She was the group's only contact with David, and she was smoking marijuana "like other people smoke cigarettes," she said. Exhibit A was that Steve had no steady job but plenty of cash. David kissed his sleeping wife on the cheek on the morning of Oct. 4. Chambers and Campbell were waiting for him in the Loomis Fargo parking lot, both in separate vehicles. I threw you out, and then threw the parachute after you. They cursed. [Kelly] told me, 'Just think about it.' "We're not the type that questions everything people tell us," Floyd said. David quickly realized he was the intended victim. Heist!: The $17 Million Loomis Fargo Theft - amazon.com . Together, they drove in a convoy to an industrial warehouse eight miles away, where Eric Payne, a fourth accomplice was. All were convicted. You might as well go all the way now.". David was sentenced to 7 1/2 years. This time, David told McKinney the truth. All rights reserved. "But I had to know.". 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. He hated his job, with its 12-hour shifts. His wife, Tammy, was as shocked as Loomis officials. On Nov. 12, a confidential informant told the FBI about Steve Chambers's move from mobile home to mansion. She will never get beyond the debt. I've got a good woman.". It was one of those things everyone (at Loomis Fargo) joked about, but in time, it became serious. Kelly relayed his message to Steve. 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. It was his goodbye. She could spend time with her children and parents. He gave the rest to Kelly. David, now 30, says he's sorry he abandoned his wife--who he says still loves him--and his family. ". 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. All the while, Ghantt prepared himself for the task at hand. Steve also offered $100,000 to his 26-year-old cousin. Her case closes in 2025. So he got in a cab and went to a mall. They tried to break the van's bulletproof windows. Gaston County residents remember how that worked out. "I said, 'I don't want him killed.' He said every year he files his taxes and the IRS takes all of his tax return. 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. By late November, McKinney made a third trip to Mexico, saying he'd help David move to Mexico City. She was a wife and mother with two children. 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. The real story behind the second largest bank heist in history, which Some received probation for money laundering, many others did hard time. Anybody who gets caught up in the system is getting chewed up by it, the now-retired Gronquist told the Observer. . Working together, they got the gate open, then drove in a caravan to the Reynolds & Reynolds parking lot. Next month, Payne will back in the Charlotte federal courthouse, this time to be sentenced from weapons and methamphetamine trafficking charges. When he walked onto the plane, he was wearing big, tall cowboy boots, where hed stuffed a majority of the smuggled cash. One day, Campbell was speaking to an old friend named Steve Chambers. 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. You can garnish wages. These days, the 52-year-old husband and father lives in Jacksonville, Florida, where he works at a heavy equipment rental agency. Now that Kelly believes she has found Jesus, she has become more analytical about her past. real kelly campbell loomis fargo heist. They sweated, though the night was cool. One thing about teammates, in David's view: You could always trust them. Going south, nobody really looks at what youre shipping. The robbery of some $17 million quickly became one of the wildest bank heists of the last quarter century. But I thought this is me being hard-headed Im going to ride this thing to the ground. And so thats what I did.. Was Queen Charlotte Black? . She was like, Well, at least you had guts, he says. There had been no signs. Visit us at Loomis.us. The cart held about $2 million, and the thief made multiple trips. At 6-1 and 220 pounds, Steve was stocky and imposing, a fast talker with a brown goatee. Seven Charged In $17M Heist - CBS News ];David Scott Ghanntt [Misc.] His assignment was to deliver the cash to David and keep him happy until they could find a way to kill him, McKinney said. Money'll turn your head, I don't care who you are. Loomis Armored Shreveport, LA, 1124 Forum Dr, Shreveport, LA, USA Shreveport, LA, USA Req #1990. In a word, "Teamwork. He learned to parachute. Before long, the tales of high living by Chambers and his now former wife, Michelle, led the thieves to be labeled either the "Cramer Mountain Hillbillies" or "The gang that couldn't steal straight." Or that it was an inheritance. Loomis employees drive the very core of our business. Heres your money. Then he turns around and leaves., The problem was, it was nowhere near the amount Ghantt had expected: Im looking at it, and theres maybe $8,000. There was a third person with them, too, a man named Eric Grant. But first they wanted to know if it was a robbery or a robbery-homicide. Exciting. Man at the center of Loomis Fargo heist 25 years ago now a 'normal guy Actor Owen Wilson plays him in the movie, which includes the real names of all the major players. They Had 17 Million Dollars and No Sense at All - AMW Magazine She didn't plan to move to Mexico. 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. Restitution is a familiar part of sentencing in federal court. When Chambers and the two Erics were done loading the stolen millions into barrels, they abandoned the van in the woods. ". 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. real kelly campbell loomis fargo heist - molecularrecipes.com Despite a mega-watt cast featuring Zach Galifianakis and a handful of some of Saturday Night Lives biggest current and former stars, Masterminds, the comedy about Loomis Fargo robbery completely tanked at the box office in its opening weekend, bowing in sixth place with just $6.6 million. In real life: False. He flew in an ultra-light plane. 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. Mexican police, Interpol officers and an FBI agent were watching him. 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. David had grabbed $50,000 cash, but could figure out only how to carry $25,000 with him on the plane. 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. Best States is an interactive platform developed by U.S. News for ranking the 50 U.S. states, alongside news analysis and daily reporting. . He flip-flopped on the heist idea three or four times. 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. No dry runs, no rehearsals. This story was originally published October 3, 2016, 9:12 PM. 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. ", "I wouldn't do it. The name she gave the pup is apropos. As with Kelly, the worst blotch on 29-year-old Eric's record until now was a driving-while-intoxicated conviction. You cannot fine low-income people millions of dollars. Its a yes: Clover teen shakes off nerves to earn American Idol golden ticket, Mail carrier cant believe his eyes after seeing NC lottery win. How Bridgerton restarted buzz about her ancestry. In February 1998, the FBI tapped their phones and listened to Steve discuss depositing $2.5 million in the Cayman Islands. The Chambers, however, didnt fit in with the other members of the gated community. "Things I always wanted to do, but never had the time or the money," he said. And though she had been made night shift supervisor at Allied Security, she still felt she would never make the money she needed. We got to the end of the day, and he was acting like he wanted to linger. He longed for the middle-class lifestyle of his childhood, with its private religious-school education and Disney World vacations. But because David's relationship with his Loomis bosses had been rocky, he says, he doesn't feel sorry about what he did to the company. Question: Should people go see this movie? Steve had already paid McKinney $50,000 for the use of his ID. Except the person he offered $150,000 to mule $2.5 million down to Ghantt in Mexico turned him down and instead went to the FBI. The barrels were Steves idea, Ghantt says. He had stolen $17 million from Loomis Fargo. Hed be in contact. Ghantt was never in Chamberss presence until he actually handed off the money to him. Time passed, and Campbell eventually quit her job at Loomis Fargo. They agreed that after the heist, David would immediately move to Mexico, alone, but Kelly would soon join him there, with her two children. 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. And so, he told her, Google my name. But it wasnt. . I studied up on the FBI. More agents waited outside to arrest them. Fourteen defendants were ordered to make restitution payments to Loomis Fargo totaling almost $19 million. You see, there's a reason Loomis Fargo used armored cars to move large amounts of cash. Campbell, a mother of two, was in the process of divorcing her. Inside were, along with other personal items, his keys and wedding ring. Still, she wasn't happy. Twenty people were convicted of roles big and small in the massive 1997 armored-car warehouse heist in west Charlotte. He para-sailed, power-skied and scuba-dived. Or is the loot buried in somebody's yard? I hit the local library the thing that we used to do before Google, Ghantt says with a small laugh. Ghantt says he operates a bulldozer for a small company. Eventually, Steve made Kelly believe they could steal from Loomis and get away with it, she said. An officer rang the doorbell. 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. David was excited, jabbering about their future together. They placed a bust of Caesar in the dining room. Michelle Chambers received seven years and eight months, while Steve Chambers was handed an 11-year sentence. 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 Mountain. In real life: False. In the two days after the robbery, agents interviewed more than 100 people, most connected with David. . Chambers, now 32, didn't grant an interview for this article, but last year, in response to written questions, he said the biggest lesson he learned was: "Family is more important and valuable than money. 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. David trusted her. In real life: True. Scott Grant said he hesitated, but agreed if no guns would be involved. I really enjoyed the little scuba diving trip. Ghantt:We're both North Carolina boys so we had a lot to talk about from the very beginning. The agents tapped the phone, and it didnt take long to locate Ghantt after that. There used to be a consulate in Cancun. About 5:30 the next morning, McKinney knocked on David's door and dropped $8,500 on the bed. 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. Ghantt fled to Mexico. Note: No quotes were altered, although in some cases additional quotes were added to the questions as Ghantt expanded on his thoughts. No hard feelings. In that time, I realized most of my problems were because of me. 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. They paid for all of it in cash. CLICK HERE FOR PHOTOS FROM 1998 and ACTORS IN MOVIE. Loomis Fargo Heist of 1997 - History and Other Things He rewarded Robert with $3,000 and vowed never to meet McKinney alone. 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. On the radio, the "John Boy and Billy" show played the song "Take the Money and Run. His collection case, which closes in November 2026, got credit for the couples $540,000 house on Cramer Mountain in Gaston County, Butcher says. 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. 1-4-3 is 'I love you.' Ghantt was scheduled to work a shift at the armored car company Oct. 4. real kelly campbell loomis fargo heist - hankyboy.com He pocketed the money and told Chambers and Campbell to send him his cut in Mexico. It wasn't known whether anyone would receive it. real kelly campbell loomis fargo heist. Stay informed daily on the latest news and advice on COVID-19 from the editors at U.S. News & World Report. real kelly campbell loomis fargo heist real kelly campbell loomis fargo heist (No Ratings Yet) . I would call us friends. "I said, 'Yeah, sure.' Scott was so nervous, he said, that he couldn't help. Hes well thought-out. ". Ghantt ended up doing more than five years in prison, Chambers did more than 11 years. Kelly found herself standing beside David while they waited together for a bond hearing. And youre like, Come on parachute. Figure in Loomis Heist Gets Prison | AP News Back then, it was one of the hotspots for hiding money. Ghantt planned to live off the interest for the rest of his life. I flew from Atlanta to New Orleans. "I was thinking, 'They aren't paying me enough,' " McKinney recalled. SEVEN NABBED IN CHARLOTTE HEIST\ - Greensboro News and Record how to match 8 hypercubes in bejeweled. and "I'm rich!". . The others, though, went no farther than Cramer Mountain. Question: What made you, Chambers and the others think you could get away with this? The biggest restitution numbers for victims of financial crimes generally involve Ponzi schemes or sweepstakes fraud, not cash thefts. There are multiples of thousands of these things coming every year. Not Ghantt. 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. In real life: Yes and no. shes now Miss USA. 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. You've violated that trust. Throughout the multi-year-long case and subsequent trials, journalists often referred to Ghantt and the others as trailer trash and hillbillies. 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. He appeared happily matched with his high-spirited wife, Michele, and the two children from her first marriage. . David said he realized then, for the first time, he might not see the millions he thought he had coming to him. The initials on the money wrapper belonged to a Loomis employee who hadn't worked there since before the heist. He worked fueling airplanes, driving a forklift, and in 1994 he got a job as a vault superintendent at Loomis. In real life: False. I don't blame him.". Chambers did hire McKinney to kill Ghantt, but initially McKinney was making personal cash deliveries to Ghantt in Mexico on behalf of Chambers. Get to me. Its that kind of excitement.. The plan to rob Loomis Fargo was spawned by Campbell and her friend Steve Chambers, during a casual bonfire at Chambers' home. Why had he ever believed he'd get it? In early December, Steve and Michele invited relatives to their daughter's sixth birthday party. He took bus tours of Mayan ruins. In real life: Mostly true. But you cant get blood from a stone, Johns said. There was a little voice in my head that said, 'Don't do it. What that says is, We will never forgive you for what youve done.. Key benefit components include: Health insurance plans. TWO TO ENTER GUILTY PLEAS IN ARMORED-CAR ROBBERY - Greensboro News and While the agents initiated their investigation, the Chambers spent money as quickly as they could. . I pay (restitution to) thousands of people, but its in drips and drabs.. . "I thought he was goofing around.". Where was Ghantt? He realized that if they met the minimum monthly payments, the bill would take 30 years to pay. 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.. Kelly Jane Campbell, a former Loomis employee; Michael L. McKinney . I hope everyone has moved on. 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. And I knew that by that time, Id be in Cancun no matter what. The others sat in their cars across the street and watched him struggle to open the heavy gate. But few could have guessed how spectacularly the heist would go wrong after the criminals initially got away with it. Thats pretty standard in restitution matters. By the time the month concluded, the couple had purchased a 7,000-square-foot stone mansion in a gated country club community. All I needed was a change of pace.". At first, I just blended in with the tourists and picked up a few translation books, Ghantt explains. Ghantt pulled out $50,000 from the back of the unmarked Loomis Fargo van. The FBI now knew Chambers had Loomis cash. And I said, Hey, man, I got this. 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. First, in January, he tried to get someone to take some millions down to Mexico. As it turned out, Ghantt was zipping up his scuba suit in Mexico. I thought, Okay, if I get out of that bubble because the cops depend on that, even the feds my chances to get away go way up.. He played high school football at Mays High School in Atlanta, and college football at Georgia Tech . real kelly campbell loomis fargo heist. We spoke with the inside man, David Ghantt, to get the real story. Loomis, Fargo offered a $500,000 reward after the theft. If you want to go ahead and go, I got it. Posted on . The next day, he was sitting next to FBI agent Mark Rozzi on a US Airways flight to Charlotte. Careers | Loomis US As you probably know, it's loosely based on the Loomis Fargo heist in Charlotte back in the late nineties. By . 2022 marks the 25th anniversary of the year that everything happened 1997. Explain? real kelly campbell loomis fargo heist - molecularrecipes.com Now two NC men face prison. Basically, he needed a score to make his problems go away. Figure in Loomis Heist Gets Prison | AP News A couple weeks pass, and I call again, Hey, Id like to get some more money. He went deep-sea fishing. Twice a week over the next 12 months, we will take you back to the winter of sheep cloning and the summer of Con Air. They didn't know it, but they were leaving $3.3 million behind. I did every touristy thing you could possibly do while I was down there. "I" has one letter. When neighbors asked where they got their money, Steve said hed played in the NFL. Steve bought a truck, a Rolex and a motorboat. 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. Where I was going was right there near the Cayman Islands. 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. Ultimately, though, the heist wasnt Ghantts idea, which meant he didnt decide who else was involved. Question: Do you ever think you could have been killed? At the end of October, Kelly was sentenced to 5 years 10 months in prison. But as he later recalled to the media, as soon as he stepped through those big-box doors, he realized he was flush with cash, and he didnt need to shop at Walmart ever again. After a Gulf War stint in the Army, David got married in 1992. Ghantt was working a late shift, and just after 6:30 p.m., his coworkers were packing up and heading for home. Meanwhile, Steve was keeping a close eye on Kelly. Even still, he was 27, married and struggling to provide for his family. Punishment needs to be fair and realistic. Michele told her mother she and Steve had been saving gambling winnings for the down payment. White-collar criminals are pretty good at hiding their money, she said. I told them, Take it, box it up, and youll be able to ship it to me in Mexico. Back in the 1990s, you couldve probably boxed up a hot pink elephant and shipped it to Mexico; no one wouldve ever noticed. Hidden in it was a 3 1/2-carat diamond ring that cost $43,000. 2500 City West Blvd., Suite 2300 Houston, TX 77042. He then began loading $17 million in unmarked bills inside a company van before driving away. She tried to apologize for the murder plot. Ghantt:I've burned that bridge years ago. Kelly Loomis Facebook, Instagram & Twitter on PeekYou He wouldn't give me the opportunity to say anything else. Theres no management around. 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. It was late in 1996. He grabbed the tapes from two VCRs that connected to 16 security cameras. "I wanted to be more like my mom and dad were.". Loomis Fargo Defendants Owe as Much as They Stole in 1997 I didnt pick the heist team. We got this guy named Bruno. 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. They loaded the wine cellar with Pabst Blue Ribbon, and Steve hung a velvet portrait of Elvis Presley in the basement. The Columbia airport had no available flights. 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. I loved it. 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. Truth be told, Ghantt had something of a crush on Campbell, and so, he told her exactly how hed pull off such a heist. On Feb. 27, agents listened in on a call from David to Kelly and learned David's location in Mexico. 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. Though David had said earlier he thought there was $15 million in the vault, the sight of that much cash held them spellbound. 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. Kelly, using David's cell phone, kept beeping him. One of them tapped him on the back. He and co-worker Kelly Campbell, 27, had developed a close relationship and were spending time together outside of work. Kelly, she says now, was thinking about how happy she would be to send this man far away from her. "But, I hate to admit it, it doesn't faze me one bit. The real 'Masterminds' Kelly drove David to the airport. Kelly had resisted this suggestion before the heist: She and David were friends. A woman by the name of Kelly Campbell had worked there in 1996, and she and Ghantt had become friends in that time. ". 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. 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. 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. They involve Loomis armored car driver David Scott Ghantt. She laughed for like 45 minutes. Steve told her to send David to Atlanta on a bus and drive back to the trailer. But the idea of all that money pulled at her. Kelly Campbell - Wikipedia Or that hed gotten lucky gambling. 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. Soon, the couple would be paying for something else, too: a hitman. At the party, Steve invited Michele's stepfather, truck driver Dennis Floyd, to the basement to play pool. 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). Theres less security. Kelly had no problem fanning the flames of their old flirtation. Each week, Michele deposited thousands of dollars in cash. 27 febrero, 2023 . At the end of one session, they wound up kissing outside the pickup. There was, however, one problem with his plan. Inside the Mazda, Steve told Scott Grant to get out and help David.
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