choix, cliquez sur Grer les paramtres de confidentialit. 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). 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. Based on a true story, the premise itself is fascinating, which makes Masterminds all the more a waste. He was insecure. Ghantt @ChristyGhantt Dec 7, 2022 I just entered the @clxgaming Ra PC Giveaway! Assistant U.S. Attorney Brian Whisler said he didn't think those factors should result in a reduced sentence. As it turns out, the heist did in fact go as well as you might expect. Zach Galifianakis played David Scott Ghantt, with other roles played byOwen Wilson, Jason Sudeikis, Leslie Jones, Kristen Wiig and Kate McKinnon. The additions come as KFC recently removed some menu items, including wings, popcorn chicken and cookies, to make room for new additions. I figured it had to be me. 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. $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. 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. Day in and day out, he drives an armored vehicle,. Ask below and we'll reply! 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. Q: Do you ever think about what your life would be like if you had gotten away with the money?