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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. After a Gulf War stint in the Army, David got married in 1992. And then I could hear her laughing. From going fishing to riding horses on the beach the whole nine yards. Meanwhile, outside Reynolds & Reynolds, Steve, Scott and Eric needed to move 2,748 pounds of cash, quickly, from the Loomis van into the Budget van. The last time he called me, he said, Hey Ghantt, I just saw a big Loomis Fargo truck. If you go from a mobile home to a mansion, that's going to attract attention. She will never get beyond the debt. 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) Where I was going was right there near the Cayman Islands. Steve tried keys on a side door. To celebrate Halloween, about seven of Steve's friends, including Eric Payne and Kelly, gathered for a party at Steve's house. Keep supporting great journalism by turning off your ad blocker. Chambers and Campbell were waiting for him in the Loomis Fargo parking lot, both in separate vehicles. His wife, Tammy, was as shocked as Loomis officials. 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. You cannot fine low-income people millions of dollars. When he walked onto the plane, he was wearing big, tall cowboy boots, where hed stuffed a majority of the smuggled cash. From Mexico, David usually spoke with Kelly on the phone once a week, paying with calling cards. What made her abandon an ordinary existence to commit this spectacular, doomed crime? His assignment was to deliver the cash to David and keep him happy until they could find a way to kill him, McKinney said. He had stolen $17 million from Loomis Fargo. I don't want to be mean, but that's probably the dumbest thing they could do. It was one of those things everyone (at Loomis Fargo) joked about, but in time, it became serious. Find 145 people named Kelly Loomis along with free Facebook, Instagram, Twitter, and TikTok profiles on PeekYou - true people search. The van door opened. David complained it wasn't enough. Scott Grant said he hesitated, but agreed if no guns would be involved. She could spend time with her children and parents. Getting restitution, its like pulling teeth.. 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. Youre supposed to get less time for cooperating, a lesser penalty, and instead, you see what she got hit with. Gronquist said. I flew from Atlanta to New Orleans. Ghantt:I've burned that bridge years ago. Ghantt started at Loomis Fargo in 1994, and soon worked his way up from an armored car driver to a vault supervisor. So the last third of the movie is almost entirely fiction. Soon thereafter, he met Kelly Campbell, a co-worker at Loomis Fargo. When he said, 'I'll give you $20,000 to hold a million,' I said, 'Sure.' It was the first Saturday in October. They agreed that after the heist, David would immediately move to Mexico, alone, but Kelly would soon join him there, with her two children. ];David Scott Ghanntt [Misc.] 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. He was signed by the Minnesota Vikings as an undrafted free agent in 2002. Three weeks later, the couple purchased, in cash, a $635,000 stone mansion. Ghantt was in fact hiding out in Mexico using McKinneys I.D., which had been sold to Chambers months earlier. My love for my family is by far the most important thing in my life. Theres no way to get it back, Butcher told The Charlotte Observer. Alert: Obviously, spoilers abound. It was an ear-biting, Pierce Brosnan-loving, comet-obsessed world, and were here to relive every minute of it. For his part, Ghantt was now officially on his way to Mexico, his future stretched out before him. Although David was in on most of the planning, one discussion between Steve and Kelly was kept a secret. I had a four-hour layover there, and then from New Orleans to Cancun.. They didn't know it, but they were leaving $3.3 million behind. We got this guy named Bruno. Ghantt was never in Chamberss presence until he actually handed off the money to him. Michele told her mother she and Steve had been saving gambling winnings for the down payment. Its everything thats coming north.. The next day, he was sitting next to FBI agent Mark Rozzi on a US Airways flight to Charlotte. "For the first year, they're all over you. He placed stacks of currency on a cart and wheeled it to the van about 15 feet away, inside the building. (John D. Simmons/The Charlotte Observer via AP) The Associated Press, BY MICHAEL GORDON, The Charlotte Observer. "But I had to know.". Kelly was no criminal. In early November, Steve lured the real Mike McKinney, an ex-Marine, to North Carolina from his Illinois home. I told the lead investigator I was glad to see him.. They cursed. 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. Mine did. 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. Key benefit components include: Health insurance plans. Together, they drove in a convoy to an industrial warehouse eight miles away, where Eric Payne, a fourth accomplice was. Question: How much of 'Masterminds' is true? Though David had no criminal experience, he felt he could offer expert advice: He'd just finished reading a book on the FBI. . He gave the rest to Kelly. Was Queen Charlotte Black? I'd probably change jobs. 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. . "I said, 'That's all they gave me,' " McKinney recalled. What that says is, We will never forgive you for what youve done.. how to match 8 hypercubes in bejeweled. She asked about the limit for a cash deposit before "paperwork" was required. "Steve said, 'I think we ought to do it that night, when he drops off the van,' " Kelly recalled. He recalled that another agent, Phil King, said, "Hey, there was an article in the [Charlotte] Observer about beeper codes. The audacity of the act was breathtaking. I really enjoyed the little scuba diving trip. Eventually, Steve made Kelly believe they could steal from Loomis and get away with it, she said. . And I knew that by that time, Id be in Cancun no matter what. There was, however, one problem with his plan. Ghantt was scheduled to work a shift at the armored car company Oct. 4. Kelly had resisted this suggestion before the heist: She and David were friends. I was burned out and just didn't know it. David was sentenced to 7 1/2 years. About 10 frantic minutes later, Scott found the right key. Loomis, Fargo offered a $500,000 reward for his arrest and conviction. At first, David Ghantt said, "I didn't take her seriously. Then another. Scott Grant and Steve pulled up next to her in a Mazda. I wanted to get as far away as I could. It wouldn't work, Kelly told him. I wanted to make a drastic change and I went for it," Ghantt said. 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. I did a little research into crime statistics and the local cops. Question: Any contact with Steve Chambers or any of the others involved with the heist? In real life: False. Military + Veterans. And youre like, Come on parachute. David, now 30, says he's sorry he abandoned his wife--who he says still loves him--and his family. And I said, Hey, man, I got this. She tried to apologize for the murder plot. Why did this Charlotte engineer leave her job? On the evening of October 4, 1997, one man loaded $17.3 million in cash from the vaults of Loomis, Fargo & Co. into the back of a van. 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. 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. He hadnt checked ahead of time if the airport had any available flights, let alone if it would even be open. I couldn't understand why I hadn't been more successful," David said. Without really intending to, Kelly recalls, she turned the conversation to the possibility of a heist. and "I'm rich!". "He was speechless," said Sandra Floyd. Now, I kind of know something is fishy., Alone in Mexico with limited cash, Ghantt thought about turning himself in. Jeffrey Guller, who at 81 is by far the oldest of the Loomis defendants, still owes almost $1.1 million on his original court debt of $1.14 million and will remain on the governments books for another four years. The phone rang: Kelly had a problem. But as soon as he drove off, I went right back in and opened the vault. Will Vin Sant Leave You Jacked or Scammed? I mean, it was dark, Ghantt explains. 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) He para-sailed, power-skied and scuba-dived. Hed be in contact. On Oct. 5, the Loomis heist celebrates its 25th birthday. He was an old friend from East Gaston High School, tough and sure of himself. He and his wife, Tammy, lived in a mobile home in Kings Mountain, N.C. Money was always tight. He told her he wanted more of "his" cash. There are multiples of thousands of these things coming every year. ". Ghantt:Since I still owe the federal government money I can't get paid. "Think of how many women would have stood by. I said, Probably, the best time would be on the weekend; theres fewer people there. Hes going to start bringing you money. Alright. Michelle Chambers received seven years and eight months, while Steve Chambers was handed an 11-year sentence. There was in fact a basically similar conversation involving Chambers and Campbell that took place during a barbecue the Campbells were hosting. The others, though, went no farther than Cramer Mountain. Kelly drove David to the airport. On his second trip, Steve gave McKinney David's hotel address. LeVaughn Kelly Campbell (born July 23, 1980 in Atlanta, Georgia) is a former football wide receiver. The plan to rob Loomis Fargo was spawned by Campbell and her friend Steve Chambers, during a casual bonfire at Chambers' home. That was the most painful truth to come to. Was that really what it was about? That October, the Chamberses' bank accounts ballooned. He told him McKinney was in Mexico to kill somebody. As you probably know, it's loosely based on the Loomis Fargo heist in Charlotte back in the late nineties. 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. . So Im like, Can you get a move on with my money? After a couple of weeks passed, I get a phone call from Kelly: Okay, Brunos coming to you, blah, blah, blah. So I get a phone call from this guy, and I tell him where to meet me. Your California Privacy Rights/Privacy Policy. I missed my wife. 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 to me, if it pisses them off, Im all for it.. He learned to parachute. He flew in an ultra-light plane. . He said every year he files his taxes and the IRS takes all of his tax return. 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. Kelly says she underestimated the value of her life before the heist. Heres what happened on Sunday nights episode. 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. October was "a blast," he said. Ive never taken offense to anything like that, he tells me. David trusted her. Almost 19 years after Ghantt and a group of friends from Gaston County pulled off one of the largest cash heists in U.S. history, the movie "Masterminds" will play up the caper for laughs. As with many recent historic events, this one had been caught on videotape, a fact that a few dozen Charlotte FBI agents would learn in a hastily organized Sunday morning meeting. 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. Ghantt:It's a comedy. Criminals dont usually get high-paying jobs after leaving prison. I did every touristy thing you could possibly do while I was down there. In real life: True. Federal prosecutors would ultimately charge 21 defendants in the case, including the Floyds, who were charged with (and pleaded guilty to) money laundering. 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. The initials on the money wrapper belonged to a Loomis employee who hadn't worked there since before the heist. He realized that if they met the minimum monthly payments, the bill would take 30 years to pay. He'd stay up all night, boosted by coffee, waiting for the sunrise over the ocean. David told her he'd need help moving the money, getting a new ID and leaving the country. Zach always plays that bumbling kind of lunatic, but hes not, Ghantt says. 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. Michelle, meanwhile, purchased new breasts for herself, along with a $43,000 diamond ring and a new convertible BMW Z3. Called Masterminds, the 2016 film stars Zach Galifianakis, Kristen Wiig and Owen Wilson. There was a third person with them, too, a man named Eric Grant. "He said, 'Yeah, right,' and turned his head. We spoke to the FBI agents who investigated the case who say the real-life. Scott Grant and Steve pulled up next to her in a Mazda. 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.. The next week, they heard Steve plan to send Mike McKinney to Mexico to kill David Ghantt. These days, the 52-year-old husband and father lives in Jacksonville, Florida, where he works at a heavy equipment rental agency. And I think that makes it all the more funny, because it really offends my co-defendants. Exciting. David said he realized then, for the first time, he might not see the millions he thought he had coming to him. "I felt that if I didn't do something, I was going to snap," David said. 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. The Chambers, however, didnt fit in with the other members of the gated community. 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. The best states in the U.S. come from coast to coast. 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. 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. Mexican police, Interpol officers and an FBI agent were watching him. He grabbed the tapes from two VCRs that connected to 16 security cameras. 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. On Monday, October 6th, the FBI agents who were investigating the robbery located the Loomis Fargo van abandoned in the woods. She was like, Well, at least you had guts, he says. I studied up on the FBI. That led to better jobs, like the one at Loomis. A woman by the name of Kelly Campbell had worked there in 1996, and she and Ghantt had become friends in that time. The barrels were Steves idea, Ghantt says. Question: Are you surprised that Hollywood took this on as a movie? I loved it. Field Operations; Corporate; Why Loomis. And going to see the Mayan ruins. Sweat soaked David's uniform. . He told Steve he hadn't been able to find David. This meant a bump in pay, up to $8.15 an hour. Actor Owen Wilson plays him in the movie, which includes the real names of all the major players. Careers. Throughout the multi-year-long case and subsequent trials, journalists often referred to Ghantt and the others as trailer trash and hillbillies. He was also a former FBI informant who had tipped the bureau off to a planned robbery of a Loomis Fargo armored truck that never came to fruition. But he tried to keep his face averted, so David wouldn't be able to ID him. At the time, it was the largest cash heist in history. I don't blame him.". In real life: True. I threw you out, and then threw the parachute after you. A couple weeks pass, and I call again, Hey, Id like to get some more money. "A lot of people out there had it worse than me, but . David thought about it. Kelly would only discover later that leading up to the heist, Steve had been writing bad checks, $17,000 worth, for which he would later be convicted. Based on a true story, the premise itself is fascinating, which makes Masterminds all the more a waste. There it was, "The Heist." They tried to break the van's bulletproof windows. His collection case, which closes in November 2026, got credit for the couples $540,000 house on Cramer Mountain in Gaston County, Butcher says. real kelly campbell loomis fargo heist seeing a woodpecker after someone dies lectomano que significa. 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. 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.. They heard Michele brag about her $43,000 ring. I just had to call you., Today, Ghantt cant look back on the whole ordeal without some degree of pride. Everybody seemed stunned. Time passed, and Campbell eventually quit her job at Loomis Fargo. In the two days after the robbery, agents interviewed more than 100 people, most connected with David. They bought a BMW roadster. Ultimately, though, the heist wasnt Ghantts idea, which meant he didnt decide who else was involved. Because lets be brutally honest: Theyre not wrong, okay? That sounds like a lot of money until its compared to the $18,930,201.26 the group was ordered to pay. Or is the loot buried in somebody's yard? 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. The platform is designed to engage citizens and government leaders in a discussion about what needs improvement across the country. One of them tapped him on the back. On his way out, he grabbed the surveillance video, hoping to cover his tracks. Too many questions remained: Where was the cash? She'd heard his stories of other successful schemes, like getting refunds on phony tax returns, or operating a loan shark business. ];Kelly Jane Campbell [Misc. Ghantt was missing and no one, not even his wife, knew where he was. It didnt take the local police long to put the pieces together. At the Halloween party, though, Kelly gave in to Steve, and agreed it had to be done. He worked fueling airplanes, driving a forklift, and in 1994 he got a job as a vault superintendent at Loomis. Not Ghantt. He drove to the edge of the Loomis compound, which was surrounded by a chain-link fence. When neighbors asked where they got their money, Steve said hed played in the NFL. David quickly realized he was the intended victim. He hated the sweet smell of the green ink, and the $8.15-an-hour salary. . I mentioned it to Kelly. More than 20 people ended up in the FBI's dragnet. The bizarre true story of the criminals behind the second-largest bank heist in American history. 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. and "I love money!" 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 changes you. First, they loaded the cash into blue 55-gallon barrels, and then they moved the barrels into a rental van. As soon as Corey left, I pretended like I was leaving. In mid-November, McKinney carried $10,000 to Cancun but wound up spending most of it on himself. A version of this story originally appeared on CharlotteObserver.com. They entered their dogs in fights and watched them die. 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. She also assured the teller her cash wasn't drug money. He longed for the middle-class lifestyle of his childhood, with its private religious-school education and Disney World vacations. Besides her prison sentence . Some amateur thieves might turn to movies and TV shows for lessons on criminal behavior. About 20 ago, Campbell sent him a letter of apology, but he never responded. 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. Gaston County residents remember how that worked out. Given his position at the bank, hed be the one to pull off the robbery, and he intended to be ready. 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. 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.". Him and I still talk every now and then. . Then, on a mid-September day, as he reviewed a credit card bill, David did some math. ". . She also must . About 200 keys dangled from it. About 5:30 the next morning, McKinney knocked on David's door and dropped $8,500 on the bed. Looking for Kelly Loomis? They soon realized David had stolen more money than would fit in their 55-gallon barrels. Basically, he needed a score to make his problems go away. Kelly called David at. He would pay McKinney $250,000, half upfront. "I was unhappy with my life. At 6-1 and 220 pounds, Steve was stocky and imposing, a fast talker with a brown goatee. Going south, nobody really looks at what youre shipping. What concerned her was the chance of getting caught. Explain? Inside the Mazda, Steve told Scott Grant to get out and help David. Michele received the best gift of the night. They loaded the wine cellar with Pabst Blue Ribbon, and Steve hung a velvet portrait of Elvis Presley in the basement. Best States is an interactive platform developed by U.S. News for ranking the 50 U.S. states, alongside news analysis and daily reporting. . In real life: True. He appeared happily matched with his high-spirited wife, Michele, and the two children from her first marriage. ", "I said, 'If you drive a truck, you're always in a financial bind. 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. In hindsight, it doesnt surprise me a bit, Ghantt says, a bitter laugh catching in his throat. Federal law stops government collection efforts 20 years after a defendant leaves prison. After a couple of weeks, Ghantt and the rest of the heist team were ready to strike. Its in the ether. It was late in 1996. Scary. This time, David told McKinney the truth. . He had even scheduled a follow-up appointment at the dentist. 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. "She said, 'What would it take to convince you to do it?' Did you get paid? That time in prison was actually good for me. It wasnt a big hit, but Ghantt, who was played by Galifianakis, gives it a rave review. Filming in the Asheville area starting in early July, and is. In the dark, Scott inserted one key into the back door slot. Twelve hours later, at 6 that evening, Eric Payne drove a rented Budget van to his workplace, a graphics company on Performance Road in western Mecklenburg County called Reynolds & Reynolds, which was closed for the night and had a secluded parking lot where they intended to transfer the cash. Michele tells me you're in a financial bind. 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. When October 1997 began, Steve and Michelle Chambers lived in a double-wide trailer. How Bridgerton restarted buzz about her ancestry. He was doing what the rest of us were doing making bad decisions. By . Im a very deliberate person. Steve solicited two others to help move cash during the theft. Steve Chambers has told agents the missing cash was stolen from a shed in Lincoln County. 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. There was a little voice in my head that said, 'Don't do it. 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. Yes, Carrie Underwood adopted a dog in Charlotte. "I've learned that I'm a fortunate man," he said. That week, the FBI designated the theft its 142nd "major case," putting it on a list--begun in the 1970s--that includes such other infamous crimes as the World Trade Center bombing. Kelly, she says now, was thinking about how happy she would be to send this man far away from her. (The conversation was depicted as 100 percent private on screen). 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 rewarded Robert with $3,000 and vowed never to meet McKinney alone.