The next day, Kelly drove back to Steve's mobile home to watch the news with Steve and Michele. At the sight of all that money, Scott and Eric had the same thought: They'd made the worst mistake of their lives. . He went deep-sea fishing. He had stolen $17 million from Loomis Fargo. When he landed in Cancun, his first stop was Walmart. Although David was in on most of the planning, one discussion between Steve and Kelly was kept a secret. 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. They loaded the wine cellar with Pabst Blue Ribbon, and Steve hung a velvet portrait of Elvis Presley in the basement. "Every time my conscience would start bothering me," Kelly recalled, "I'd smoke another joint and forget about it.". In real life: Yes and no. But as soon as he drove off, I went right back in and opened the vault. While the agents initiated their investigation, the Chambers spent money as quickly as they could. There was, however, one problem with his plan. And then I could hear her laughing. I told the lead investigator I was glad to see him.. Going south, nobody really looks at what youre shipping. Loomis Fargo Defendants Owe as Much as They Stole in 1997, 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. Where was Ghantt? Steve, who had sworn Kelly, Eric and Scott to secrecy the night of the theft, named them all to the FBI. Money'll turn your head, I don't care who you are. Clerk of Court Frank Johns of Charlotte. In real life: True. One number is working in Campbells favor. His new life in Mexico had begun. More than 20 people ended up in the FBI's dragnet. A week later, another informant told the FBI that Eric Payne had quit his job at a printing company soon after the heist and was spending money he probably hadn't earned legally. So I was glad it was over. Heres what happened on Sunday nights episode. With the help of Aldo, a Mexican waiter he had befriended, David found a beach apartment in Cancun. [email protected] 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. Ghantt:I don't think he ever really meant to harm me. He hadnt checked ahead of time if the airport had any available flights, let alone if it would even be open. Kelly told the FBI she had done drugs with David but denied knowing about the theft. "I said, 'I don't want him killed.' ", "I wouldn't do it. At the time, it was the largest cash heist in history. 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. Yes, happy. See all of the stories here. I've got a good woman.". 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 . He rewarded Robert with $3,000 and vowed never to meet McKinney alone. I was burned out and just didn't know it. But in November, money ran low. His wife, Tammy, was as shocked as Loomis officials. 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. 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. Or that hed gotten lucky gambling. Ghantt fled to Mexico. 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 would call us friends. Kelly Campbell, 29, a former company employee, entered guilty pleas earlier to bank larceny, money laundering and conspiracy to commit murder charges. Ghantt:It's a comedy. Depression had led to smoking a lot of marijuana and taking Prozac, a combination she figures affected her judgment. Scott was so nervous, he said, that he couldn't help. Its in the ether. Working together, they got the gate open, then drove in a caravan to the Reynolds & Reynolds parking lot. "Think of how many women would have stood by. David was excited, jabbering about their future together. At the Halloween party, though, Kelly gave in to Steve, and agreed it had to be done. ". Ghantt, his former co-worker Kelly Campbell and her friends Steve and Michelle Chambers carried out the Loomis Fargo heist on Oct. 4, 1997. Charlotte Magazine even ran a feature story about the Loomis Fargo heist with the title, White Trash Crime. The headlines, however, never bothered Ghantt. Back then, it was one of the hotspots for hiding money. Ghantt planned to live off the interest for the rest of his life. 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. Sandra Floyd, Michele Chambers's mother, remembers the first time she saw the house. 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. 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. I couldn't understand why I hadn't been more successful," David said. 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) Steve was sentenced to 11 years 3 months in prison. So I guess I have no regrets. The figures can be astounding. Ghantt:It started out as a mental exercise and somewhere between the mental exercise and the actual event, it became serious. How Bridgerton restarted buzz about her ancestry. I don't want to be mean, but that's probably the dumbest thing they could do. real kelly campbell loomis fargo heist. Kelly drove her pickup to a lot across the street from the Loomis building, on Suttle Avenue in Charlotte. Keep supporting great journalism by turning off your ad blocker. What that says is, We will never forgive you for what youve done.. Scott Grant said he hesitated, but agreed if no guns would be involved. David Ghantt, who pulled off the Loomis, Fargo & Co. vault robbery in 1997 and was sentenced to seven years in prison for the crime, served as a consultant for the film (in theaters Friday). Because lets be brutally honest: Theyre not wrong, okay? You can seize property. Burks was also ordered to serve 15 years in prison, limiting his ability to balance his books. . He flew in an ultra-light plane. Come for the Chumbawamba, and stay for the return of the Mack. Question: Any contact with Steve Chambers or any of the others involved with the heist? "But I had to know.". But former Kings Mountain resident David Scott Ghantt can. . By late November, McKinney made a third trip to Mexico, saying he'd help David move to Mexico City. It was one of those things everyone (at Loomis Fargo) joked about, but in time, it became serious. And though she had been made night shift supervisor at Allied Security, she still felt she would never make the money she needed. "He was in tears. Eric watched. They stocked a wine cellar. He had an endearing smile, a beautiful wife and two children. This is the person I counted as my friend. When he finished, the van was filled with $17 million. Some amateur thieves might turn to movies and TV shows for lessons on criminal behavior. 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. Some of that money is just gone. On his way out, he grabbed the surveillance video, hoping to cover his tracks. The FBI's final challenge is finding the remaining $2 million. Get to me. Its that kind of excitement.. He was signed by the Minnesota Vikings as an undrafted free agent in 2002. Meanwhile, Steve was keeping a close eye on Kelly. He couldn't talk.". But few could have guessed how spectacularly the heist would go wrong after the criminals initially got away with it. Kelly Jane Campbell, a former Loomis employee; Michael L. McKinney . October was "a blast," he said. Hes well thought-out. Chambers, who still lives in Gaston County and operates a gym, declined to comment. 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. He para-sailed, power-skied and scuba-dived. Ghantt, meanwhile, was losing his patience and starting to make threats. Kelly's company. The bash had a Cinderella theme, with a three-tiered cake that looked like a castle. The initials on the money wrapper belonged to a Loomis employee who hadn't worked there since before the heist. He appeared happily matched with his high-spirited wife, Michele, and the two children from her first marriage. Called Masterminds, the 2016 film stars Zach Galifianakis, Kristen Wiig and Owen Wilson. Once in a lifetime, Murdaugh verdict sends a Lowcountry message: No one is above the law | Opinion, Charlotte Waffle House found with live roach, unclean equipment during health inspection. When McKinney arrived in North Carolina, the plan had changed. And with Loomis, were looking at only one case. Steve told me to tell [David] whatever was necessary to keep him happy.". By the time the month concluded, the couple had purchased a 7,000-square-foot stone mansion in a gated country club community. Michele tells me you're in a financial bind. He hated the sweet smell of the green ink, and the $8.15-an-hour salary. . Your California Privacy Rights/Privacy Policy. It didnt take the local police long to put the pieces together. I didn't think I had the guts. 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. Steve Chambers has told agents the missing cash was stolen from a shed in Lincoln County. . "I was dumb," Ghantt said Wednesday, the eve before the movie hits screens nationwide. Then another. 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. 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. Or purchase a subscription for unlimited access to real news you can count on. Why fans love it. 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. To protect themselves, David and Steve didn't meet or talk. That time in prison was actually good for 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. . Meanwhile, Michele Chambers was laughing and saying, repeatedly, "Look at all this money!" Her case closes in 2025. Twenty-five years ago, a small group of rural North Carolinian amateur bank robbers pulled off the second-largest heist in American history. One thing about teammates, in David's view: You could always trust them. Now that Kelly believes she has found Jesus, she has become more analytical about her past. About 200 keys dangled from it. She could spend time with her children and parents. Should David be killed after he gave them the money? They bought a BMW roadster. He was doing what the rest of us were doing making bad decisions. The next week, they heard Steve plan to send Mike McKinney to Mexico to kill David Ghantt. Its everything thats coming north.. When we worked together [for Loomis], we'd joke about it. It's one of the biggest jokes at the place. I wanted to make a drastic change and I went for it," Ghantt said. By March, Steve Chambers decided he needed to do something more drastic about Ghantt, making plans to send a hitman to Mexico to silence him for good. He was an old friend from East Gaston High School, tough and sure of himself. Inside were, along with other personal items, his keys and wedding ring. Then, on a mid-September day, as he reviewed a credit card bill, David did some math. Her only brush with the law had been a DUI arrest. Ghantt:I hate to say it, but I had six years of sitting in a box to think about my life. The top-ranked pie in North Carolina doesnt look like pie at all. 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. The pager entry was 1-4-3. . Did you get paid? Thatd be the time to do it, Ghantt recalls. It wasnt a big hit, but Ghantt, who was played by Galifianakis, gives it a rave review. Once I start something, Im going to the end., As for how he felt in the moment, he says, Imagine me and you went on an airplane. Hes very articulate. Ghantt simply got ready for work one morning knowing it would be his last day on the job. To that end, Campbell brought in her childhood friend Steve Chambers, who was characterized in the local press as a small-time drug dealer and a local fence for stolen goods, to lead the team. But after a year, they'll cut it down to two agents. They discussed it further, and Campbell asked him when they should do it. He covers culture, politics, race, and other perplexing mysteries for MEL. Loomis, Fargo offered a $500,000 reward after the theft. "I'm glad I've grown out of that.". The barrels were Steves idea, Ghantt says. About 5:45 a.m., he got into his pickup and began the 45-minute drive to work in Charlotte. "She said, 'What would it take to convince you to do it?' Question: You went to Mexico. Kelly Campbell, 29, a former company employee, entered guilty pleas earlier to bank larceny, money laundering and conspiracy to commit murder charges. 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. She asked about the limit for a cash deposit before "paperwork" was required. "I" has one letter. David kissed his sleeping wife on the cheek on the morning of Oct. 4. 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. Steve tried keys on a side door. In real life: True. At first, David Ghantt said, "I didn't take her seriously. Campbell was released from federal custody in 2004 after serving five years, meaning her collection case will age out in December 2024. But first they wanted to know if it was a robbery or a robbery-homicide. Yes, Carrie Underwood adopted a dog in Charlotte. 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. 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. 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. Truth be told, Ghantt had something of a crush on Campbell, and so, he told her exactly how hed pull off such a heist. Kelly would only discover later that leading up to the heist, Steve had been writing bad checks, $17,000 worth, for which he would later be convicted. "He said, 'Yeah, right,' and turned his head. Butcher says the federal courts in the Western District of North Carolina have never handled a case quite like Loomis. It was late in 1996. The others, though, went no farther than Cramer Mountain. Soon thereafter, he met Kelly Campbell, a co-worker at Loomis Fargo. . When she realized Ghantt never came home from work the night before, she contacted the police and filed a missing persons report. 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. About 5:30 the next morning, McKinney knocked on David's door and dropped $8,500 on the bed. I'd probably change jobs. "It wasn't me, it was Steve," she says she told him. 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. Ghantt was missing and no one, not even his wife, knew where he was. 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. That was pretty awesome., It felt like a dream vacation until he started running out of money. Though David had no criminal experience, he felt he could offer expert advice: He'd just finished reading a book on the FBI. "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. There had been no signs. So yeah, Im kind of proud of it.. Getting restitution, its like pulling teeth.. 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. He wouldn't give me the opportunity to say anything else. In the meantime, the FBI was closing in looking to bust a total of 21 suspected accomplices. And I think that makes it all the more funny, because it really offends my co-defendants. Steve now needed a hit man. 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. The cart held about $2 million, and the thief made multiple trips. After a couple of weeks, Ghantt and the rest of the heist team were ready to strike. . 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. 27 febrero, 2023 . 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. 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. 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. I hope everyone has moved on. They set the date, Oct. 4, a Saturday when David knew he could be alone in the building after his shift. They obviously werent trying to get it right they were putting together what they believe is a better story, said Diamant. Steve bought a truck, a Rolex and a motorboat. Chambers and Campbell were waiting for him in the Loomis Fargo parking lot, both in separate vehicles. "I wanted to be more like my mom and dad were.". "I said, 'Yeah, sure.' Industry leading Training and Development. Ghantt started at Loomis Fargo in 1994, and soon worked his way up from an armored car driver to a vault supervisor. Some days, the robbery seems like a memory from a different life, a choice made by a different man. He figured Tammy wouldn't go for it, and though his marriage had been troubled, he wasn't certain he wanted to leave her. It wasn't known whether anyone would receive it. That's the kind of movie they wanted to make. David trusted her. We got this guy named Bruno. He told him McKinney was in Mexico to kill somebody. We got to the end of the day, and he was acting like he wanted to linger. Michele told her mother she and Steve had been saving gambling winnings for the down payment. You might as well take it all, Ghantt tells me. More agents waited outside to arrest them. Agents noticed it two months later when it flowed to them through official channels, along with hundreds of similar reports involving other people. He told Steve he hadn't been able to find David. Steve led the planning. 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. 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. Twenty people were convicted of roles big and small in the massive 1997 armored-car warehouse heist in west Charlotte. He goes, My name is Bruno. (John D. Simmons/The Charlotte Observer via AP) The Associated Press, BY MICHAEL GORDON, The Charlotte Observer. Ultimately, though, the heist wasnt Ghantts idea, which meant he didnt decide who else was involved. This was in the 1990s the Columbia Airport back then was closed at around 9:30, 10 oclock. . Paying the money back has taken a lot longer, and time is running out for the U.S. government to collect. Time passed, and Campbell eventually quit her job at Loomis Fargo. When neighbors asked where they got their money, Steve said hed played in the NFL. Zach always plays that bumbling kind of lunatic, but hes not, Ghantt says. Not a documentary. About 20 ago, Campbell sent him a letter of apology, but he never responded. Ghantt spent a solid hour moving what ended up being 2,700 pounds of cash more than an actual ton into an unmarked company van. From going fishing to riding horses on the beach the whole nine yards. Thatd probably been the best thing for me to do, really. They planned to kill a man named David Ghantt, the guy who had made their extravagant new lifestyle a reality. But I thought this is me being hard-headed Im going to ride this thing to the ground. And so thats what I did.. Agents found out where Ghantt was living because Chambers had put out a hit on him, foolishly believing Ghantt was the only person the FBI had fingered for the crime. Ghantt:I've always known that story had potential to be a comedy or a drama. 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.. In one case, the restitution for a Loomis defendant may be a moving target. Here's what Floyd recalls: After two games of pool, Steve told him, "You know, we do a lot of gambling. In February 1998, the FBI tapped their phones and listened to Steve discuss depositing $2.5 million in the Cayman Islands. "As soon as you start, you realize there's no going back," David recalled. He learned to parachute. That was the most painful truth to come to. In the two days after the robbery, agents interviewed more than 100 people, most connected with David. 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." Federal prosecutors would ultimately charge 21 defendants in the case, including the Floyds, who were charged with (and pleaded guilty to) money laundering. He drove to the edge of the Loomis compound, which was surrounded by a chain-link fence. 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. 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. Ghantt and one other employee were the last to leave. They picked me, he says with a rueful tone. 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. . It was an ear-biting, Pierce Brosnan-loving, comet-obsessed world, and were here to relive every minute of it. White-collar criminals are pretty good at hiding their money, she said. 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. They didn't know it, but they were leaving $3.3 million behind. David, now 30, says he's sorry he abandoned his wife--who he says still loves him--and his family. . At first, I just blended in with the tourists and picked up a few translation books, Ghantt explains. Looking for Kelly Loomis? This time, David told McKinney the truth. Kelly relayed his message to Steve. Inside the Mazda, Steve told Scott Grant to get out and help David. David was sentenced to 7 1/2 years. On Oct. 5, the Loomis heist celebrates its 25th birthday. So he got in a cab and went to a mall. His mobile home was nicely furnished, on eight acres with a stream in the back. The FBI now knew Chambers had Loomis cash. Filming in the Asheville area starting in early July, and is. 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. Ghantt knew Chambers as Steve, but didnt find out that his last name was Chambers until the arrests were made. 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.

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