"I said, 'Yeah, sure.' I had a four-hour layover there, and then from New Orleans to Cancun.. So I was glad it was over. Loomis, Fargo offered a $500,000 reward for his arrest and conviction. He was an old friend from East Gaston High School, tough and sure of himself. So he and some friends decided at the end of his Oct. 4 shift he would load a company van with more than 2,000 pounds of cash and just drive away. She just called me up on the phone and said, Hey, lets meet one day after work. And then, we were talking and she says, How do you feel about robbing Loomis Fargo? Ghantt tells me. I don't blame him.". The real story behind the second largest bank heist in history, which The initials on the money wrapper belonged to a Loomis employee who hadn't worked there since before the heist. . (John D. Simmons/The Charlotte Observer via AP), Police: Officer Who Shot Black Man Retired 'In Bad Standing', 3 Kansas City Officers Who Were Shot Released From Hospital, 1 Killed When Business Jet Encounters Severe Turbulence. And when everybody else voted to kill me, she voted with them, he explains. Kelly called David at. Ghantt was already married when he took part in the heist, to a woman named Tammy who author Diamant described as very nice. It is true, however, that she had no idea about the plot and that he fled to Mexico without telling her. In real life: False. That day, FBI agents also would arrest Scott Grant and Eric Payne, who had spent his share of the money on a motorcycle and breast implants for his wife and two sisters. Question: Any contact with Steve Chambers or any of the others involved with the heist? Charlotte hotel chef who serves with a smile recognized as outstanding ambassador, Eritrean, Ethiopian restaurant owner was a big brother and father to many in Charlotte, Home tours: This wired-up Weddington smart home has a pool big enough for the neighborhood. He would pay McKinney $250,000, half upfront. I didn't think I had the guts. Question: What made you, Chambers and the others think you could get away with this? Chambers went from a mobile home in Lincoln County to a mansion in Cramerton. Keep supporting great journalism by turning off your ad blocker. In early December, Steve and Michele invited relatives to their daughter's sixth birthday party. Contact Us | Loomis US ". At the party, Steve invited Michele's stepfather, truck driver Dennis Floyd, to the basement to play pool. "I wanted to be more like my mom and dad were.". Harley-Davidson Road King motorcycle for sale at auction of items If you were one of the much-smaller-than-expected group of people who caught Masterminds at the theater this weekend, and are looking for a fact-check of the events depicted on screen, here are some of the highlights of our chat with Diamant. He'd even bragged that he'd killed people. . 1-4-3 is 'I love you.' At the time of the real robbery, Chambers was facing criminal charges hed written 30K worth of bad checks and was facing jail time for it. And I was thinking about just showing up there. "I missed my family. His assignment was to deliver the cash to David and keep him happy until they could find a way to kill him, McKinney said. For his part, Ghantt was now officially on his way to Mexico, his future stretched out before him. Inside were, along with other personal items, his keys and wedding ring. Masterminds (2016 film) - Wikipedia ", "Even then . No dry runs, no rehearsals. It's one of the biggest jokes at the place. Given his position at the bank, hed be the one to pull off the robbery, and he intended to be ready. To say nothing of their art purchases like the aforementioned velvet Elvis portrait and a painting of a bulldog dressed as General George S. Patton. The figures can be astounding. Ghantt went on to explain that he rarely even looks at his debt statement to the government, but believes the IRS says he still owes them $3.8 million. The Unexpectedly Sweet Story Behind Those Viral Semi-Truck Pregnancy Photos. 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. The Chambers, however, didnt fit in with the other members of the gated community. Steve also offered $100,000 to his 26-year-old cousin. He frequently entertained there, buying steaks for his guests. Kelly said she had reason to believe Steve might be able to pull off a heist. It was his goodbye. Steve was sentenced to 11 years 3 months in prison. . He wouldn't give me the opportunity to say anything else. The mystery 1-4-3 caller had been Kelly, though agents didn't know it yet. Inside the Mazda, Steve told Scott Grant to get out and help David. According to Butcher, Campbells last official payment came in June 2021 when the government appears to have seized a tax refund of $81.24. I studied up on the FBI. And youre like, Come on parachute. I wanted to make a drastic change and I went for it," Ghantt said. He covers culture, politics, race, and other perplexing mysteries for MEL. Campbell, a former Loomis employee and one of the original masterminds of the caper, has paid off less than $21,000 of the $4,701,694.18 she was docked. They hatched the idea half-jokingly, over a game of Uno, never dreaming they were about to make Bonnie and Clyde look like bottom feeders. Then Steve pushed Scott inside, and he began throwing plastic-wrapped bundles of tens, twenties, fifties and hundreds to Eric and Steve, who placed them in three blue 55-gallon barrels. Kelly Campbell - Wikipedia Did you get paid? So the last third of the movie is almost entirely fiction. In early November, Steve lured the real Mike McKinney, an ex-Marine, to North Carolina from his Illinois home. Explain? Yes, Carrie Underwood adopted a dog in Charlotte. This is the person I counted as my friend. But you cant get blood from a stone, Johns said. Industry leading Training and Development. "I've moved on with my life," he said Tuesday. Ghantt simply got ready for work one morning knowing it would be his last day on the job. ];David Scott Ghanntt [Misc.] There was, however, one problem with his plan. It didnt take the local police long to put the pieces together. Ghantt, meanwhile, was losing his patience and starting to make threats. But as soon as he drove off, I went right back in and opened the vault. But McKinney never stopped trying to kill Ghantt although, initally, McKinney thought Chambers had paid for the hit over a drug deal gone bad, Diamant said. ". She didn't plan to move to Mexico. It was an ear-biting, Pierce Brosnan-loving, comet-obsessed world, and were here to relive every minute of it. To celebrate Halloween, about seven of Steve's friends, including Eric Payne and Kelly, gathered for a party at Steve's house. In February 1998, the FBI tapped their phones and listened to Steve discuss depositing $2.5 million in the Cayman Islands. When he was done, the man drove off to a nearby printing press, where the money was distributed into private vehicles amongst a handful of people. In real life: False. 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. These days, the 52-year-old husband and father lives in Jacksonville, Florida, where he works at a heavy equipment rental agency. David kissed his sleeping wife on the cheek on the morning of Oct. 4. He pocketed the money and told Chambers and Campbell to send him his cut in Mexico. Twenty-five years ago, a small group of rural North Carolinian amateur bank robbers pulled off the second-largest heist in American history. In the following months, Steve persisted, even floating the notion of placing phony hand grenades on a Loomis truck to scare away the drivers, Kelly said. 1997 Loomis Fargo Robbery - Strange Unexplained Mysteries Only a nickel on every dollar have been collected so far. But in November, money ran low. Agents began picking up signs that David definitely had help: The abandoned Loomis van with $3.3 million in small bills still inside, and phone records showing that somebody beeped him while he stole the money, using David's own cell phone. Called Masterminds, the 2016 film stars Zach Galifianakis, Kristen Wiig and Owen Wilson. 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. Actor Owen Wilson plays him in the movie, which includes the real names of all the major players. The audacity of the act was breathtaking. Tickle Me Kaczynski: How the Inventor of the Ultimate Elmo Toy Became a Unabomber Suspect, A Highly Questionable Cultural History of Richard Geres Ass Gerbil. When he said, 'I'll give you $20,000 to hold a million,' I said, 'Sure.' I just had to call you., Today, Ghantt cant look back on the whole ordeal without some degree of pride. 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. For her part, Kelly Campbell spent six years in federal prison. He realized that if they met the minimum monthly payments, the bill would take 30 years to pay. Loomis - Home What concerned her was the chance of getting caught. At the end of October, Kelly was sentenced to 5 years 10 months in prison. The cash was covered with dog food. Agents noticed it two months later when it flowed to them through official channels, along with hundreds of similar reports involving other people. "It wasn't me, it was Steve," she says she told him. If I hadn't done what I did the, the life I have now with my wife and child, I wouldn't have. She'd heard his stories of other successful schemes, like getting refunds on phony tax returns, or operating a loan shark business. Dependent care account. He approached a longtime friend, Eric Payne, who lived in a mobile home south of Belmont, N.C. Steve offered him $100,000 to help. I said, Probably, the best time would be on the weekend; theres fewer people there. A woman by the name of Kelly Campbell had worked there in 1996, and she and Ghantt had become friends in that time. Steve and Michele invited everyone back for a Christmas party, where they gave Michele's stepfather a special gift--the pickup truck he'd always wanted. . "I'd been told all my life, money will not make you happy," Kelly said. The last time he called me, he said, Hey Ghantt, I just saw a big Loomis Fargo truck. He goes, My name is Bruno. Seven Charged In $17M Heist - CBS News These (Loomis) guys, not so much.. Working together, they got the gate open, then drove in a caravan to the Reynolds & Reynolds parking lot. At that same time, Steve was growing sick of the calls to send more money to Ghantt, and was looking for a way to end that issue. Come for the Chumbawamba, and stay for the return of the Mack. But it was the rural, Southern backgrounds of many of the key players, along with the many botched twists and bungled turns, that led the media to dub it the hillbilly heist.. About 20 ago, Campbell sent him a letter of apology, but he never responded. On March 1, David Ghantt left his hotel to do some laundry. I wish them all a happy life and that's about it. The van door opened. 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. They placed a bust of Caesar in the dining room. Or is the loot buried in somebody's yard? I mean, cause greed is a funny animal. He hadnt checked ahead of time if the airport had any available flights, let alone if it would even be open. David Ghantt, who pulled off the Loomis, Fargo & Co. vault robbery in 1997 and was sentenced to seven years in prison for the crime, served as a consultant for the film (in theaters Friday). David was excited, jabbering about their future together. At the sight of all that money, Scott and Eric had the same thought: They'd made the worst mistake of their lives. 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. In the wee hours of the morning, Chambers and the Erics drove back to the town of Vale, North Carolina, and holed up in a double-wide trailer while counting their cash. They planned to kill a man named David Ghantt, the guy who had made their extravagant new lifestyle a reality. Steven Chambers [Misc. Loomis Fargo Heist of 1997 - History and Other Things "He showed me a lot of money," McKinney said. Few who were living in the area at the time can forget the "Velvet Elvis" painting Chambers had hanging in his mansion or the tales of cosmetic surgery, BMW convertibles and other signs of excess. . She never really worried about the moral end of it--she was focused only on getting what she wanted out of life, what so many others seemed to have in this booming part of the South. If they could just sit on the money until then, he said, they'd be fine. In 2017, for example, Paul Burks of Lexington was ordered to pay $244 million to the victims of his worldwide Ponzi scheme, Zeek Rewards. They decorated their 6,000-square-foot stucco house with antiques, paintings and statues, including a six-foot wooden Indian that Michele had bought for $600. Butcher says the federal courts in the Western District of North Carolina have never handled a case quite like Loomis. Without really intending to, Kelly recalls, she turned the conversation to the possibility of a heist. Question: You went to Mexico. 1997 Harley-Davidson Road King motorcycle for sale at auction of items bought after Loomis, Fargo armored car facility heist by Steven Chambers, wife Michele, Kelly Jane Campbell & David Scott Ghanntt (Photo by Will And Deni McIntyre/Getty Images) Now two NC men face prison. Then FBI agent Wydra watched Steve's wife, Michele, deposit about $8,000 at a Gaston County, N.C., bank. Before long, the FBI had wiretaps on the ringleader, Steve Chambers, and then they waited for the right time to make their arrests. On October 5, 1997, FBI agents gathered at the Loomis, Fargo & Co. warehouse in Charlotte, North Carolina, to watch a security videotape of a man loading stacks of cash into a pushcart and wheeling them from the vault. It will be some time before she can commune with domestic animals again. Ghantt, his former co-worker Kelly Campbell and her friends Steve and Michelle Chambers carried out the Loomis Fargo heist on Oct. 4, 1997. . He had even scheduled a follow-up appointment at the dentist. They were the butt of a national joke. Anybody who gets caught up in the system is getting chewed up by it, the now-retired Gronquist told the Observer. If you want me to leave, Ill leave. Then, Ghantt went into another room. Though David had said earlier he thought there was $15 million in the vault, the sight of that much cash held them spellbound. I can take it.". He had stolen $17 million from Loomis Fargo. Charlotte Magazine even ran a feature story about the Loomis Fargo heist with the title, White Trash Crime. The headlines, however, never bothered Ghantt. Im on the phone with Kelly [Campbell], and Im like, Hey, I really was expecting a package to arrive. I'd probably change jobs. Together, they drove in a convoy to an industrial warehouse eight miles away, where Eric Payne, a fourth accomplice was. Question: Are you surprised that Hollywood took this on as a movie? He told her he wanted more of "his" cash. Was that really what it was about? Though David had no criminal experience, he felt he could offer expert advice: He'd just finished reading a book on the FBI. On Oct. 7, 1997, two FBI agents arrived at Kelly Campbell's home after two Loomis employees had told agents she and David had once dated. In real life: Yes and no. Restitution is a familiar part of sentencing in federal court. I mentioned it to Kelly. On Feb. 27, agents listened in on a call from David to Kelly and learned David's location in Mexico. In real life: True. I mean, it was dark, Ghantt explains. The barrels were Steves idea, Ghantt says. . He and co-worker Kelly Campbell, 27, had developed a close relationship and were spending time together outside of work. Steve told Scott to ignore the remaining stacks, which were mostly ones and fives. His mobile home was nicely furnished, on eight acres with a stream in the back. Find 145 people named Kelly Loomis along with free Facebook, Instagram, Twitter, and TikTok profiles on PeekYou - true people search. In that time, I realized most of my problems were because of me. The FBI was also surveilling Kelly Campbell and followed her to a pay phone that she used to place calls to Mexico. In December, agents got the tie-in they were looking for: Kelly Campbell had bought a $30,000 Toyota minivan with cash and registered it to one of Steve Chambers's aliases. Question: You were a consultant? David, the international fugitive, lived it up, too--for a while. On the radio, the "John Boy and Billy" show played the song "Take the Money and Run. He was signed by the Minnesota Vikings as an undrafted free agent in 2002. "I felt that if I didn't do something, I was going to snap," David said. They obviously werent trying to get it right they were putting together what they believe is a better story, said Diamant. On Oct. 5, the Loomis heist celebrates its 25th birthday. . Ghantt was working a late shift, and just after 6:30 p.m., his coworkers were packing up and heading for home. He told him McKinney was in Mexico to kill somebody. Or that it was an inheritance. Chambers and Campbell were waiting for him in the Loomis Fargo parking lot, both in separate vehicles. Figure in Loomis Heist Gets Prison | AP News Before David left for the airport, he had handed Scott an eight-inch key ring. Alert: Obviously, spoilers abound. He longed for the middle-class lifestyle of his childhood, with its private religious-school education and Disney World vacations. Question: Are you happy that Wilkesboro-nativeZach Galifianakis plays you in the movie? Too many questions remained: Where was the cash? When he landed in Cancun, his first stop was Walmart. I knew I was going to be the prime suspect. Key benefit components include: Health insurance plans. Meanwhile, Michele Chambers was laughing and saying, repeatedly, "Look at all this money!" Truth be told, Ghantt had something of a crush on Campbell, and so, he told her exactly how hed pull off such a heist. You might as well take it all, Ghantt tells me. But the idea of all that money pulled at her. The others, though, went no farther than Cramer Mountain. This time, David told McKinney the truth. Purchases included a pool table, jewelry (including a $43,000 diamond ring), a minivan, $20,000 worth of cigars, and the 7,000-square-foot home on the side of Cramer. 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. Kelly had resisted this suggestion before the heist: She and David were friends. Ive never taken offense to anything like that, he tells me. Sweat soaked David's uniform. 6-Year Sentence For Kelly Campbell | The Seattle Times They also left behind a life-changing fortune in small bills $3.3 million in fives and ones that they overlooked and the two videotapes that Ghantt had pulled from the security cameras at the bank. Where I was going was right there near the Cayman Islands. To that end, Campbell brought in her childhood friend Steve Chambers, who was characterized in the local press as a small-time drug dealer and a local fence for stolen goods, to lead the team. In hindsight, it doesnt surprise me a bit, Ghantt says, a bitter laugh catching in his throat. real kelly campbell loomis fargo heist real kelly campbell loomis fargo heist (No Ratings Yet) . Thats one of my personality flaws. Sandra Floyd, Michele Chambers's mother, remembers the first time she saw the house. No hard feelings. . The pager entry was 1-4-3. That time in prison was actually good for me. She was a wife and mother with two children. As he and Kelly met in a field behind a shooting range to refine the plan, she allowed him to believe she was falling for him. The bizarre true story of the criminals behind the second-largest bank heist in American history. They picked me, he says with a rueful tone. Guller was the attorney for Steven Chambers, who came up with the original idea for the Loomis theft. I hear her typing. "For the first year, they're all over you. He comes to my door, and hes got a brown paper bag in his hand. Hed be in contact. She could visit friends. Soon thereafter, he met Kelly Campbell, a co-worker at Loomis Fargo. kellis@gastongazette.com 0:04 0:57 On Oct. 4, 1997, former Kings Mountain resident David Scott Ghantt finished his shift as a vault supervisor for Loomis Fargo in Charlotte. I was just going to get the money into the van. But after a year, they'll cut it down to two agents. . I'll never pay it off on my paycheck." Michelle Chambers paid off only $27,000. Each week, Michele deposited thousands of dollars in cash. I knew it was just a matter of time. Kelly Campbell, 29, a former company employee, entered guilty pleas earlier to bank larceny, money laundering and conspiracy to commit murder charges. Things went from bad to worse when, in November, Michelle strolled into a bank with a briefcase filled with 200 grand and asked the manager, How much can I deposit without the bank reporting the transaction? When she showed the bank manager that she really had the money to invest, the cash was still bound in Loomis Fargo wrappers. My love for my family is by far the most important thing in my life. At 7:45, David had finished loading. 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. He'd stay up all night, boosted by coffee, waiting for the sunrise over the ocean. Instead of lobster, the man who stole $17 million survived on home-cooked pasta and grilled cheese sandwiches. ", "I wouldn't do it. "As soon as you start, you realize there's no going back," David recalled. So much so that one suspicious neighbor called the FBI. He didn't want to abandon his parents. While the agents initiated their investigation, the Chambers spent money as quickly as they could. "She said, 'What would it take to convince you to do it?' Turns out, most of the thieves and their accomplices have been about as effective coming up with their court-ordered restitution as they were hiding their original crimes. Some amateur thieves might turn to movies and TV shows for lessons on criminal behavior. "We're not the type that questions everything people tell us," Floyd said. ', "He asked me if I'd mind holding some money for him. It was late in 1996. Three weeks after the theft, Steve and Michele moved from their Lincoln County mobile home to a $635,000 house in a gated Cramerton, N.C., neighborhood. 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. Hes well thought-out. When Ghantt was on the plane home from Mexico with the FBI, he admitted to the agents that while Campbell had been integral to why hed done it and that he did indeed have a crush on her it was never his true motivation. So yeah, Im kind of proud of it.. Ultimately, though, the heist wasnt Ghantts idea, which meant he didnt decide who else was involved. Now, I kind of know something is fishy., Alone in Mexico with limited cash, Ghantt thought about turning himself in. Theres no management around. The number of people involved had ballooned after Steve started asking friends and family to help him launder the stolen cash. Many of the lesser players in the conspiracy have been the most effective in paying their debts. Ghantt:I don't think he ever really meant to harm me. Too stupid to be true? Five 'Masterminds' missteps that actually happened Like David, Kelly was frustrated with her marriage. There was a little voice in my head that said, 'Don't do it. Everything came crashing down on an early March morning in 1998. Why had he ever believed he'd get it? He says the Loomis case shows how the criminal justice system and the courts treat lower-income people differently. shaka wear graphic tees is candy digital publicly traded ellen lawson wife of ted lawson real kelly campbell loomis fargo heist 25 Feb/23 (No Ratings Yet) She also must . First, in January, he tried to get someone to take some millions down to Mexico. They heard Michele brag about her $43,000 ring. By March, Steve Chambers decided he needed to do something more drastic about Ghantt, making plans to send a hitman to Mexico to silence him for good. Hes very articulate. Mexican police, Interpol officers and an FBI agent were watching him. He had just returned to his home in Jacksonville, Fla., when he agreed to talk about the heist, his life now and what went wrong when a group of friends who thought they could get away with stealing $17 million cash. Mine did. I pay (restitution to) thousands of people, but its in drips and drabs.. If you go from a mobile home to a mansion, that's going to attract attention. Our success depends on our team members, and that's why it's important for us to offer an employee benefits program that is not only extremely comprehensive but also one of the best in the industry. And I think that makes it all the more funny, because it really offends my co-defendants. Im a very deliberate person. He figured Tammy wouldn't go for it, and though his marriage had been troubled, he wasn't certain he wanted to leave her. Its hilarious. There was in fact a basically similar conversation involving Chambers and Campbell that took place during a barbecue the Campbells were hosting. They set the date, Oct. 4, a Saturday when David knew he could be alone in the building after his shift. Getting restitution, its like pulling teeth.. Because lets be brutally honest: Theyre not wrong, okay? They Had 17 Million Dollars and No Sense at All - AMW Magazine And with Loomis, were looking at only one case. He told Steve he hadn't been able to find David. Some received probation for money laundering, many others did hard time. Here's what Floyd recalls: After two games of pool, Steve told him, "You know, we do a lot of gambling. You can seize property. Steve now needed a hit man. How Did David Ghantt, Kelly Campbell, Steve Chambers Steal More Than "That would be living on the run, and I didn't want my kids to live that way.
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