These (Loomis) guys, not so much.. Ghantt, his former co-worker Kelly Campbell and her friends Steve and Michelle Chambers carried out the Loomis Fargo heist on Oct. 4, 1997. His collection case, which closes in November 2026, got credit for the couples $540,000 house on Cramer Mountain in Gaston County, Butcher says. 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. He says the Loomis case shows how the criminal justice system and the courts treat lower-income people differently. Javascript is not enabled in your browser. In David's eyes, Johnson's big mistake was that he did it alone. Paying the money back has taken a lot longer, and time is running out for the U.S. government to collect. David and Kelly had driven to Rock Hill, South Carolina, and used the documents to obtain a fake ID that David would also rely on after the theft. About the worst he had done as a teenager was stealing a construction company's Porta-Jon with a friend, tying it to the back of a pickup truck, and driving around for about fifteen minutes. - 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. We are happy to work with other website publishers. And they could barely afford the minimum payments, given the power bills, phone bills, car insurance bills, and home payments they had to meet. The Chambers home is now gated, which means Channel 9 crews cant drive up to it like we used to. But things didnt quite work out that way. You have permission to edit this article. He quickly found out when you have money, you just have different problems, Wydra said. A former FBI agent 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. I was relieved emotionally because I knew there was a good chance my luck might run out, Ghantt said. Steve Chambers would keep the rest. A customs inspector, asking routine questions of bus passengers, focused her attention on him when his answers reminded her of Tommy Flanagan, the pathological-liar character played by Jon Lovitz on Saturday Night Live. It was David who was hours away from committing the most daring act of his life, and she was going off about Steve being a serious guy? At about 6:40 p.m., he went back inside. Its like, me and you sat down, I have access to pie, you like pie, all I want is my share of the pie. 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. 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 his youth, his mother had taken him to Sears and JCPenney, but as a man he shopped at Walmart, and while he knew there was nothing wrong with that, he wished he could afford more. Then they returned it. OWLS director fired in wake of new board taking over, New rules will require flood history disclosure in real estate, North Carolina recreational spring flounder season canceled for 2023, Supreme Court seems ready to sink student loan forgiveness, Beach commission gets update on search for new sources of sand for beach nourishment. I made a joke once that was the hardest Id ever worked for Wells Fargo -- yeah, its a lot of work, Ghantt said. Spunk. When I put that cash in the back of the car, by the time I got to the office the whole car smelled like that. Agents raided safe deposit boxes, where they recovered more than $11 million. she asked. The FBI began to question past and current employees of Loomis Fargo. I pay (restitution to) thousands of people, but its in drips and drabs.. Paying the money back has taken a lot longer, and time is running out for the U.S. government to collect. Kelly called, using David's own cell phone, to ask where he was already, because she and the others were waiting outside for him. But they'd stayed in touch, and now they were poised to attempt a crime like almost no other. Federal law stops government collection efforts 20 years after a defendant leaves prison. 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. Also charged with money laundering were innocent relatives and friends who had co-signed safe deposit boxes. And with Loomis, were looking at only one case. So the pieces were falling into place for investigators. Many of the lesser players in the conspiracy have been the most effective in paying their debts. Asked the purpose of his visit, Johnson had replied, "To visit friends. Ghantt reported to Chambers that his supply of money was running low, but Chambers sent Ghantt just $8,000. Campbell and her husband had always been just scraping by, however in the weeks following the robbery, the two seemed to have more money than theyve ever had. He tried again to make the back gate rise, to no avail. - Husband and wife Steven and Michelle Chambers, whose conspicuous consumption of a luxury home, a BMW convertible, breast implants and a $600 wooden Indian, among other purchases, helped the FBI solve the crime, were assessed $3.81 million and $4.8 million, respectively. But what the bank didnt tell Michelle, and Michelle didnt know, was that one of those forms get filled out if you ask about it, or if its close to $10,000 or if they suspect that any part of that transaction is suspicious, Wydra said. He was signed by the Minnesota Vikings as an undrafted free agent in 2002. The $17 million was stolen last Oct. 4 from the armored-car company's vault in Charlotte. For a better shopping experience, please upgrade now. And after two years, the case is just a file. 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. The government does not run debtors prisons, says U.S. The van used to move the money was later located a few miles from the warehouse. But you cant get blood from a stone,, Criminals dont usually get high-paying jobs after leaving prison. Then, keeping with the plan, Ghantt took $50,000 (the maximum that could be taken across the border by law without further authorization) with him and left for Mexico, winding up at the popularYucatan Peninsularesort ofCozumel. Even with several vehicles, they underestimated how much space they would need and they had to leave $3 million behind. In March 1997, after Loomis Fargo & Company has been robbed of $18.8 million in Jacksonville by company security guard Philip Noel Johnson, Steve Eugene Chambers and Kelly Campbell, a former employee of Loomis, decides to rob the company. Outside of 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. Burks was also ordered to serve 15 years in prison, limiting his ability to balance his books. David placed their odds of success at 85 percent, a confidence inspired by faith not just in his planning but also in his feelings for Kelly. Its in the ether. First, they tapped the Chambers phone, and began listening in on February 11th, 1998. Authorities were notified of the robbery in the morning, when employees couldnt open the vault. He knew it would mean leaving Tammy. 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. Inside $3.3 million was located along with the two stolen surveillance tapes, apparently left due to the robber and his accomplices being sloppy, or in a hurry. 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 Mount Holly . Ghantt studied how to rob his employer and advised the others not to spend the money lavishly. 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. Jim Gronquist was Campbells defense attorney. 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. David knew this was important from having followed the recent news about a Florida man who had brazenly committed the biggest heist from an armored-car company in United States history, a loner named Philip Noel Johnson, who also had worked for Loomis. Hes a family man with a wife and daughter. of violence, racism, anti-Semitism, or them. Perry identified the other six people arrested as Steve and Michelle Chambers; Kelly Jane Campbell, a former Loomis employee; Michael L. McKinney; Thomas Nathan Grant; and Eric Haley Payne.. 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.. 2023 Cox Media Group. Guller was the attorney for Steven Chambers, who came up with the original idea for the Loomis theft. Change). In all, agents arrested 24 people in the heist. Change), You are commenting using your Facebook account. Join thousands already receiving our daily newsletter. The old man me would never survive that, Id have a heart attack.. So we were able to figure out with all the denominations, it would require about 20 safe deposit boxes to store it all., WSOC TV facebook feed(Opens a new window), Part 2: Channel 9 speaks with the man at the center of Loomis Fargo heist 25 years ago, ALSO READ: 14-year-old boy robbed at gunpoint while waiting for bus in east Charlotte, mom says, ALSO READ: Leader of $3M check theft, bank fraud scheme in Charlotte area sentenced to prison, ALSO READ: Man released from jail, accused of robbing banks while wearing electronic monitor, police say, ALSO READ: Suspect from south Charlotte bank robbery found, CMPD says, NCSHP arrest driver accused of nearly hitting 2 students at bus stop in Statesville, CMS delays opening of new school meant to ease overcrowding, Mooresville orders removal of memorial at park after teens death, Chick-fil-A announces app data breach, tells customers how to protect personal information, Charlotte woman celebrates $1 million scratch-off prize, WSOC - TV Public File Contact / Program Director, WAXN - TV Public File Contact / Program Director. Booklist "Librariesshould consider purchasing this entertaining and lightly edited version, which reads like a fast-paced novel." The only other employee with him on this day was a trainee. Loomis Fargo heist: 25 years later 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. >> PHOTOS: The Loomis Fargo heist, 25 years later Ghantt, his former co-worker Kelly Campbell and her friends Steve and Michelle Chambers, carried out the Loomis Fargo heist on Oct.. She will never get beyond the debt. RELATED: When you have money, you just have different problems: The Loomis Fargo heist, 25 years later, How I held it together is beyond me, Ghantt said.