So yeah, Im kind of proud of it.. She was devastated, Diamant said. And then I could hear her laughing. "Love" has four. He was doing what the rest of us were doing making bad decisions. Its hilarious. Job Search - Career Portal - Dayforce HCM He covers culture, politics, race, and other perplexing mysteries for MEL. Then another. All rights reserved. Ghantt, meanwhile, was losing his patience and starting to make threats. Yes, Carrie Underwood adopted a dog in Charlotte. 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. We got this guy named Bruno. Charlotte Magazine even ran a feature story about the Loomis Fargo heist with the title, White Trash Crime. The headlines, however, never bothered Ghantt. real kelly campbell loomis fargo heist. She will never get beyond the debt. The movie was overly silly and, based on a post-screening conversation with former Observer reporter Jeff Diamant who wrote a detailed 279-page book about the occasionally funny but mostly just-plain fascinating crime, titled Heist much of what wound up in the film is fiction. Im on the phone with Kelly [Campbell], and Im like, Hey, I really was expecting a package to arrive. You have to remember that it's Hollywood and they'll take what was a minor event and they'll blow it up and make it as funny as they can.". "It wasn't me, it was Steve," she says she told him. But first they wanted to know if it was a robbery or a robbery-homicide. The bizarre true story of the criminals behind the second-largest bank heist in American history. Not many people can say they stole $17 million from their employer and had Zach Galifianakis play them in a movie. His assignment was to deliver the cash to David and keep him happy until they could find a way to kill him, McKinney said. Steven Chambers [Misc. October 1997 Loomis Fargo robbery - Wikipedia David had grabbed $50,000 cash, but could figure out only how to carry $25,000 with him on the plane. I knew I was going to be the prime suspect. Scott was so nervous, he said, that he couldn't help. To celebrate Halloween, about seven of Steve's friends, including Eric Payne and Kelly, gathered for a party at Steve's house. He went deep-sea fishing. At first, David Ghantt said, "I didn't take her seriously. These days, the 52-year-old husband and father lives in Jacksonville, Florida, where he works at a heavy equipment rental agency. The biggest restitution numbers for victims of financial crimes generally involve Ponzi schemes or sweepstakes fraud, not cash thefts. Reach our Customer Contact Center by calling 877.877.0560 from 6:30 AM to 11:30 PM CT every day or by completing the provided form. The plan to rob Loomis Fargo was spawned by Campbell and her friend Steve Chambers, during a casual bonfire at Chambers' home. 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. Steve tried keys on a side door. Until, that is, he decided to hell with it he was going to pull-off the second largest heist in U.S. history. He then began loading $17 million in unmarked bills inside a company van before driving away. Steve had another conversation with Kelly about killing David. Before long, the FBI had wiretaps on the ringleader, Steve Chambers, and then they waited for the right time to make their arrests. 1997 Loomis Fargo Robbery - Strange Unexplained Mysteries In Florida, a Loomis Fargo employee had pulled a gun on his coworkers and gotten away with $18 million, a move that FBI agents theorize Ghantt, Campbell and other employees all sat around talking about - and what they would do with that amount of money - for a while. I was expecting her to kick me out of the house., Years later, after they married and had a child together, they watched a movie based on the whole ordeal. He'd stay up all night, boosted by coffee, waiting for the sunrise over the ocean. Agents found out where Ghantt was living because Chambers had put out a hit on him, foolishly believing Ghantt was the only person the FBI had fingered for the crime. Or as he tells me, How many people in the United States havent thought about robbing a bank? By late November, McKinney made a third trip to Mexico, saying he'd help David move to Mexico City. LeVaughn Kelly Campbell (born July 23, 1980 in Atlanta, Georgia) is a former football wide receiver. All I needed was a change of pace.". In real life: True. Loomis has received $978,983.79, according to Sally Butcher, an assistant clerk in the federal courts of the Western District of North Carolina who specializes in criminal debt. At 6-1 and 220 pounds, Steve was stocky and imposing, a fast talker with a brown goatee. The government does not run debtors prisons, says U.S. Back then, it was one of the hotspots for hiding money. Ghantt planned to live off the interest for the rest of his life. It was his goodbye. 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. Many of the lesser players in the conspiracy have been the most effective in paying their debts. real kelly campbell loomis fargo heist. 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. Or purchase a subscription for unlimited access to real news you can count on. The pager entry was 1-4-3. Just under $14 million sat in an outbuilding behind his home, inside blue steel barrels. You might as well go all the way now.". But in November, money ran low. Michelle Chambers paid off only $27,000. She was a wife and mother with two children. Some of that money is just gone. As for his new wife, when the two just started dating, he was nervous about letting her know about his past, but he wanted to be honest. October was "a blast," he said. "Steve said, 'I think we ought to do it that night, when he drops off the van,' " Kelly recalled. Down in Jacksonville, a Loomis Fargo employee took $18 million from an armored van he was driving. He learned to parachute. On the radio, the "John Boy and Billy" show played the song "Take the Money and Run. She'd heard his stories of other successful schemes, like getting refunds on phony tax returns, or operating a loan shark business. Or is the loot buried in somebody's yard? Its really just a matter of timing, more than anything. And she says, How much do you think wed get out of there? I said, Ten to 15 million. But I didnt really know.. Things started to go south the night of the robbery. Michelle, meanwhile, purchased new breasts for herself, along with a $43,000 diamond ring and a new convertible BMW Z3. real kelly campbell loomis fargo heist seeing a woodpecker after someone dies lectomano que significa. Hidden in it was a 3 1/2-carat diamond ring that cost $43,000. For his part, Ghantt was now officially on his way to Mexico, his future stretched out before him. But as soon as he drove off, I went right back in and opened the vault. Eric watched. I flew from Atlanta to New Orleans. Or that hed gotten lucky gambling. There it was, "The Heist." As you probably know, it's loosely based on the Loomis Fargo heist in Charlotte back in the late nineties. Starting Pay Rate: $15.50 per hour Shift: Monday - Friday from 1:00pm to 9:00pm Job Description As a Coin Processor, you work with your team to maintain inventory in our cash vaults for our Loomis customers. I studied up on the FBI. . In real life: True. Ghantt:It's a comedy. I did a little research into crime statistics and the local cops. I think I always knew that, but lost my way for a while.". On Nov. 12, a confidential informant told the FBI about Steve Chambers's move from mobile home to mansion. In real life: False. We need to set up some way for me to get my money. She said, We got it all worked out. In the meantime, the FBI was closing in looking to bust a total of 21 suspected accomplices. DUMB & - The Washington Post 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. "He showed me a lot of money," McKinney said. And so, he told her, Google my name. Some days, the robbery seems like a memory from a different life, a choice made by a different man. So yeah, Ghantt continues, I took a bus from there to Atlanta, and then I hopped a cab from the bus station to the airport in Atlanta., Back in North Carolina, his accomplices were working as fast as they could to hide the $17 million. One night in a small North Carolina town, a down-on-his-luck guard at Loomis Fargo manages to steal $17 millionliterally more than one ton of cash. 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. The Chambers, however, didnt fit in with the other members of the gated community. But Ghantt, who served as an unpaid consultant to the movie and attended the big Los Angeles premiere earlier in the week, has no such reservations. They involve Loomis armored car driver David Scott Ghantt. Real-time updates and all local stories you want right in the palm of your hand. Clerk of Court Frank Johns of Charlotte. . When I call Ghantt to discuss his involvement in the Loomis Fargo heist, he confesses that hes feeling a bit tired from a day of honest labor. Michele tells me you're in a financial bind. At the party, Steve invited Michele's stepfather, truck driver Dennis Floyd, to the basement to play pool. Where I was going was right there near the Cayman Islands. He appeared happily matched with his high-spirited wife, Michele, and the two children from her first marriage. He would pay McKinney $250,000, half upfront. He para-sailed, power-skied and scuba-dived. Mine did. Her husband gave her a brown teddy bear. 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. 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. Throughout the multi-year-long case and subsequent trials, journalists often referred to Ghantt and the others as trailer trash and hillbillies. A version of this story originally appeared on CharlotteObserver.com. The money was heavy. One thing about teammates, in David's view: You could always trust them. And after two years, you're just a file." He goes, My name is Bruno. As it turned out, Ghantt was zipping up his scuba suit in Mexico. He longed for the middle-class lifestyle of his childhood, with its private religious-school education and Disney World vacations. They Had 17 Million Dollars and No Sense at All - AMW Magazine Not Ghantt. Steve Chambers and Kelly Campbell, who had been friends on and off since growing up together in the mid-1980s, were at a cookout, playing cards and drinking Budweiser at Steve's Lincoln County, N.C., mobile home, Kelly recalled. Ghantt:We're both North Carolina boys so we had a lot to talk about from the very beginning. Next month, Payne will back in the Charlotte federal courthouse, this time to be sentenced from weapons and methamphetamine trafficking charges. And though she had been made night shift supervisor at Allied Security, she still felt she would never make the money she needed. They put up mauve wallpaper. But agents weren't ready to arrest Kelly and Steve. At 6 that morning, FBI supervisor Rick Shaffer led 12 agents and several Gaston County police officers up a winding road on Cramer Mountain to Steve's home. 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. They agreed that after the heist, David would immediately move to Mexico, alone, but Kelly would soon join him there, with her two children. The top-ranked pie in North Carolina doesnt look like pie at all. ];David Scott Ghanntt [Misc.] 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. Criminals dont usually get high-paying jobs after leaving prison. 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. Her case closes in 2025. His wife, Tammy, was as shocked as Loomis officials. Sandra Floyd, Michele Chambers's mother, remembers the first time she saw the house. After a couple of weeks, Ghantt and the rest of the heist team were ready to strike. In real life: True. Ghantt, his former co-worker Kelly Campbell and her friends Steve and Michelle Chambers carried out the Loomis Fargo heist on Oct. 4, 1997. Loomis - Home ', "He asked me if I'd mind holding some money for him. There are multiples of thousands of these things coming every year. I mentioned it to Kelly. Updated: 11:31 AM EDT October 4, 2022 CHARLOTTE, N.C. Tuesday is the 25th anniversary of the infamous Loomis Fargo heist in Charlotte, where a bank worker, with the help of two accomplices,. Even still, he was 27, married and struggling to provide for his family. He couldn't even bear to stick around for the final tally--though when he left he didn't forget to take $6,000, the first cut of his expected $100,000 share. . . In a word, "Teamwork. I'll never pay it off on my paycheck." Thanksgiving and Christmas were difficult. What made her abandon an ordinary existence to commit this spectacular, doomed crime? The cash was covered with dog food. Kelly drove David to the airport. She declined to take a lie-detector test. So I was glad it was over. It was late in 1996. When he landed in Cancun, his first stop was Walmart. Theres some things I want to do., Ghantt planned on traveling from Mexico to the Cayman Islands, bypassing customs along the way. Thomas Grant, who served three years in prison for bank larceny, paid off restitution of $70,000; brother Eric Grant paid all of his $26,000; as did David Craig, $40,000; and Dennis and Sandra Floyd; $27,000. Besides her prison sentence, Campbell must undergo mental health and drug treatment and spend two years in a supervised release program. The best states in the U.S. come from coast to coast. More agents waited outside to arrest them. By . . So the last third of the movie is almost entirely fiction. 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. This was in the 1990s the Columbia Airport back then was closed at around 9:30, 10 oclock. I mean, it was dark, Ghantt explains. Scott Grant and Steve pulled up next to her in a Mazda. real kelly campbell loomis fargo heist. On Feb. 27, agents listened in on a call from David to Kelly and learned David's location in Mexico. 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. Campbell was released from federal custody in 2004 after serving five years, meaning her collection case will age out in December 2024. Hes going to start bringing you money. Alright. Punishment needs to be fair and realistic. The Columbia airport had no available flights. Filming in the Asheville area starting in early July, and is. You cannot fine low-income people millions of dollars. Then he and Campbell drove 90 miles to Columbia, South Carolina, where Ghantt planned to purchase a ticket to Mexico so he could be out of the country before news of the robbery broke the next morning. Ghantt started at Loomis Fargo in 1994, and soon worked his way up from an armored car driver to a vault supervisor. He hated his job, with its 12-hour shifts. . David said he realized then, for the first time, he might not see the millions he thought he had coming to him. Kelly Loomis Facebook, Instagram & Twitter on PeekYou At the Halloween party, though, Kelly gave in to Steve, and agreed it had to be done. "I've moved on with my life," he said Tuesday. Ghantt:I hate to say it, but I had six years of sitting in a box to think about my life. And I said, Hey, man, I got this. In February 1998, the FBI tapped their phones and listened to Steve discuss depositing $2.5 million in the Cayman Islands. Given the presence of the surveillance tapes and a gun belonging to Ghantt, they started with Ghantts phone and pager records and discovered a pattern they attributed to an accomplice. David, now 30, says he's sorry he abandoned his wife--who he says still loves him--and his family. Chambers and Campbell were waiting for him in the Loomis Fargo parking lot, both in separate vehicles. 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. This time, David told McKinney the truth. They ditched the Loomis van, then drove the cash-heavy Budget van to Steve's mobile home in Lincoln County, where his wife, Michele, waited with a calculator and rubber bands. Kelly, she says now, was thinking about how happy she would be to send this man far away from her. In real life: False. And robbing a truck was dangerous. Ghantt spent a solid hour moving what ended up being 2,700 pounds of cash more than an actual ton into an unmarked company van. I wanted to make a drastic change and I went for it," Ghantt said. "I've learned that I'm a fortunate man," he said. Careers. What made her do it? David Ghantt And The Loomis Fargo Heist: The Outrageous True Story I mean, cause greed is a funny animal. His mobile home was nicely furnished, on eight acres with a stream in the back. 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. On March 1, David Ghantt left his hotel to do some laundry. Question: Are you surprised that Hollywood took this on as a movie? Loomis Fargo Defendants Owe as Much as They Stole in 1997, 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, N.C. on Aug 16, 1999. The robbery of some $17 million quickly became one of the wildest bank heists of the last quarter century. Though he never found the right moment to carry out the hit, McKinney did find time to make a friend--a shady character named Robert, to whom he revealed more than was prudent. Steve bought a truck, a Rolex and a motorboat. "I missed my family. She also assured the teller her cash wasn't drug money. Hes well thought-out. I don't blame him.". Its everything thats coming north.. Then, I started loading the van., Money, when bound in bulk and stacked in canvas bags, is heavier than you might expect. 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. CHARLOTTE, N.C. (AP) _ A woman who helped plan the $17 million robbery of armored car company Loomis, Fargo & Co. was sentenced Tuesday to nearly six years in prison and ordered to pay back more than $4 million. Meanwhile, back in North Carolina, Ghantts wife woke up to find her husband missing. They found Ghantts truck, and in it were his keys, some personal items and his wedding ring. Ghantt worked at Loomis Fargos regional office vault in Charlotte. Him and I still talk every now and then. Sweat soaked David's uniform. You can reach Kevin Ellis at 704-869-1823 or Twitter.com/TheGazetteKevin. She asked about the limit for a cash deposit before "paperwork" was required. He flip-flopped on the heist idea three or four times. "I wanted to be more like my mom and dad were.". As soon as you put that first bag of stolen money in that van, theres no going back. When she realized Ghantt never came home from work the night before, she contacted the police and filed a missing persons report. Kelly drove her pickup to a lot across the street from the Loomis building, on Suttle Avenue in Charlotte. Working together, they got the gate open, then drove in a caravan to the Reynolds & Reynolds parking lot. Theres less security. I didn't think I had the guts. A third tape he didn't know about kept recording. Steve had already paid McKinney $50,000 for the use of his ID. This is where it starts to unravel, Ghantt tells me with a wry laugh. He realized that if they met the minimum monthly payments, the bill would take 30 years to pay. Each week, Michele deposited thousands of dollars in cash. One day, Campbell was speaking to an old friend named Steve Chambers. They stocked a wine cellar. He comes to my door, and hes got a brown paper bag in his hand. ", "I said, 'If you drive a truck, you're always in a financial bind. Question: Should people go see this movie? When we worked together [for Loomis], we'd joke about it. "As soon as you start, you realize there's no going back," David recalled. Contact Us | Loomis US Should David be killed after he gave them the money? Then another. According to Butcher, Campbells last official payment came in June 2021 when the government appears to have seized a tax refund of $81.24. All the while, Ghantt prepared himself for the task at hand. 'Can I Keep the Velvet Elvis?': The Great Hillbilly Heist of 1997 Question: How much of 'Masterminds' is true? Inside were, along with other personal items, his keys and wedding ring. The FBI, in fact, obtained the evidence they needed to bring down the major players, including Chambers, after catching them talking about the murder plot on the telephone via wiretap. On Monday, October 6th, the FBI agents who were investigating the robbery located the Loomis Fargo van abandoned in the woods. Just head on out. And so, he did. Question: You went to Mexico. One day, the two employees were in the break room and got to talking about the news of the day a massive bank heist that just occurred in Florida by someone at their company. But it didnt really hit me until later., On March 2nd, when the FBI agents walked up to Ghantt in Playa del Carmen and told him he was under arrest, Ghantt was relieved. 'Masterminds' Review: Loomis Fargo Robbery Where Are They Now? - Pajiba 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. "We're not the type that questions everything people tell us," Floyd said. They loaded the wine cellar with Pabst Blue Ribbon, and Steve hung a velvet portrait of Elvis Presley in the basement. Three weeks later, the couple purchased, in cash, a $635,000 stone mansion. You're an idiot.'". Things were spiraling fast. "But I had to know.". That's the kind of movie they wanted to make. He kept looking over his shoulder. In real life: False.