loomis fargo heist kelly campbell

In 2017, for example, Paul Burks of Lexington was ordered to pay $244 million to the victims of his worldwide Ponzi scheme, Zeek Rewards. One day, Campbell was speaking to an old friend named Steve Chambers. Campbell and her husband had always been just scraping by, however in the weeks following the robbery, the two seemed to have more money than they've ever had. Learn how to enable JavaScript on your browser. Loomis Fargo heist: 25 years later David Scott Ghantt, his former co-worker Kelly Campbell and her friends Steve and Michelle Chambers carried out the Loomis Fargo heist on Oct. 4, 1997. "I've got a friend," she said, "who can hook you up with a new ID.". 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. In total, 24 people were convicted and all but one of the accused pleaded guilty. Next month, Payne will back in the Charlotte federal courthouse, this time to be sentenced from weapons and methamphetamine trafficking charges. This website uses cookies to improve your experience while you navigate through the website. Paying the money back has taken a lot longer, and time is running out for the U.S. government to collect. The plan was for Ghantt to commit the actual robbery and then quickly leave the country forMexico but to leave the bulk of the cash with Chambers. "Are you serious?" LETTER TO THE EDITOR: Remember why you were elected! Loomis Fargo heist: 25 years later Steve Chambers and his wife were living in a trailer and upgraded to what would today be a multi-million-dollar mansion at Cramer Mountain. There are multiples of thousands of these things coming every year. He hired a hitman to take Ghantt out, tying up the ultimate loose end. He added that money can be a motivator for anyone. Get an email notification whenever someone contributes to the discussion. Learn how to enable JavaScript on your browser. She was five-foot-seven, had dirty-blond hair, and had worked with him for about a year at Loomis Fargo, until she left for another job in 1996. I actually loved reading through this post. Well they were in some sense celebrities, Gronquist said. The plan was to exit through the building's electronic back gate, which consisted of horizontal metal plates that opened at the touch of a button. Authorities were notified of the robbery in the morning, when employees couldnt open the vault. Jim Gronquist was Campbells defense attorney. CHARLOTTE If you didnt live in the Charlotte area 25 years ago, you might not believe it. Inside the truck, they found Ghantts ring and surmised this as a sign of Ghantts intention to end his relationship with his wife. Working by himself, Ghantt would commit the robbery and then flee for Mexico, leaving the bulk of the cash with Chambers. He says the Loomis case shows how the criminal justice system and the courts treat lower-income people differently. To the community, the Loomis Fargo heist was a big joke -- the largest hillbilly caper of all time. Records show the government has garnished his Social Security checks. La vie de David Ghantt n'a rien de compliqu. Getting that off his chest calmed him some, and the conversation returned to the plan. Campbell was released from federal custody in 2004 after serving five years, meaning her collection case will age out in December 2024. They didnt expect it.. 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. Im married, I got one girl, shes 15 going on 30. Enforcement of this policy is at the Butcher says the federal courts in the Western District of North Carolina have never handled a case quite like Loomis. I gotta go.". But on Oct. 4, 1997, that no longer mattered and Ghantt took off with $17.3 million. (LogOut/ All of the co-defendants were arrested the next day, about six months after the heist. 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. Learn about careers at Cox Media Group. The only other employee with him on this day was a trainee. I made a joke once that was the hardest Id ever worked for Wells Fargo -- yeah, its a lot of work, Ghantt said. Though Wydra is retired, 25 years ago, he was an agent with the FBI. Prosecutors say a vault. Investigators considered Ghantt to be the prime suspect almost from the beginning. 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After discussing his job, his marriage, and his everyday struggles, they joked about Loomis and about how easy it would be to steal from the place. If a prank seemed dangerous, David backed out. If we work together, we can all have plenty of pie.. They also purchased expensive cars, jewelry and a breast enhancement or two. Temptation to do something that you think you normally wouldnt do can change a lot of minds when its that kind of cash, and thats what it was., (WATCH BELOW: VIDEO: The Loomis Fargo heist: 25 years later). Besides her prison sentence, Campbell must undergo mental health and drug treatment and spend two years in a supervised release program. Before the robber left Loomis Fargo, he made a trip to the managers office to remove two surveillance tapes in order to conceal his identity. 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. But this time on the phone, Kelly wasn't joking. He had joined the army and earned an honorable discharge, but because of defense-industry cutbacks he hadn't been able to find a good job for himself. 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. He decided at that moment that if Kelly called again, he would go for it. What kind of surprised me is how much the car smelled like money, like if you ever hold money up to your nose it has a distinct smell, Wydra said. The Loomis case is another example where the amount of restitution ordered vs. what is actually paid are two dramatically different numbers. One number is working in Campbells favor. The van used to move the money was later located a few miles from the warehouse. He loves his motorcycle and enjoys going fishing and, while hes sorry for the past, hes not ashamed to talk about it. (LogOut/ He and his wife, Michele, moved from theirmobile homeinLincoln Countyto a luxury house in the wealthy Cramer Mountain section ofCramerton. Clerk of Court Frank Johns of Charlotte. : The .17 Million Loomis Fargo Theft [Jeff Diamant] on Amazon.com. Each cart, holding about $2 million, was taking David seven or eight minutes to stack, push, and empty into the van, and there were about eight cartloads' worth in the vault. Of course the problem was, the money belonged to someone else. Loomis Fargo, the nation's largest privately held armored- car company, used vans to transport hundreds of millions of dollars a day belonging to banks and other businesses, stocking automated teller machines and storing money in the Loomis vault between deliveries. It wasn't how much you stole that mattered most; it was that you had stolen in the first place. A parrot tattoo on her right ankle. 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Kelly Campbell, who one day visited a Toyota dealership to purchase a minivan with twenty-dollar bills. In his youth, his mother had taken him to Sears and JCPenney, but as a man he shopped at Walmart, and while he knew there was nothing wrong with that, he wished he could afford more. The hillbilly outfit did more that just drop a few breadcrumbs. Stealing from Loomis Fargo could make him rich, if he got away with it. It is mandatory to procure user consent prior to running these cookies on your website. The figures can be astounding. By this time, agents knew where he was and had a general idea who the other players were, so they went to every bank in town to see if any of them rented a safe deposit box. He even had to watch what he bought at the grocery store. Well she was a pretty happy-go-lucky person, he said. If it didn't work out, he could return to the United States later with a new identity. Later, they also arrested Nathans older brother. The participants in the heist also spent lavishly on fancy jewelry, fancy cars and breast enhancement surgeries. They had to be extremely careful not to tip off the group, as they could lose potential conspirators or more information important to a conviction. (John D. Simmons/The Charlotte Observer via AP) The FBI began to question past and current employees of Loomis Fargo. The inspiration behind the major motion picture Masterminds starring Zach Galifianakis, Owen Wilson, Kristen Wiig, and Jason Sudeikis! Ghantt, his former co-worker Kelly Campbell and her friends Steve and Michelle Chambers carried out the Loomis Fargo heist on Oct. 4, 1997. All but one took plea deals, including Ghantt, who was sentenced to seven years in prison. - 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. Its in the ether. 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. be blocked or permanently banned without warning. He was on a budget for clothes, even for work boots; he had recently needed to check seven stores before finding a pair in his price range. These cookies do not store any personal information. You have permission to edit this article. Fill in your details below or click an icon to log in: You are commenting using your WordPress.com account. 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. EDITORIAL: Computer Science misses the need for digital literacy, N. Carolina legislators announce Medicaid expansion deal, EDITORIAL: Fighting political forces that sever family ties, Special-use to get overhaul: Commissioners, planners take a look, Cape Carteret seeking new police chief one month after hiring New Bern resident for post, How many in North Carolina are awaiting student loan debt relief? "I don't have time to mess with you. : The $17 Million Loomis Fargo Theft. Next month, Payne will back in the Charlotte federal courthouse, this time to be sentenced from weapons and methamphetamine trafficking charges. He had since served time in prison for the crime and told our sister station WSOC-TV Channel 9s Glenn Counts he learned a valuable lesson while behind bars. Another time, the day after a Christmas in the late 1980s, David and some friends planted all the discarded Christmas trees from the area in one neighbor's front yard. 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. Steve began talking about wiring money to overseas accounts, and even purchasing a nightclub. In the end, the FBI was able to capture the original gang in five months, snaring 21 individuals for their participation in the crime. Many of the lesser players in the conspiracy have been the most effective in paying their debts. Current price is $11.49, Original price is $14.99. "Don't back out on us. Ghantt studied how to rob his employer and advised the others not to spend the money lavishly. 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. As a privately owned web site, we reserve the right to edit or Moving the money into the van quickly proved an onerous task. Loomis Fargo heist: 25 years later While David Ghantt trusted Steve Chambers enough to leave his cut behind, Chambers had other plans. But with Kelly's new idea on the table, several dark realities converged on him. It all seemed unfair. He knew it would mean leaving Tammy. In one case, the restitution for a Loomis defendant may be a moving target. He knew they were nervous outside waiting for him, but he also knew he wouldn't stop stealing until he had taken everything. You also have the option to opt-out of these cookies. That sounds like a lot of money until its compared to the $18,930,201.26 the group was ordered to pay. However, Chambers had no intention of following those rules, believing the FBI would never connect him to Ghantt. David placed their odds of success at 85 percent, a confidence inspired by faith not just in his planning but also in his feelings for Kelly. David told Kelly they would have to control themselves and not spend the money too quickly, because the FBI could electronically trace a suspect's recent spending activity through bank papers, credit card records, and land transactions. In all, they recovered $6.6 million. Theres no way to get it back, Butcher told The Charlotte Observer. All of the primary players got fined millions of dollars --for example, Kelly Campbell was hit with more than $4 million, an amount that she will never come close to paying. The defendants received sentences ranging from probation for several relatives to over 11 years in federal prison for Steve Chambers. Kelly had approached David with the idea in the summer, knowing he had a crush on her and winning him over with the promise that a shady friend of hers with Mafia ties would help them. He played high school football at Mays High School in Atlanta, and college football at Georgia Tech . The friend was Steve Chambers, and Kelly said he knew his way around the world of crime. The bag held his mobile phone and handgun. Getting restitution, its like pulling teeth.. Friends of Campbell had also begun spending large amounts of cash. In the grand scheme of things, the prison sentence for stealing $20 million wouldn't be much worse than for stealing just $500,000 maybe a few extra years behind bars. On Oct. 5, the Loomis heist celebrates its 25th birthday. The biggest restitution numbers for victims of financial crimes generally involve Ponzi schemes or sweepstakes fraud, not cash thefts. All of the defendants are out of prison -- the longest sentence was 11 years. Diamant, a journalist who reported on the case at the time, goes into meticulous detail on how the heist was pulled off and its aftermath. For example, Steve Chambers and his wife were living in a trailer and upgraded to what would today be a multi-million-dollar mansion at Cramer Mountain. They could talk about anything, even topics he couldn't discuss with his wife. The supervisor liked him and gave him the job. Thirty years! 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. The plan was still on, but David remained steamed. 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. After hanging up on her, David returned to work. Chambers had broached the possibility of a robbery to Campbell earlier in the summer. Only a nickel on every dollar have been collected so far. On Oct. 5, the Loomis heist celebrates its 25th birthday. At 2:20 p.m., the phone rang; it was Kelly again. So we were able to figure out with all the denominations, it would require about 20 safe deposit boxes to store it all.. Records show the government has garnished his Social Security checks. Conversations about stealing from the company weren't rare for Loomis employees. A connection between each suspect began to emerge slowly, and as the intensity of spending grew, suspicion did as well. The Chambers home is now gated, which means Channel 9 crews cant drive up to it like we used to. Steve had hired a bodyguard named Mike McKinney. He wanted to leave his wife for her, and Kelly, who also was married, let him think she wanted the same. [DOWNLOAD: Free Action News Jax app for alerts as news breaks]. His collection case closes in two years. "About fourteen or fifteen million dollars," he said. Libraries without that edition should consider purchasing this entertaining and lightly edited version, which reads like a fast-paced novel. Afterward, everything became comical. A customs inspector, asking routine questions of bus passengers, focused her attention on him when his answers reminded her of Tommy Flanagan, the pathological-liar character played by Jon Lovitz on Saturday Night Live. "Just remind Steve," he said, "that I might be trouble my own self." When Ghantt called Campbell asking for more money, a plan was set in motion to take him out. In order to receive more evidence, the FBI decided to listen. Chambers had told Campbell to do whatever she needed to do to get Ghantt to commit the robbery. Criminals dont usually get high-paying jobs after leaving prison. The stated plan was for her to move to Mexico to be with him after the theft. He tried again to make the back gate rise, to no avail. Not every agent has a case like that, he said. You Save 23%. personal/abusive/condescending attacks on other users or goading You can garnish wages. 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. It should have been easy, but for some reason the gate didn't open for him. The property has changed hands several times since then. She was five-foot-seven, had dirty-blond hair, and had worked with him for about a year at Loomis Fargo, until she left for another job in 1996. FBI video shows agents searching the Cramer Mountain home and finding stacks of cash. Guller was the attorney for Steven Chambers, who came up with the original idea for the Loomis theft. of violence, racism, anti-Semitism, or But if you did, youll never forget it. He would then have the bulk of his share sent south of the border. That was the thing that sticks in my mind to this day.. So they went to Mexico and arrested Ghantt in order to protect him. To the community, the Loomis Fargo heist was a big joke -- the largest hillbilly caper of all time. The FBI began to question past and current employees of Loomis Fargo. When some friends stole a stop sign from a busy intersection, David made them put it back. This category only includes cookies that ensures basic functionalities and security features of the website. Steve was a serious guy? In addition, he also rented Mike his own apartment, paid him $400/weekly and bought him a gun. Down in Jacksonville, a Loomis Fargo employee took $18 million from an armored van he was driving. Investigators also found Ghantts pickup truck, abandoned at the warehouse. In all, agents arrested 24 people in the heist. Getting restitution, its like pulling teeth.. In addition to their extravagant spending, Michelle Chambers made the mistake of loudly asking a bank teller how much cash she could deposit in her account without it being reported to the feds, and then said, its not drug money.. 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. So its one thing to go from up here, thought, to action, he said. These (Loomis) guys, not so much.. Jeff Diamant was a reporter for the Charlotte Observer when the heist took place. The unsolved crime mystery of Marilyn Sheppard. Guller was the attorney for Steven Chambers, who came up with the original idea for the Loomis theft. just generally being a jerk. Steve Chambers would keep the rest. The loot would later be divided among David, Kelly, and Steve. For a better shopping experience, please upgrade now. He could even be famous, perhaps joining the ranks of legendary master thieves. 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 . Ghantt was the vault manager and was surrounded daily by millions of dollars worth of temptation. 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. Thats pretty standard in restitution matters. We are happy to work with other website publishers. Hes a family man with a wife and daughter. The investigation ultimately resulted in the conviction of eight people directly involved, as well as sixteen others who had indirectly helped them. Later that year, he saw a newspaper ad for a job at Loomis Fargo. Accompanying her was Steve Chambers, who, though unemployed, had recently moved . The site features a collection of unexplained, strange and odd mysteries. It was David who was hours away from committing the most daring act of his life, and she was going off about Steve being a serious guy? Ghantt met up with the other members of the plot and offloaded the cash. Lacking a college degree, he found that his army skills felt meaningless in the 1990s job market. They also found several stacks of money with Loomis bands still attached throughout all the homes searched. Javascript is not enabled in your browser. My knee-jerk reaction was to be angry, and then the sarcastic ass side of me started laughing about it, Ghantt said. 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 went on a mission to calculate exactly how much size-wise the money was, $11.3 million in $20 bills, and it weighed over 2,000 pounds, former FBI agent John Wydra said. The strange story of Mary Reeser Spontaneous Human Combustion. 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Marine Fisheries Commission advocates for water quality, North Carolina the only state allowing unnecessary killing of sea turtles, 'Pagan' bike gang leader in N. Carolina sentenced to prison, Deputy cleared in shooting death of Gloucester woman, Beaufort amends charter to allow four-year mayoral term. It has a certain feel, a smell and weight to it. Ghantt went to Mexico leaving the money with his cohorts, thinking that he could get his share back when he needed it. By now, you probably know the names -- David Ghantt, Steve Chambers and his wife Michelle, and Kelly Campbell. Loomis, Fargo offered a $500,000 reward for his arrest and conviction.