Ghantt was scheduled to work a shift at the armored car company Oct. 4. And then I could hear her laughing. After years of reflection and time in prison to work on himself, Ghantt was able to find a way to a better version of himself. I mentioned it to Kelly. Butcher says the federal courts in the Western District of North Carolina have never handled a case quite like Loomis. Youre supposed to get less time for cooperating, a lesser penalty, and instead, you see what she got hit with. Gronquist said. I couldn't understand why I hadn't been more successful," David said. 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. Steve Chambers has told agents the missing cash was stolen from a shed in Lincoln County. 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. We got this guy named Bruno. 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. She came from a blue-collar background, a high school dropout who had grown tired of working in a mill and gotten an equivalency diploma. But he tried to keep his face averted, so David wouldn't be able to ID him. Without really intending to, Kelly recalls, she turned the conversation to the possibility of a heist. 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. Eric watched. Some of that money is just gone. 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. I hit the local library the thing that we used to do before Google, Ghantt says with a small laugh. Chambers did hire McKinney to kill Ghantt, but initially McKinney was making personal cash deliveries to Ghantt in Mexico on behalf of Chambers. 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. Ghantt would go on to spend six and a half years in federal prison. Heist!: The $17 Million Loomis Fargo Theft - amazon.com 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. You might as well go all the way now.". Ghantt:It's a comedy. They tried to break the van's bulletproof windows. I knew that the news wouldnt break until later that morning. They put up mauve wallpaper. For her part, Kelly Campbell spent six years in federal prison. 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. Real-time updates and all local stories you want right in the palm of your hand. . He went deep-sea fishing. Ghantt worked at Loomis Fargos regional office vault in Charlotte. Industry leading Training and Development. Inside were, along with other personal items, his keys and wedding ring. Was Queen Charlotte Black? 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. Still, she wasn't happy. October was "a blast," he said. On Nov. 12, a confidential informant told the FBI about Steve Chambers's move from mobile home to mansion. Michelle Chambers received seven years and eight months, while Steve Chambers was handed an 11-year sentence. 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. 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. Some family members hid money in bank deposit boxes, other friends were asked to mule cash to the Cayman Islands. 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. "I've learned that I'm a fortunate man," he said. 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. "I'm glad I've grown out of that.". Kelly Jane Campbell, a former Loomis employee; Michael L. McKinney . Or that it was an inheritance. I hope everyone has moved on. She tried to apologize for the murder plot. On the radio, the "John Boy and Billy" show played the song "Take the Money and Run. Question: Any contact with Steve Chambers or any of the others involved with the heist? Throughout the multi-year-long case and subsequent trials, journalists often referred to Ghantt and the others as trailer trash and hillbillies. The whole town I was staying in was 98.9 percent Mexican, except for when the cruise ships were in, Ghantt recalls. When he walked onto the plane, he was wearing big, tall cowboy boots, where hed stuffed a majority of the smuggled cash. Kelly had resisted this suggestion before the heist: She and David were friends. So the last third of the movie is almost entirely fiction. There, Scott and Eric paced the floor as Steve tried to calm them down. 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. The real 'Masterminds' "I was dumb," Ghantt said Wednesday, the eve before the movie hits screens nationwide. real kelly campbell loomis fargo heist seeing a woodpecker after someone dies lectomano que significa. Find 145 people named Kelly Loomis along with free Facebook, Instagram, Twitter, and TikTok profiles on PeekYou - true people search. And so, he told her, Google my name. 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. She was a wife and mother with two children. She also must . He flew in an ultra-light plane. On Feb. 27, agents listened in on a call from David to Kelly and learned David's location in Mexico. Or is the loot buried in somebody's yard? The best states in the U.S. come from coast to coast. They found Ghantts truck, and in it were his keys, some personal items and his wedding ring. Chambers, who still lives in Gaston County and operates a gym, declined to comment. He didn't want to abandon his parents. Or as he tells me, How many people in the United States havent thought about robbing a bank? About 20 ago, Campbell sent him a letter of apology, but he never responded. 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. I knew it was just a matter of time. 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. In one case, the restitution for a Loomis defendant may be a moving target. He couldn't talk.". This material may not be published, broadcast, rewritten or redistributed. (John D. Simmons/The Charlotte Observer via AP), Police: Officer Who Shot Black Man Retired 'In Bad Standing', 3 Kansas City Officers Who Were Shot Released From Hospital, 1 Killed When Business Jet Encounters Severe Turbulence. "It probably should bother me," he said. 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. Steve had already paid McKinney $50,000 for the use of his ID. Key benefit components include: Health insurance plans. Ghantt:I've burned that bridge years ago. Hed be in contact. TWO TO ENTER GUILTY PLEAS IN ARMORED-CAR ROBBERY - Greensboro News and I'll never pay it off on my paycheck." Clerk of Court Frank Johns of Charlotte. Charlotte Magazine even ran a feature story about the Loomis Fargo heist with the title, White Trash Crime. The headlines, however, never bothered Ghantt. Ghantt pulled out $50,000 from the back of the unmarked Loomis Fargo van. He partied, met women, drank, skied and hung out at the beach. Question: Are you surprised that Hollywood took this on as a movie? But first they wanted to know if it was a robbery or a robbery-homicide. ". 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. Ghantt:We're both North Carolina boys so we had a lot to talk about from the very beginning. Basic and voluntary life insurance plan. 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 was speechless," said Sandra Floyd. Posted on . 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. In real life: False. In a word, "Teamwork. But it was the rural, Southern backgrounds of many of the key players, along with the many botched twists and bungled turns, that led the media to dub it the hillbilly heist.. "I thought he was goofing around.". He placed stacks of currency on a cart and wheeled it to the van about 15 feet away, inside the building. Steven Chambers [Misc. You can reach Kevin Ellis at 704-869-1823 or Twitter.com/TheGazetteKevin. Kelly was no criminal. About 10 frantic minutes later, Scott found the right key. The robbery was committed by Loomis vault supervisor David Scott Ghantt, his married girlfriend Kelly Campbell (a former Loomis co-worker), Steven Eugene Chambers (a one-time FBI informant), his wife Michelle Chambers, Michael Gobbies, and four other co-conspirators. 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. "That would be living on the run, and I didn't want my kids to live that way. The plan to rob Loomis Fargo was spawned by Campbell and her friend Steve Chambers, during a casual bonfire at Chambers' home. So it was weird when during the middle of the week, there were these very clean-cut, very Midwestern looking, obviously American guys in the town. Federal prosecutors would ultimately charge 21 defendants in the case, including the Floyds, who were charged with (and pleaded guilty to) money laundering. 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. Ghantt:I've always known that story had potential to be a comedy or a drama. Stay informed daily on the latest news and advice on COVID-19 from the editors at U.S. News & World Report. I wish them all a happy life and that's about it. I loved it. On Monday, October 6th, the FBI agents who were investigating the robbery located the Loomis Fargo van abandoned in the woods. In real life: False. The only person not to plead guilty in the case, former Gastonia attorney Jeff Guller, ended up doing eight years for money laundering. But you cant get blood from a stone, Johns said. (John D. Simmons/The Charlotte Observer via AP) The Associated Press, BY MICHAEL GORDON, The Charlotte Observer. Things started to go south the night of the robbery. It was his goodbye. In early November, Steve lured the real Mike McKinney, an ex-Marine, to North Carolina from his Illinois home. Campbell left her job in the summer of 1997, but she would later use Ghantt's feelings for her to her own advantage to get him to agree to carry out the multi-million-dollar heist. The FBI was also surveilling Kelly Campbell and followed her to a pay phone that she used to place calls to Mexico. SEVEN NABBED IN CHARLOTTE HEIST\ - Greensboro News and Record LeVaughn Kelly Campbell (born July 23, 1980 in Atlanta, Georgia) is a former football wide receiver. 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. Because surprise! Called Masterminds, the 2016 film stars Zach Galifianakis, Kristen Wiig and Owen Wilson. It was unclear whether anyone will get that money, authorities said. I think I always knew that, but lost my way for a while.". And I think that makes it all the more funny, because it really offends my co-defendants. A few of the Loomis restitution cases have already been closed either because the amount was paid in full or because the 20-year clock wound down. Explain? The government does not run debtors prisons, says U.S. I wanted to get as far away as I could. But agents weren't ready to arrest Kelly and Steve. Kelly's company. It was one of those things everyone (at Loomis Fargo) joked about, but in time, it became serious. The others sat in their cars across the street and watched him struggle to open the heavy gate. And I was thinking about just showing up there. She laughed for like 45 minutes. This was in the 1990s the Columbia Airport back then was closed at around 9:30, 10 oclock. Ghantt was in fact hiding out in Mexico using McKinneys I.D., which had been sold to Chambers months earlier. The others, though, went no farther than Cramer Mountain. And it turned Steve into he thought he was Don Corleone all of a sudden.. She will never get beyond the debt. "Every time my conscience would start bothering me," Kelly recalled, "I'd smoke another joint and forget about it.". In real life: False. The next day, Kelly drove back to Steve's mobile home to watch the news with Steve and Michele. ];Kelly Jane Campbell [Misc. Michelle, meanwhile, purchased new breasts for herself, along with a $43,000 diamond ring and a new convertible BMW Z3. . David complained it wasn't enough. He was signed by the Minnesota Vikings as an undrafted free agent in 2002. 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. 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. Scary. Why had he ever believed he'd get it? 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. Down in Jacksonville, a Loomis Fargo employee took $18 million from an armored van he was driving. You're an idiot.'". There were times when I drank really heavily.". Campbell, 29, had pleaded guilty to charges of bank larceny, money laundering and conspiracy to commit murder. 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. David, now 30, says he's sorry he abandoned his wife--who he says still loves him--and his family. I wanted to make a drastic change and I went for it," Ghantt said. He flip-flopped on the heist idea three or four times. Just head on out. And so, he did. 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. 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. 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. . One number is working in Campbells favor. . Job Search - Career Portal - Dayforce HCM 'Masterminds' Review: Loomis Fargo Robbery Where Are They Now? - Pajiba 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. Its in the ether. What made her abandon an ordinary existence to commit this spectacular, doomed crime? . At first, David Ghantt said, "I didn't take her seriously. They entered their dogs in fights and watched them die. 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. The FBI now knew Chambers had Loomis cash. I pay (restitution to) thousands of people, but its in drips and drabs.. They discussed it further, and Campbell asked him when they should do it. "I work construction. They didn't know it, but they were leaving $3.3 million behind. More than 20 people ended up in the FBI's dragnet. I was just going to get the money into the van. The van door opened. Like David, Kelly was frustrated with her marriage. ", "Even then . Meanwhile, Michele Chambers was laughing and saying, repeatedly, "Look at all this money!" Scott was so nervous, he said, that he couldn't help. 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. 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. When he said, 'I'll give you $20,000 to hold a million,' I said, 'Sure.' Only a nickel on every dollar have been collected so far. The agents tapped the phone, and it didnt take long to locate Ghantt after that. 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. "Things I always wanted to do, but never had the time or the money," he said. Not until David was gone did Scott realize he didn't know which key to use. Then another. You see, there's a reason Loomis Fargo used armored cars to move large amounts of cash. Masterminds (2016 film) - Wikipedia That was the most painful truth to come to. Our Benefits. The FBI's final challenge is finding the remaining $2 million. You've violated that trust. Meanwhile, Steve was keeping a close eye on Kelly. The figures can be astounding. I mean, it was dark, Ghantt explains. 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. There had been no signs. I didnt pick the heist team. 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. So I was glad it was over. Steve had another conversation with Kelly about killing David. >> PHOTOS: The Loomis Fargo heist, 25 years later Ghantt, his former co-worker Kelly Campbell and her friends Steve and Michelle Chambers, carried out the Loomis Fargo heist on Oct. 4,. "It wasn't me, it was Steve," she says she told him. A couple weeks pass, and I call again, Hey, Id like to get some more money. Heres what happened on Sunday nights episode. Ghantt: My cut was supposed to be about $5 million, but that's not what I ended up with. The plan was to split the money three ways: Chambers, Campbell and Ghantt would each walk away with what Ghantt estimated to be $5 million a piece the kind of money that changes lives forever. Chambers went from a mobile home in Lincoln County to a mansion in Cramerton. Chambers and Campbell were waiting for him in the Loomis Fargo parking lot, both in separate vehicles. In real life: False. One day, Campbell was speaking to an old friend named Steve Chambers. Loomis officials--forced to break into their own vault because David had taken the keys with him--calculated that he had stolen $17,044,000, making the second biggest heist in U.S. history, following the $18.8 million theft of an armored car by another Loomis Fargo employee just six months earlier. Will Vin Sant Leave You Jacked or Scammed? This real-life crime is the core of "Untitled Armored Car Project," which stars Zach Galifianakis, Owen Wilson and Kristen Wiig. I told the lead investigator I was glad to see him.. Campbell was released from federal custody in 2004 after serving five years, meaning her collection case will age out in December 2024. 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. Guller was the attorney for Steven Chambers, who came up with the original idea for the Loomis theft. Harley-Davidson Road King motorcycle for sale at auction of items