It changes you. . They discussed it further, and Campbell asked him when they should do it. On Feb. 27, agents listened in on a call from David to Kelly and learned David's location in Mexico. How Did David Ghantt, Kelly Campbell, Steve Chambers Steal More Than The others sat in their cars across the street and watched him struggle to open the heavy gate. About 20 ago, Campbell sent him a letter of apology, but he never responded. Eric watched. Question: You were a consultant? Clerk of Court Frank Johns of Charlotte. Soon, the couple would be paying for something else, too: a hitman. Ghantt:It's a comedy. 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.. It was his goodbye. An Ohio police officer who shot and killed a Black man as he lay in bed in his home last summer is no longer on the force, Three Kansas City police officers who were shot while serving a search warrant have been released from the hospital, Officials say one passenger died when a business jet experienced severe turbulence, forcing a landing at Bradley International Airport in Connecticut. While the agents initiated their investigation, the Chambers spent money as quickly as they could. My love for my family is by far the most important thing in my life. 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. Will Vin Sant Leave You Jacked or Scammed? He hated the sweet smell of the green ink, and the $8.15-an-hour salary. ". First, in January, he tried to get someone to take some millions down to Mexico. If they could just sit on the money until then, he said, they'd be fine. Or is the loot buried in somebody's yard? One day, Campbell was speaking to an old friend named Steve Chambers. There was in fact a basically similar conversation involving Chambers and Campbell that took place during a barbecue the Campbells were hosting. . Visit us at Loomis.us. In real life: False. Kelly called David at Loomis; he told her he'd be ready for them with the cash at 6:30 or 7 p.m. Alone in the building, David was trying to finish loading cash from the vault into an unmarked white Ford Econoline van belonging to Loomis. Zaron Burnett is an investigative journalist and longform features writer based in Los Angeles. Ghantt went on to explain that he left for his flight to Mexico with about $25,000, and that two or three deliveries of extra money was made to him by the man Chambers would pay to kill him. They sweated, though the night was cool. . So yeah, Im kind of proud of it.. ", "I said, 'If you drive a truck, you're always in a financial bind. He was an old friend from East Gaston High School, tough and sure of himself. He and co-worker Kelly Campbell, 27, had developed a close relationship and were spending time together outside of work. Steve told me to tell [David] whatever was necessary to keep him happy.". The agents tapped the phone, and it didnt take long to locate Ghantt after that. He and his wife, Tammy, lived in a mobile home in Kings Mountain, N.C. Money was always tight. Steve, who had sworn Kelly, Eric and Scott to secrecy the night of the theft, named them all to the FBI. He hated his job, with its 12-hour shifts. "I've moved on with my life," he said Tuesday. From going fishing to riding horses on the beach the whole nine yards. 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) I just had to call you., Today, Ghantt cant look back on the whole ordeal without some degree of pride. That was the most painful truth to come to. 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.". Sweat soaked David's uniform. 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. Zach always plays that bumbling kind of lunatic, but hes not, Ghantt says. 25th anniversary of the incredible Loomis Fargo bank heist | wcnc.com David Ghantt And The Loomis Fargo Heist: The Outrageous True Story October was "a blast," he said. Steve bought a truck, a Rolex and a motorboat. "But I had to know.". 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. ". About 200 keys dangled from it. Everything came crashing down on an early March morning in 1998. And robbing a truck was dangerous. But the idea of all that money pulled at her. They Had 17 Million Dollars and No Sense at All - AMW Magazine As soon as you put that first bag of stolen money in that van, theres no going back. I just want people to go to the movies and have a good laugh, even if it's at my expense. There used to be a consulate in Cancun. In real life: False. When we worked together [for Loomis], we'd joke about it. Here's what Floyd recalls: After two games of pool, Steve told him, "You know, we do a lot of gambling. 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. 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. His collection case closes in two years. Ghantt:We're both North Carolina boys so we had a lot to talk about from the very beginning. Agents noticed it two months later when it flowed to them through official channels, along with hundreds of similar reports involving other people. There, Scott and Eric paced the floor as Steve tried to calm them down. At the party, Steve invited Michele's stepfather, truck driver Dennis Floyd, to the basement to play pool. Kelly had resisted this suggestion before the heist: She and David were friends. A third tape he didn't know about kept recording. Now that Kelly believes she has found Jesus, she has become more analytical about her past. The top-ranked pie in North Carolina doesnt look like pie at all. I couldn't understand why I hadn't been more successful," David said. 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. She could spend time with her children and parents. He wouldn't give me the opportunity to say anything else. In real life: Mostly true. The government does not run debtors prisons, says U.S. 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. Now worried about both the FBI and McKinney, he spent even more time alone in his room. ', "He asked me if I'd mind holding some money for him. He didn't want to abandon his parents. Because surprise! Gaston County residents remember how that worked out. Heist!: The $17 Million Loomis Fargo Theft - amazon.com 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.. Kelly called David at. In the two days after the robbery, agents interviewed more than 100 people, most connected with David. The cash was covered with dog food. There was, however, one problem with his plan. She didn't plan to move to Mexico. There were times when I drank really heavily.". Besides her prison sentence . And going to see the Mayan ruins. 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. It's about the 1997 Loomis Fargo robbery also known as the "hillbillly heist" the second largest cash robbery in the history of the United States. More than 20 people ended up in the FBI's dragnet. Though David had said earlier he thought there was $15 million in the vault, the sight of that much cash held them spellbound. "I've learned that I'm a fortunate man," he said. Two days after theyd robbed the Loomis Fargo truck the very same day the police found the abandoned van in the woods Steve and Michelle Chambers walked into a bank and deposited their cut of the stolen money into their account. According to Butcher, Campbells last official payment came in June 2021 when the government appears to have seized a tax refund of $81.24. real kelly campbell loomis fargo heist - hankyboy.com . Now he offered to pay him to carry cash to David--Steve said he was a friend hiding out after a bad drug deal, McKinney recalled. His mobile home was nicely furnished, on eight acres with a stream in the back. You might as well take it all, Ghantt tells me. The Loomis case is another example where the amount of restitution ordered vs. what is actually paid are two dramatically different numbers. Things were spiraling fast. Kelly had recently left a job driving an armored-car for Loomis, Fargo & Co. "He's the one who brought it up first," said Kelly, a year after her arrest. These (Loomis) guys, not so much.. 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. 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. Ghantt:I've burned that bridge years ago. Question: Are you surprised that Hollywood took this on as a movie? Ive never taken offense to anything like that, he tells me. "For the first year, they're all over you. 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). 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. I told the lead investigator I was glad to see him.. This story was originally published October 3, 2016, 9:12 PM. They were the butt of a national joke. Yes, Carrie Underwood adopted a dog in Charlotte. She asked about the limit for a cash deposit before "paperwork" was required. 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. ];David Scott Ghanntt [Misc.] Chambers, who still lives in Gaston County and operates a gym, declined to comment. Ghantt ultimately agreed to the plan, largely, due to a mountain of credit-card debt and in hopes of changing his life for the better. He gave the rest to Kelly. He para-sailed, power-skied and scuba-dived. I knew I was going to be the prime suspect. What concerned her was the chance of getting caught. Where I was going was right there near the Cayman Islands. "I'm glad I've grown out of that.". Records show the government has garnished his Social Security checks. I would call us friends. Ghantt didn't actually meet Chambers until the night of the heist, though, according to Diamant, who would go on to write a book about it.The . Inside were, along with other personal items, his keys and wedding ring. No regrets. . He figured Tammy wouldn't go for it, and though his marriage had been troubled, he wasn't certain he wanted to leave her. Given his position at the bank, hed be the one to pull off the robbery, and he intended to be ready. A week later, another informant told the FBI that Eric Payne had quit his job at a printing company soon after the heist and was spending money he probably hadn't earned legally. Campbell, 29, had pleaded guilty to charges of bank larceny, money laundering and conspiracy to commit murder. At 7:45, David had finished loading. It had been drilled into my head that if you give me a team of five good people, I can go anywhere, do anything," David explained. Where was Ghantt? It wouldn't work, Kelly told him. Thats nearly $11 million less than former Kings Mountain resident David Ghantt (played by Galifianakis in the film) helped steal from the vault where he worked in Charlotte back in October 1997. 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. Chambers went from a mobile home in Lincoln County to a mansion in Cramerton. The FBI's final challenge is finding the remaining $2 million. Loomis, Fargo offered a $500,000 reward after the theft. Chambers did hire McKinney to kill Ghantt, but initially McKinney was making personal cash deliveries to Ghantt in Mexico on behalf of Chambers. That was great. Its kind of like that. 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. 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. When Chambers and the two Erics were done loading the stolen millions into barrels, they abandoned the van in the woods. Fact check: Is there much truth to the new 'Masterminds' movie? 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) Contact Us | Loomis US What purpose does that serve other than to denigrate that person into abject poverty?. Down in Jacksonville, a Loomis Fargo employee took $18 million from an armored van he was driving. Next month, Payne will back in the Charlotte federal courthouse, this time to be sentenced from weapons and methamphetamine trafficking charges. The only person not to plead guilty in the case, former Gastonia attorney Jeff Guller, ended up doing eight years for money laundering. The plan called for David to leave the vault door ajar, then maneuver a few minutes alone at the end of his shift, long enough to loot the cash, then pass it to Kelly and Steve. . I said, Listen, You all need to get your shit together, or Im just going to walk over here to the government building and tell them who the fuck I am. That lit a little fire under her ass, for a bit.. Cool, I say. It was one of those things everyone (at Loomis Fargo) joked about, but in time, it became serious. Meanwhile, back in North Carolina, Ghantts wife woke up to find her husband missing. Kelly found herself standing beside David while they waited together for a bond hearing. "Think of how many women would have stood by. Anybody who gets caught up in the system is getting chewed up by it, the now-retired Gronquist told the Observer. 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. He learned to parachute. He flip-flopped on the heist idea three or four times. There was a little voice in my head that said, 'Don't do it. Speaking of his co-defendants, Ghantt says hes not currently in contact with any of them. Meanwhile, Michele Chambers was laughing and saying, repeatedly, "Look at all this money!" That sounds like a lot of money until its compared to the $18,930,201.26 the group was ordered to pay. Chambers never held Campbell hostage by locking her in a shed on his property. He longed for the middle-class lifestyle of his childhood, with its private religious-school education and Disney World vacations. 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. 5, the Loomis heist celebrates its 25th birthday. Careers. Ghantt, meanwhile, was losing his patience and starting to make threats. By late November, McKinney made a third trip to Mexico, saying he'd help David move to Mexico City. In February 1998, the FBI tapped their phones and listened to Steve discuss depositing $2.5 million in the Cayman Islands. Sandra Floyd, Michele Chambers's mother, remembers the first time she saw the house. And after two years, you're just a file." I studied up on the FBI. Many of the lesser players in the conspiracy have been the most effective in paying their debts. When he walked onto the plane, he was wearing big, tall cowboy boots, where hed stuffed a majority of the smuggled cash. Figure in Loomis Heist Gets Prison | AP News She'd heard his stories of other successful schemes, like getting refunds on phony tax returns, or operating a loan shark business. Kelly says she underestimated the value of her life before the heist. David was living under the name Mike McKinney on a phony ID. 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. 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. Ghantt:It started out as a mental exercise and somewhere between the mental exercise and the actual event, it became serious. . The true crime behind Asheville-based Galifianakis film I didnt pick the heist team. I missed my wife. "He was speechless," said Sandra Floyd. He had an endearing smile, a beautiful wife and two children. On Monday, October 6th, the FBI agents who were investigating the robbery located the Loomis Fargo van abandoned in the woods. She also must . He's a very likable person. "I was dumb," Ghantt said Wednesday, the eve before the movie hits screens nationwide. Ghantt worked at Loomis Fargos regional office vault in Charlotte. Mine did. 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. The real 'Masterminds' 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 they've ever had. He comes to my door, and hes got a brown paper bag in his hand. 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. This is the person I counted as my friend. Health savings account and flexible spending account. . One number is working in Campbells favor. Just under $14 million sat in an outbuilding behind his home, inside blue steel barrels. Question: Are you happy that Wilkesboro-nativeZach Galifianakis plays you in the movie? But few could have guessed how spectacularly the heist would go wrong after the criminals initially got away with it. That October, the Chamberses' bank accounts ballooned. 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. Steve was sentenced to 11 years 3 months in prison. "I said, 'I don't want him killed.' 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. Kelly Campbell - Wikipedia If you want me to leave, Ill leave. Then, Ghantt went into another room. Kelly's company. I learned something that was valuable at the time: Most criminals never leave a 250, maybe 300-mile circle from their home base. Once I start something, Im going to the end., As for how he felt in the moment, he says, Imagine me and you went on an airplane. From Mexico, David usually spoke with Kelly on the phone once a week, paying with calling cards. Ghantt, his former co-worker Kelly Campbell and her friends Steve and Michelle Chambers carried out the Loomis Fargo heist on Oct. 4, 1997. real kelly campbell loomis fargo heist - legal-innovation.com The name she gave the pup is apropos. He flew in an ultra-light plane. Her marriage--at which she was making another ambivalent effort after multiple separations--and even the jobs she'd been able to get with a diploma couldn't come close to providing the kind of life she dreamed about, the life she felt she deserved: a house in the country, a swimming pool, and enough cash so she didn't need to rely on men.