Its a yes: Clover teen shakes off nerves to earn American Idol golden ticket, Mail carrier cant believe his eyes after seeing NC lottery win. 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. Ghantt knew Chambers as Steve, but didnt find out that his last name was Chambers until the arrests were made. On Monday, October 6th, the FBI agents who were investigating the robbery located the Loomis Fargo van abandoned in the woods. "Every time my conscience would start bothering me," Kelly recalled, "I'd smoke another joint and forget about it.". The phone rang: Kelly had a problem. Best States is an interactive platform developed by U.S. News for ranking the 50 U.S. states, alongside news analysis and daily reporting. Steve had another conversation with Kelly about killing David. real kelly campbell loomis fargo heist seeing a woodpecker after someone dies lectomano que significa. He hated his job, with its 12-hour shifts. CLICK HERE FOR PHOTOS FROM 1998 and ACTORS IN MOVIE. Theres some things I want to do., Ghantt planned on traveling from Mexico to the Cayman Islands, bypassing customs along the way. "Think of how many women would have stood by. 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. 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. 2022 marks the 25th anniversary of the year that everything happened 1997. A couple weeks pass, and I call again, Hey, Id like to get some more money. Kelly Campbell, 29, a former company employee, entered guilty pleas earlier to bank larceny, money laundering and conspiracy to commit murder charges. We spoke with the inside man, David Ghantt, to get the real story. Ghantt was already married when he took part in the heist, to a woman named Tammy who author Diamant described as very nice. It is true, however, that she had no idea about the plot and that he fled to Mexico without telling her. 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. In real life: Mostly true. 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. Before David left for the airport, he had handed Scott an eight-inch key ring. [Kelly] told me, 'Just think about it.' . They picked me, he says with a rueful tone. Michelle, meanwhile, purchased new breasts for herself, along with a $43,000 diamond ring and a new convertible BMW Z3. ", "Even then . And so, he told her, Google my name. In real life: False. 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.". Eric Payne got out of prison in 2006 for his role in the heist and has since paid $11,357 on his $292,000 debt. I was burned out and just didn't know it. 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. Chambers did hire McKinney to kill Ghantt, but initially McKinney was making personal cash deliveries to Ghantt in Mexico on behalf of Chambers. Some family members hid money in bank deposit boxes, other friends were asked to mule cash to the Cayman Islands. If you go from a mobile home to a mansion, that's going to attract attention. I'd probably change jobs. As soon as you put that first bag of stolen money in that van, theres no going back. I couldn't understand why I hadn't been more successful," David said. Money'll turn your head, I don't care who you are. Now, I kind of know something is fishy., Alone in Mexico with limited cash, Ghantt thought about turning himself in. They stocked a wine cellar. She also must . Were others involved? They also purchased tanning beds, a pool table, a Harley-Davidson Road King motorcycle and all kinds of expensive furniture. We spoke to the FBI agents who investigated the case who say the real-life. His collection case closes in two years. All rights reserved. Two more defendants in the $17 million Loomis Fargo & Co. robbery last year have agreed to plead guilty, and a third person entered a formal plea in court. ];Kelly Jane Campbell [Misc. "I work construction. I just had to call you., Today, Ghantt cant look back on the whole ordeal without some degree of pride. When he landed in Cancun, his first stop was Walmart. Butcher says the federal courts in the Western District of North Carolina have never handled a case quite like Loomis. ];David Scott Ghanntt [Misc.] Ultimately, though, the heist wasnt Ghantts idea, which meant he didnt decide who else was involved. It's one of the biggest jokes at the place. 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. Hes very articulate. David quickly realized he was the intended victim. "That would be living on the run, and I didn't want my kids to live that way. The last time he called me, he said, Hey Ghantt, I just saw a big Loomis Fargo truck. You're an idiot.'". He goes, My name is Bruno. 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.. Steve Chambers has told agents the missing cash was stolen from a shed in Lincoln County. Get to me. Its that kind of excitement.. 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 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. Theres no management around. An officer rang the doorbell. Kelly said she had reason to believe Steve might be able to pull off a heist. 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) Note: No quotes were altered, although in some cases additional quotes were added to the questions as Ghantt expanded on his thoughts. "I said, 'That's all they gave me,' " McKinney recalled. He said every year he files his taxes and the IRS takes all of his tax return. Kelly had resisted this suggestion before the heist: She and David were friends. Zach always plays that bumbling kind of lunatic, but hes not, Ghantt says. She will never get beyond the debt. I was just going to get the money into the 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. Ghantt, meanwhile, was losing his patience and starting to make threats. Thats pretty standard in restitution matters. Back then, it was one of the hotspots for hiding money. Ghantt planned to live off the interest for the rest of his life. You might as well go all the way now.". What that says is, We will never forgive you for what youve done.. I mean, cause greed is a funny animal. At the end of October, Kelly was sentenced to 5 years 10 months in prison. That led to better jobs, like the one at Loomis. His mobile home was nicely furnished, on eight acres with a stream in the back. She was the group's only contact with David, and she was smoking marijuana "like other people smoke cigarettes," she said. Then another. She didn't plan to move to Mexico. 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. It was an ear-biting, Pierce Brosnan-loving, comet-obsessed world, and were here to relive every minute of it. These days, the 52-year-old husband and father lives in Jacksonville, Florida, where he works at a heavy equipment rental agency. With the help of Aldo, a Mexican waiter he had befriended, David found a beach apartment in Cancun. The government does not run debtors prisons, says U.S. "I wanted to be more like my mom and dad were.". Based on a true story, the premise itself is fascinating, which makes Masterminds all the more a waste. Dependent care account. Ghantt was the vault manager and was surrounded. I threw you out, and then threw the parachute after you. Still, she wasn't happy. Only a nickel on every dollar have been collected so far. 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. He says the Loomis case shows how the criminal justice system and the courts treat lower-income people differently. As it turned out, Ghantt was zipping up his scuba suit in Mexico. Just head on out. And so, he did. In a word, "Teamwork. It wouldn't work, Kelly told him. Down in Jacksonville, a Loomis Fargo employee took $18 million from an armored van he was driving. 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. Steve bought a truck, a Rolex and a motorboat. Tags: Associated Press, courts, crime, North Carolina. And when everybody else voted to kill me, she voted with them, he explains. 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. David complained it wasn't enough. Copyright 2022 TheAssociated Press. It will be some time before she can commune with domestic animals again. Scott didn't want to, but then he remembered the hundred-grand payday. Question: Should people go see this movie? He's a very likable person. Kelly called David at Loomis; he told her he'd be ready for them with the cash at 6:30 or 7 p.m. Alone in the building, David was trying to finish loading cash from the vault into an unmarked white Ford Econoline van belonging to Loomis. He told her he wanted more of "his" cash. By late November, McKinney made a third trip to Mexico, saying he'd help David move to Mexico City. Scott Grant and Steve pulled up next to her in a Mazda. Should David be killed after he gave them the money? Basically, he needed a score to make his problems go away. Soon thereafter, he met Kelly Campbell, a co-worker at Loomis Fargo. "We're not the type that questions everything people tell us," Floyd said. Explain? The authorities didn't know yet how much was missing from the armored-car company, but Steve did. Nah, it was always about the money, he told the agents. "It probably should bother me," he said. He and co-worker Kelly Campbell, 27, had developed a close relationship and were spending time together outside of work. 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. Not many people can say they stole $17 million from their employer and had Zach Galifianakis play them in a movie. Question: Do you ever think you could have been killed? ". And going to see the Mayan ruins. Its kind of like that. Before long, the FBI had wiretaps on the ringleader, Steve Chambers, and then they waited for the right time to make their arrests. At first, I just blended in with the tourists and picked up a few translation books, Ghantt explains. In early September 1997, Kelly found herself chatting on the phone with a friend who still worked at Loomis, a 27-year-old man who, despite being married, had made no secret of the fact that he had a crush on her. This material may not be published, broadcast, rewritten or redistributed. Its everything thats coming north.. Loomis employees drive the very core of our business. 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. This meant a bump in pay, up to $8.15 an hour. They agreed that after the heist, David would immediately move to Mexico, alone, but Kelly would soon join him there, with her two children. This story was originally published October 3, 2016, 9:12 PM. He had stolen $17 million from Loomis Fargo. And I was thinking about just showing up there. Eric watched. Ghantt:Since I still owe the federal government money I can't get paid. Field Operations; Corporate; Why Loomis. ". I told the lead investigator I was glad to see him.. Im on the phone with Kelly [Campbell], and Im like, Hey, I really was expecting a package to arrive. The figures can be astounding. Kelly was no criminal. . Now he offered to pay him to carry cash to David--Steve said he was a friend hiding out after a bad drug deal, McKinney recalled. But former Kings Mountain resident David Scott Ghantt can. I did a little research into crime statistics and the local cops. He learned to parachute. I would call us friends. The only person not to plead guilty in the case, former Gastonia attorney Jeff Guller, ended up doing eight years for money laundering. "I thought he was goofing around.". Ghantt was in fact hiding out in Mexico using McKinneys I.D., which had been sold to Chambers months earlier. 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. Ghantt simply got ready for work one morning knowing it would be his last day on the job. At the Halloween party, though, Kelly gave in to Steve, and agreed it had to be done. At 7:45, David had finished loading. In March 1997, after Loomis Fargo & Company has been robbed of $18.8 million in Jacksonville by company security guard Philip Noel Johnson, Steve Eugene Chambers and Kelly Campbell, a former employee of Loomis, decides to rob the company. Some of that money is just gone. I was looking at small sailboats and theyre not cheap, he tells me. He played high school football at Mays High School in Atlanta, and college football at Georgia Tech . He didnt even really question me. 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. 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. So I was glad it was over. When October 1997 began, Steve and Michelle Chambers lived in a double-wide trailer. Posted on . kellis@gastongazette.com 0:04 0:57 On Oct. 4, 1997, former Kings Mountain resident David Scott Ghantt finished his shift as a vault supervisor for Loomis Fargo in Charlotte. I just want people to go to the movies and have a good laugh, even if it's at my expense. The bizarre true story of the criminals behind the second-largest bank heist in American history. Eventually, Steve made Kelly believe they could steal from Loomis and get away with it, she said. We need to set up some way for me to get my money. She said, We got it all worked out. "He showed me a lot of money," McKinney said. Yes, happy. 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.. 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. The FBI was also surveilling Kelly Campbell and followed her to a pay phone that she used to place calls to Mexico. . They placed a bust of Caesar in the dining room. He and his wife, Tammy, lived in a mobile home in Kings Mountain, N.C. Money was always tight. Kelly's company. "We kept going, '1-4-3, 1-4-3,' " recalled Vic O'Korn, assistant special agent in charge of Charlotte's FBI office. The best states in the U.S. come from coast to coast. Hed be in contact. Without really intending to, Kelly recalls, she turned the conversation to the possibility of a heist. "But I had to know.". Exciting. 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. Why had he ever believed he'd get it? In February 1998, the FBI tapped their phones and listened to Steve discuss depositing $2.5 million in the Cayman Islands. 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. 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. Michelle Chambers paid off only $27,000. Cool, I say. Question: How much of 'Masterminds' is true? "I was unhappy with my life. Chambers, now 32, didn't grant an interview for this article, but last year, in response to written questions, he said the biggest lesson he learned was: "Family is more important and valuable than money. >> 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,. I knew that the news wouldnt break until later that morning. I said, Probably, the best time would be on the weekend; theres fewer people there. Kelly called David at. I hit the local library the thing that we used to do before Google, Ghantt says with a small laugh. The platform is designed to engage citizens and government leaders in a discussion about what needs improvement across the country. Ghantt:I've always known that story had potential to be a comedy or a drama. A woman by the name of Kelly Campbell had worked there in 1996, and she and Ghantt had become friends in that time. When he said, 'I'll give you $20,000 to hold a million,' I said, 'Sure.' He para-sailed, power-skied and scuba-dived. 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. Then, I started loading the van., Money, when bound in bulk and stacked in canvas bags, is heavier than you might expect. When he walked onto the plane, he was wearing big, tall cowboy boots, where hed stuffed a majority of the smuggled cash. The number of people involved had ballooned after Steve started asking friends and family to help him launder the stolen cash. Why fans love it. He wouldn't give me the opportunity to say anything else. This time, David told McKinney the truth. They involve Loomis armored car driver David Scott Ghantt. He partied, met women, drank, skied and hung out at the beach. The plan to rob Loomis Fargo was spawned by Campbell and her friend Steve Chambers, during a casual bonfire at Chambers' home. ". On Oct. 5, the Loomis heist celebrates its 25th birthday. I didnt pick the heist team. Steve led the planning. Her case closes in 2025. The biggest restitution numbers for victims of financial crimes generally involve Ponzi schemes or sweepstakes fraud, not cash thefts. Is he telling the truth? CHARLOTTE, N.C. (AP) During one overnight shift, a bumbling conspiracy of thieves just west of Charlotte stole more than $17 million from Loomis Fargo. Come for the Chumbawamba, and stay for the return of the Mack. Because lets be brutally honest: Theyre not wrong, okay? I wanted to get as far away as I could. The audacity of the act was breathtaking. "He said, 'Yeah, right,' and turned his head. 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. Though David had no criminal experience, he felt he could offer expert advice: He'd just finished reading a book on the FBI. He flip-flopped on the heist idea three or four times. She declined to take a lie-detector test. Hes going to start bringing you money. Alright. Clerk of Court Frank Johns of Charlotte. On his way out, he grabbed the surveillance video, hoping to cover his tracks. While the agents initiated their investigation, the Chambers spent money as quickly as they could. There were times when I drank really heavily.". But you cant get blood from a stone, Johns said. They discussed it further, and Campbell asked him when they should do it. Question: You were a consultant? He didn't want to abandon his parents. Then another. If they could just sit on the money until then, he said, they'd be fine. Here's what Floyd recalls: After two games of pool, Steve told him, "You know, we do a lot of gambling. But agents weren't ready to arrest Kelly and Steve. He was signed by the Minnesota Vikings as an undrafted free agent in 2002. . More agents waited outside to arrest them. 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. Zaron Burnett is an investigative journalist and longform features writer based in Los Angeles. 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. White-collar criminals are pretty good at hiding their money, she said. Everything came crashing down on an early March morning in 1998. She laughed for like 45 minutes. Question: What made you, Chambers and the others think you could get away with this? On Nov. 12, a confidential informant told the FBI about Steve Chambers's move from mobile home to mansion. 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. Kelly Jane Campbell, a former Loomis employee; Michael L. McKinney . I studied up on the FBI. No dry runs, no rehearsals. ", "I wouldn't do it. The top-ranked pie in North Carolina doesnt look like pie at all. . Though David had said earlier he thought there was $15 million in the vault, the sight of that much cash held them spellbound.
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