He didn't want to abandon his parents. In the dark, Scott inserted one key into the back door slot. This real-life crime is the core of "Untitled Armored Car Project," which stars Zach Galifianakis, Owen Wilson and Kristen Wiig. That sounds like a lot of money until its compared to the $18,930,201.26 the group was ordered to pay. . He took bus tours of Mayan ruins. In February 1998, the FBI tapped their phones and listened to Steve discuss depositing $2.5 million in the Cayman Islands. 2500 City West Blvd., Suite 2300 Houston, TX 77042. 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. I pay (restitution to) thousands of people, but its in drips and drabs.. You can seize property. Best States is an interactive platform developed by U.S. News for ranking the 50 U.S. states, alongside news analysis and daily reporting. 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. He had even scheduled a follow-up appointment at the dentist. If you go from a mobile home to a mansion, that's going to attract attention. Zach always plays that bumbling kind of lunatic, but hes not, Ghantt says. David told her he'd need help moving the money, getting a new ID and leaving the country. ", "I wouldn't do it. Thatd probably been the best thing for me to do, really. You see, there's a reason Loomis Fargo used armored cars to move large amounts of cash. He realized that if they met the minimum monthly payments, the bill would take 30 years to pay. 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.. She was devastated, Diamant said. 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. He wouldn't give me the opportunity to say anything else. Ghantt:I've always known that story had potential to be a comedy or a drama. Thatd be the time to do it, Ghantt recalls. Back in North Carolina, Ghantts former accomplices were living high on the hog. Yes, happy. The robbery of some $17 million quickly became one of the wildest bank heists of the last quarter century. Because lets be brutally honest: Theyre not wrong, okay? Not a documentary. 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. It affects everybody different. Ultimately, though, the heist wasnt Ghantts idea, which meant he didnt decide who else was involved. Like David, Kelly was frustrated with her marriage. "He showed me a lot of money," McKinney said. Zaron Burnett is an investigative journalist and longform features writer based in Los Angeles. Or that it was an inheritance. Ghantt worked at Loomis Fargos regional office vault in Charlotte. I missed my wife. Ghantt and one other employee were the last to leave. At 6 that morning, FBI supervisor Rick Shaffer led 12 agents and several Gaston County police officers up a winding road on Cramer Mountain to Steve's home. "I work construction. 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. He didnt even really question me. 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) 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. We need to set up some way for me to get my money. She said, We got it all worked out. The Loomis Fargo Bank Robbery was the $17.3 million cash robbery of the Charlotte, North Carolina, regional office vault of Loomis Fargo & Company on the evening of October 4, 1997, by armored car driver and vault supervisor David Scott Ghantt. 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. But the idea of all that money pulled at her. Here's what Floyd recalls: After two games of pool, Steve told him, "You know, we do a lot of gambling. The money was heavy. Ghantt ultimately agreed to the plan, largely, due to a mountain of credit-card debt and in hopes of changing his life for the better. Besides her prison sentence . ". . White-collar criminals are pretty good at hiding their money, she said. . 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." Michele tells me you're in a financial bind. Or purchase a subscription for unlimited access to real news you can count on. Ghantt:It's a comedy. He was doing what the rest of us were doing making bad decisions. "I said, 'Yeah, sure.' Steve bought a truck, a Rolex and a motorboat. The figures can be astounding. He partied, met women, drank, skied and hung out at the beach. Criminals dont usually get high-paying jobs after leaving prison. Kelly told the FBI she had done drugs with David but denied knowing about the theft. Thats one of my personality flaws. "I felt that if I didn't do something, I was going to snap," David said. Based on a true story, the premise itself is fascinating, which makes Masterminds all the more a waste. Did you get paid? Ghantt, his former co-worker Kelly Campbell and her friends Steve and Michelle Chambers carried out the Loomis Fargo heist on Oct. 4, 1997. ". "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. I wish them all a happy life and that's about it. The van door opened. 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.". There was in fact a basically similar conversation involving Chambers and Campbell that took place during a barbecue the Campbells were hosting. Down in Jacksonville, a Loomis Fargo employee took $18 million from an armored van he was driving. Steve told her to send David to Atlanta on a bus and drive back to the trailer. Ghantt:Since I still owe the federal government money I can't get paid. These (Loomis) guys, not so much.. He gave the rest to Kelly. It wasnt a big hit, but Ghantt, who was played by Galifianakis, gives it a rave review. You might as well take it all, Ghantt tells me. ". He went deep-sea fishing. But I thought this is me being hard-headed Im going to ride this thing to the ground. And so thats what I did.. Dependent care account. We got to the end of the day, and he was acting like he wanted to linger. 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. I loved it. I don't blame him.". They planned to kill a man named David Ghantt, the guy who had made their extravagant new lifestyle a reality. The platform is designed to engage citizens and government leaders in a discussion about what needs improvement across the country. Is he telling the truth? Were others involved? In hindsight, it doesnt surprise me a bit, Ghantt says, a bitter laugh catching in his throat. One number is working in Campbells favor. 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. Steve Chambers has told agents the missing cash was stolen from a shed in Lincoln County. She also must . . Everybody seemed stunned. The best states in the U.S. come from coast to coast. He flip-flopped on the heist idea three or four times. He hated his job, with its 12-hour shifts. Your California Privacy Rights/Privacy Policy. He frequently entertained there, buying steaks for his guests. ", "Even then . In one case, the restitution for a Loomis defendant may be a moving target. One of them tapped him on the back. His collection case, which closes in November 2026, got credit for the couples $540,000 house on Cramer Mountain in Gaston County, Butcher says. Then FBI agent Wydra watched Steve's wife, Michele, deposit about $8,000 at a Gaston County, N.C., bank. In real life: False. Why fans love it. He para-sailed, power-skied and scuba-dived. 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. Question: You were a consultant? Eventually, Steve made Kelly believe they could steal from Loomis and get away with it, she said. David complained it wasn't enough. And I was thinking about just showing up there. He would pay McKinney $250,000, half upfront. What made her do it? His new life in Mexico had begun. I told the lead investigator I was glad to see him.. Ghantt:I've burned that bridge years ago. But agents weren't ready to arrest Kelly and Steve. Getting restitution, its like pulling teeth.. 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. Michelle Chambers received seven years and eight months, while Steve Chambers was handed an 11-year sentence. "We're not the type that questions everything people tell us," Floyd said. If they could just sit on the money until then, he said, they'd be fine. About 200 keys dangled from it. As soon as Corey left, I pretended like I was leaving. 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. Theres no management around. I was just going to get the money into the van. "She said, 'What would it take to convince you to do it?' She never really worried about the moral end of it--she was focused only on getting what she wanted out of life, what so many others seemed to have in this booming part of the South. David was living under the name Mike McKinney on a phony ID. Money'll turn your head, I don't care who you are. 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. Exhibit A was that Steve had no steady job but plenty of cash. "Things I always wanted to do, but never had the time or the money," he said. To celebrate Halloween, about seven of Steve's friends, including Eric Payne and Kelly, gathered for a party at Steve's house. She declined to take a lie-detector test. >> 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,. Gaston County residents remember how that worked out. She was like, Well, at least you had guts, he says. No hard feelings. You can reach Kevin Ellis at 704-869-1823 or Twitter.com/TheGazetteKevin. "He was speechless," said Sandra Floyd. Steve also offered $100,000 to his 26-year-old cousin. 2022 marks the 25th anniversary of the year that everything happened 1997. Chambers did hire McKinney to kill Ghantt, but initially McKinney was making personal cash deliveries to Ghantt in Mexico on behalf of Chambers. . So he convinced a local hoodlum in Mexico to try to kill Ghantt. About 5:30 the next morning, McKinney knocked on David's door and dropped $8,500 on the bed. Called Masterminds, the 2016 film stars Zach Galifianakis, Kristen Wiig and Owen Wilson. Theres some things I want to do., Ghantt planned on traveling from Mexico to the Cayman Islands, bypassing customs along the way. ", "I said, 'If you drive a truck, you're always in a financial bind. I don't want to be mean, but that's probably the dumbest thing they could do. 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. 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. 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. 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. Ghantt:It baffles me to this day. So I guess I have no regrets. 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. The pager entry was 1-4-3. real kelly campbell loomis fargo heist. 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. . So I was glad it was over. 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. It was his goodbye. 27 febrero, 2023 . To protect themselves, David and Steve didn't meet or talk. 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. In real life: True. 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. What purpose does that serve other than to denigrate that person into abject poverty?. Chambers and Campbell were waiting for him in the Loomis Fargo parking lot, both in separate vehicles. This is the person I counted as my friend. After a Gulf War stint in the Army, David got married in 1992. Speaking of his co-defendants, Ghantt says hes not currently in contact with any of them. . The FBI was also surveilling Kelly Campbell and followed her to a pay phone that she used to place calls to Mexico. He said every year he files his taxes and the IRS takes all of his tax return. real kelly campbell loomis fargo heist. 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. The phone rang: Kelly had a problem. An officer rang the doorbell. Scary. "I missed my family. Throughout the multi-year-long case and subsequent trials, journalists often referred to Ghantt and the others as trailer trash and hillbillies. Then, I started loading the van., Money, when bound in bulk and stacked in canvas bags, is heavier than you might expect. He says the Loomis case shows how the criminal justice system and the courts treat lower-income people differently. Ive never taken offense to anything like that, he tells me. Steve solicited two others to help move cash during the theft. But as soon as he drove off, I went right back in and opened the vault. David, now 30, says he's sorry he abandoned his wife--who he says still loves him--and his family. Clerk of Court Frank Johns of Charlotte. All rights reserved. The cart held about $2 million, and the thief made multiple trips. Going south, nobody really looks at what youre shipping. Stay informed daily on the latest news and advice on COVID-19 from the editors at U.S. News & World Report. Cool, I say. 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. 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. 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. "I've learned that I'm a fortunate man," he said. "Every time my conscience would start bothering me," Kelly recalled, "I'd smoke another joint and forget about it.". Before David left for the airport, he had handed Scott an eight-inch key ring. By then Id figured out that Bruno was up to no good, and that Id probably never seen any more of my money. In early November, Steve lured the real Mike McKinney, an ex-Marine, to North Carolina from his Illinois home. 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. But what did that mean? Federal prosecutors would ultimately charge 21 defendants in the case, including the Floyds, who were charged with (and pleaded guilty to) money laundering. In real life: False. Still, she wasn't happy. "It wasn't me, it was Steve," she says she told him. How Bridgerton restarted buzz about her ancestry. (The conversation was depicted as 100 percent private on screen). It will be some time before she can commune with domestic animals again. That was pretty awesome., It felt like a dream vacation until he started running out of money. The government does not run debtors prisons, says U.S. Loomis employees drive the very core of our business. Question: How much of 'Masterminds' is true? The Evergreen State takes the top spot again in the U.S. News Best States ranking on the strength of its tech sector and other industries. On Nov. 12, a confidential informant told the FBI about Steve Chambers's move from mobile home to mansion. 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. They also left behind a life-changing fortune in small bills $3.3 million in fives and ones that they overlooked and the two videotapes that Ghantt had pulled from the security cameras at the bank. 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.

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