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Steve now needed a hit man. ", "I wouldn't do it. Why did this Charlotte engineer leave her job? I just had to call you., Today, Ghantt cant look back on the whole ordeal without some degree of pride. "But, I hate to admit it, it doesn't faze me one bit. Anybody who gets caught up in the system is getting chewed up by it, the now-retired Gronquist told the Observer. "It wasn't me, it was Steve," she says she told him. I learned something that was valuable at the time: Most criminals never leave a 250, maybe 300-mile circle from their home base. She didn't plan to move to Mexico. And going to see the Mayan ruins. 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. ". Scott didn't want to, but then he remembered the hundred-grand payday. 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. 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. 1-4-3 is 'I love you.' Campbell, 29, had pleaded guilty to charges of bank larceny, money laundering and conspiracy to commit murder. And then I could hear her laughing. The top-ranked pie in North Carolina doesnt look like pie at all. She was like, Well, at least you had guts, he says. But in November, money ran low. Called Masterminds, the 2016 film stars Zach Galifianakis, Kristen Wiig and Owen Wilson. He flew in an ultra-light plane. Steve also offered $100,000 to his 26-year-old cousin. Ghantt, meanwhile, was losing his patience and starting to make threats. He was doing what the rest of us were doing making bad decisions. I flew from Atlanta to New Orleans. Exciting. 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. Theres no management around. By late November, McKinney made a third trip to Mexico, saying he'd help David move to Mexico City. Ghantt and one other employee were the last to leave. 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. He comes to my door, and hes got a brown paper bag in his hand. 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. Everything came crashing down on an early March morning in 1998. Steve solicited two others to help move cash during the theft. She just called me up on the phone and said, Hey, lets meet one day after work. And then, we were talking and she says, How do you feel about robbing Loomis Fargo? Ghantt tells me. I wanted to make a drastic change and I went for it," Ghantt said. The robbery of some $17 million quickly became one of the wildest bank heists of the last quarter century. Alert: Obviously, spoilers abound. Key benefit components include: Health insurance plans. Question: You went to Mexico. His name was Corey. The Loomis defendants face no additional legal jeopardy for not paying off their debts. That's the kind of movie they wanted to make. "I was trying to figure out a way to [leave my husband] and take care of my kids without having to depend on him or any other man," Kelly said. Next month, Payne will back in the Charlotte federal courthouse, this time to be sentenced from weapons and methamphetamine trafficking charges. 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.". They found Ghantts truck, and in it were his keys, some personal items and his wedding ring. If you go from a mobile home to a mansion, that's going to attract attention. More than 20 people ended up in the FBI's dragnet. So he convinced a local hoodlum in Mexico to try to kill Ghantt. If you want me to leave, Ill leave. Then, Ghantt went into another room. They Had 17 Million Dollars and No Sense at All - AMW Magazine I did a little research into crime statistics and the local cops. And when everybody else voted to kill me, she voted with them, he explains. 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. . The initials on the money wrapper belonged to a Loomis employee who hadn't worked there since before the heist. Scott Grant and Steve pulled up next to her in a Mazda. While the agents initiated their investigation, the Chambers spent money as quickly as they could. Ghantt started at Loomis Fargo in 1994, and soon worked his way up from an armored car driver to a vault supervisor. Basically, he needed a score to make his problems go away. Michele told her mother she and Steve had been saving gambling winnings for the down payment. 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. Kelly says she underestimated the value of her life before the heist. 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. Campbell, a mother of two, was in the process of divorcing her. Careers | Loomis US But as soon as he drove off, I went right back in and opened the vault. Meanwhile, Steve was keeping a close eye on Kelly. 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 . 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. "She said, 'What would it take to convince you to do it?' Question: You were a consultant? Copyright 2022 TheAssociated Press. One thing about teammates, in David's view: You could always trust them. Charlotte hotel chef who serves with a smile recognized as outstanding ambassador, Eritrean, Ethiopian restaurant owner was a big brother and father to many in Charlotte, Home tours: This wired-up Weddington smart home has a pool big enough for the neighborhood. Going south, nobody really looks at what youre shipping. Steve told her to send David to Atlanta on a bus and drive back to the trailer. Here's what Floyd recalls: After two games of pool, Steve told him, "You know, we do a lot of gambling. 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. 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've moved on with my life," he said Tuesday. real kelly campbell loomis fargo heist - molecularrecipes.com They sweated, though the night was cool. "As soon as you start, you realize there's no going back," David recalled. He had even scheduled a follow-up appointment at the dentist. Kelly, she says now, was thinking about how happy she would be to send this man far away from her. Best States is an interactive platform developed by U.S. News for ranking the 50 U.S. states, alongside news analysis and daily reporting. 25th anniversary of the incredible Loomis Fargo bank heist | wcnc.com They agreed that after the heist, David would immediately move to Mexico, alone, but Kelly would soon join him there, with her two children. When we worked together [for Loomis], we'd joke about it. Scott Grant and Steve pulled up next to her in a Mazda. Everybody seemed stunned. 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.. 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. By then Id figured out that Bruno was up to no good, and that Id probably never seen any more of my money. "That would be living on the run, and I didn't want my kids to live that way. Ghantt:Since I still owe the federal government money I can't get paid. . The others sat in their cars across the street and watched him struggle to open the heavy gate. Our Benefits. The others, though, went no farther than Cramer Mountain. When she realized Ghantt never came home from work the night before, she contacted the police and filed a missing persons report. Theres no way to get it back, Butcher told The Charlotte Observer. An officer rang the doorbell. Im on the phone with Kelly [Campbell], and Im like, Hey, I really was expecting a package to arrive. Explain? Steven Chambers [Misc. "I've learned that I'm a fortunate man," he said. Come for the Chumbawamba, and stay for the return of the Mack. David was excited, jabbering about their future together. On his second trip, Steve gave McKinney David's hotel address. I mean, it was dark, Ghantt explains. That sounds like a lot of money until its compared to the $18,930,201.26 the group was ordered to pay. Zaron Burnett is an investigative journalist and longform features writer based in Los Angeles. He played high school football at Mays High School in Atlanta, and college football at Georgia Tech . . I mentioned it to Kelly. He didn't want to abandon his parents. Guller was the attorney for Steven Chambers, who came up with the original idea for the Loomis theft. If they could just sit on the money until then, he said, they'd be fine. Channel 9 speaks with the man at the center of Loomis Fargo heist 25 "Things I always wanted to do, but never had the time or the money," he said. "A lot of people out there had it worse than me, but . So yeah, Im kind of proud of it.. Like David, Kelly was frustrated with her marriage. 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. So the last third of the movie is almost entirely fiction. When McKinney arrived in North Carolina, the plan had changed. No hard feelings. Kelly drove her pickup to a lot across the street from the Loomis building, on Suttle Avenue in Charlotte. The figures can be astounding. Heist!: The $17 Million Loomis Fargo Theft - amazon.com Kelly called David at. "He was in tears. 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. I just want people to go to the movies and have a good laugh, even if it's at my expense. I had a four-hour layover there, and then from New Orleans to Cancun.. CLICK HERE FOR PHOTOS FROM 1998 and ACTORS IN MOVIE. Things started to go south the night of the robbery. 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. "I thought he was goofing around.". But it wasnt. We got to the end of the day, and he was acting like he wanted to linger. He para-sailed, power-skied and scuba-dived. She was a wife and mother with two children. At the end of October, Kelly was sentenced to 5 years 10 months in prison. real kelly campbell loomis fargo heist. LeVaughn Kelly Campbell (born July 23, 1980 in Atlanta, Georgia) is a former football wide receiver. The next week, they heard Steve plan to send Mike McKinney to Mexico to kill David Ghantt. He rewarded Robert with $3,000 and vowed never to meet McKinney alone. 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. Scott, 26, had a larceny conviction as a teenager, but he'd since cleaned up his act and now had a steady job, a daughter and a girlfriend. In real life: True. Then, I started loading the van., Money, when bound in bulk and stacked in canvas bags, is heavier than you might expect. 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. "Love" has four. Meanwhile, Michele Chambers was laughing and saying, repeatedly, "Look at all this money!" 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. So I guess I have no regrets. Ghantt was never in Chamberss presence until he actually handed off the money to him. He's a very likable person. In real life: True. He said every year he files his taxes and the IRS takes all of his tax return. 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. Or that it was an inheritance. real kelly campbell loomis fargo heist - hankyboy.com I've got a good woman.". But what did that mean? Health savings account and flexible spending account. David kissed his sleeping wife on the cheek on the morning of Oct. 4. Looking back at the Loomis heist - Gaston Gazette On Nov. 12, a confidential informant told the FBI about Steve Chambers's move from mobile home to mansion. There it was, "The Heist." Besides her prison sentence . He hated the sweet smell of the green ink, and the $8.15-an-hour salary. Hes very articulate. They didn't know it, but they were leaving $3.3 million behind. Not a documentary. It wasn't known whether anyone would receive it. She could spend time with her children and parents. 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. Thanksgiving and Christmas were difficult. And it turned Steve into he thought he was Don Corleone all of a sudden.. Looking for Kelly Loomis? Restitution is a familiar part of sentencing in federal court. 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. Posted on . He learned to parachute. . They planned to kill a man named David Ghantt, the guy who had made their extravagant new lifestyle a reality. David, now 30, says he's sorry he abandoned his wife--who he says still loves him--and his family. ". Money'll turn your head, I don't care who you are. CHARLOTTE, N.C. - Kelly Campbell, the woman who helped plan the $17 million robbery of armored-car company Loomis, Fargo was sentenced yesterday to nearly six years in prison and ordered to pay back more than $4 million. Ghantt:It's kid-friendly, it's family-friendly (the movie is rated PG-13). TWO TO ENTER GUILTY PLEAS IN ARMORED-CAR ROBBERY - Greensboro News and . These (Loomis) guys, not so much.. One day, Campbell was speaking to an old friend named Steve Chambers. There was a third person with them, too, a man named Eric Grant. Ghantt knew Chambers as Steve, but didnt find out that his last name was Chambers until the arrests were made. Ghantt pulled out $50,000 from the back of the unmarked Loomis Fargo van. Steve had already paid McKinney $50,000 for the use of his ID. Now worried about both the FBI and McKinney, he spent even more time alone in his room. They bought a BMW roadster. I think I always knew that, but lost my way for a while.". Michele tells me you're in a financial bind. Ghantt:It's a comedy. Question: Are you happy that Wilkesboro-nativeZach Galifianakis plays you in the movie? This story was originally published October 3, 2016, 9:12 PM. They discussed it further, and Campbell asked him when they should do it. Mexican police, Interpol officers and an FBI agent were watching him. When McKinney realized Ghantt was wanted for the Loomis Fargo robbery, he backed off personally because he didnt want to be anywhere near a federal investigation. 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) "We had David Ghantt and Kelly Campbell tied together, and we had Steven Chambers and Eric Payne with unexplained wealth, but we didn't have a tie between them," Agent John Wydra said. Find 145 people named Kelly Loomis along with free Facebook, Instagram, Twitter, and TikTok profiles on PeekYou - true people search. 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. 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. (John D. Simmons/The Charlotte Observer via AP) The Associated Press, BY MICHAEL GORDON, The Charlotte Observer. real kelly campbell loomis fargo heist. Kelly Jane Campbell, a former Loomis employee; Michael L. McKinney . When October 1997 began, Steve and Michelle Chambers lived in a double-wide trailer. 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. Kelly Campbell - Wikipedia Criminals dont usually get high-paying jobs after leaving prison. Chambers and Campbell were waiting for him in the Loomis Fargo parking lot, both in separate vehicles. Instead of lobster, the man who stole $17 million survived on home-cooked pasta and grilled cheese sandwiches. Hed be in contact. Were others involved? >> 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,. Hidden in it was a 3 1/2-carat diamond ring that cost $43,000. His new life in Mexico had begun. Your California Privacy Rights/Privacy Policy. When he walked onto the plane, he was wearing big, tall cowboy boots, where hed stuffed a majority of the smuggled cash. Seven Charged In $17M Heist - CBS News He has no contact with any of those convicted with him in the crime, including his former wife, and doesn't plan to see the movie, he said. By . Working together, they got the gate open, then drove in a caravan to the Reynolds & Reynolds parking lot. Ultimately, though, the heist wasnt Ghantts idea, which meant he didnt decide who else was involved. 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. In early November, Steve lured the real Mike McKinney, an ex-Marine, to North Carolina from his Illinois home. 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. And that's OK with Ghantt, who's just a few weeks shy of his 47th birthday, out of federal prison for more than a decade, married with a 9-year-old daughter . I knew it was just a matter of time. The name she gave the pup is apropos. 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. He says the Loomis case shows how the criminal justice system and the courts treat lower-income people differently. 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. I wanted to get as far away as I could. Question: Any contact with Steve Chambers or any of the others involved with the heist? I hear her typing. Just head on out. And so, he did. Figure in Loomis Heist Gets Prison | AP News 2500 City West Blvd., Suite 2300 Houston, TX 77042. Heist: The Oddball Crew Behind the $17 Million Loomis Fargo Theft by Some amateur thieves might turn to movies and TV shows for lessons on criminal behavior. I knew that the news wouldnt break until later that morning. On March 1, David Ghantt left his hotel to do some laundry. real kelly campbell loomis fargo heist real kelly campbell loomis fargo heist (No Ratings Yet) . They also purchased tanning beds, a pool table, a Harley-Davidson Road King motorcycle and all kinds of expensive furniture. Some days, the robbery seems like a memory from a different life, a choice made by a different man. In February 1998, the FBI tapped their phones and listened to Steve discuss depositing $2.5 million in the Cayman Islands. 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.. Michelle Chambers received seven years and eight months, while Steve Chambers was handed an 11-year sentence. Ghantt was working as a vault supervisor for Loomis Fargo in Charlotte in 1997, earning about $8 an hour and tired of his humdrum life. Ghantt:I hate to say it, but I had six years of sitting in a box to think about my life. He pocketed the money and told Chambers and Campbell to send him his cut in Mexico. The only person not to plead guilty in the case, former Gastonia attorney Jeff Guller, ended up doing eight years for money laundering. He appeared happily matched with his high-spirited wife, Michele, and the two children from her first marriage. 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. . Ghantt was apprehended in Mexico and returned to the United States in custody. Back in North Carolina, Ghantts former accomplices were living high on the hog. ", "I said, 'If you drive a truck, you're always in a financial bind. 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. Before long, the FBI had wiretaps on the ringleader, Steve Chambers, and then they waited for the right time to make their arrests. Thats one of my personality flaws. White-collar criminals are pretty good at hiding their money, she said. He'd even bragged that he'd killed people. The cash was covered with dog food. The van door opened. In the two days after the robbery, agents interviewed more than 100 people, most connected with David. He covers culture, politics, race, and other perplexing mysteries for MEL. On the radio, the "John Boy and Billy" show played the song "Take the Money and Run. He told him McKinney was in Mexico to kill somebody. First, they loaded the cash into blue 55-gallon barrels, and then they moved the barrels into a rental van. 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. Agents noticed it two months later when it flowed to them through official channels, along with hundreds of similar reports involving other people. 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." Only a nickel on every dollar have been collected so far. 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. Ghantt was scheduled to work a shift at the armored car company Oct. 4. Chambers went from a mobile home in Lincoln County to a mansion in Cramerton.