There it was, "The Heist." Kelly Loomis Facebook, Instagram & Twitter on PeekYou 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. And so, he told her, Google my name. 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. They hatched the idea half-jokingly, over a game of Uno, never dreaming they were about to make Bonnie and Clyde look like bottom feeders. There were times when I drank really heavily.". In 2017, for example, Paul Burks of Lexington was ordered to pay $244 million to the victims of his worldwide Ponzi scheme, Zeek Rewards. Steve and Michele invited everyone back for a Christmas party, where they gave Michele's stepfather a special gift--the pickup truck he'd always wanted. Ghantt:We're both North Carolina boys so we had a lot to talk about from the very beginning. "Think of how many women would have stood by. One thing about teammates, in David's view: You could always trust them. They paid for all of it in cash. Him and I still talk every now and then. So he and some friends decided at the end of his Oct. 4 shift he would load a company van with more than 2,000 pounds of cash and just drive away. Nah, it was always about the money, he told the agents. About the same time, Kelly and McKinney received phone calls from agents who told them to open their doors. "It probably should bother me," he said. And then I could hear her laughing. But agents weren't ready to arrest Kelly and Steve. Basically, he needed a score to make his problems go away. Inside were, along with other personal items, his keys and wedding ring. Ghantt was working a late shift, and just after 6:30 p.m., his coworkers were packing up and heading for home. More than 20 people ended up in the FBI's dragnet. Cool, I say. In the dark, Scott inserted one key into the back door slot. Or as he tells me, How many people in the United States havent thought about robbing a bank? But you cant get blood from a stone, Johns said. This time, David told McKinney the truth. (John D. Simmons/The Charlotte Observer via AP), Police: Officer Who Shot Black Man Retired 'In Bad Standing', 3 Kansas City Officers Who Were Shot Released From Hospital, 1 Killed When Business Jet Encounters Severe Turbulence. Loomis Fargo Heist of 1997 - History and Other Things The money was heavy. . 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. Campbell, a mother of two, was in the process of divorcing her. I loved it. Your California Privacy Rights/Privacy Policy. 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. Everybody seemed stunned. Question: Any contact with Steve Chambers or any of the others involved with the heist? What that says is, We will never forgive you for what youve done.. . I was burned out and just didn't know it. The Chambers, however, didnt fit in with the other members of the gated community. I told the lead investigator I was glad to see him.. Heres what happened on Sunday nights episode. She didn't plan to move to Mexico. Kelly Campbell - Wikipedia They planned to kill a man named David Ghantt, the guy who had made their extravagant new lifestyle a reality. Tags: Associated Press, courts, crime, North Carolina. ", "I wouldn't do it. He and co-worker Kelly Campbell, 27, had developed a close relationship and were spending time together outside of work. By late November, McKinney made a third trip to Mexico, saying he'd help David move to Mexico City. Where was Ghantt? 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. He would pay McKinney $250,000, half upfront. Some amateur thieves might turn to movies and TV shows for lessons on criminal behavior. One of them tapped him on the back. He couldn't even bear to stick around for the final tally--though when he left he didn't forget to take $6,000, the first cut of his expected $100,000 share. About 20 ago, Campbell sent him a letter of apology, but he never responded. 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. In real life: False. 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. He didnt even really question me. Back then, it was one of the hotspots for hiding money. Ghantt planned to live off the interest for the rest of his life. Time passed, and Campbell eventually quit her job at Loomis Fargo. 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. Given his position at the bank, hed be the one to pull off the robbery, and he intended to be ready. You see, there's a reason Loomis Fargo used armored cars to move large amounts of cash. 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. About 10 frantic minutes later, Scott found the right key. In the meantime, the FBI was closing in looking to bust a total of 21 suspected accomplices. Heist!: The $17 Million Loomis Fargo Theft - amazon.com Ghantt pulled out $50,000 from the back of the unmarked Loomis Fargo van. David kissed his sleeping wife on the cheek on the morning of Oct. 4. Steven Chambers [Misc. She laughed for like 45 minutes. real kelly campbell loomis fargo heist - molecularrecipes.com I studied up on the FBI. Kelly, using David's cell phone, kept beeping him. You've violated that trust. You're an idiot.'". The true crime behind Asheville-based Galifianakis film He couldn't talk.". He wouldn't give me the opportunity to say anything else. Before long, the FBI had wiretaps on the ringleader, Steve Chambers, and then they waited for the right time to make their arrests. The next day, he was sitting next to FBI agent Mark Rozzi on a US Airways flight to Charlotte. 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. Speaking of his co-defendants, Ghantt says hes not currently in contact with any of them. 'Masterminds' Review: Loomis Fargo Robbery Where Are They Now? - Pajiba . ". The top-ranked pie in North Carolina doesnt look like pie at all. Question: Do you ever think you could have been killed? At first, I just blended in with the tourists and picked up a few translation books, Ghantt explains. "I was dumb," Ghantt said Wednesday, the eve before the movie hits screens nationwide. He flip-flopped on the heist idea three or four times. Question: Should people go see this movie? "She said, 'What would it take to convince you to do it?' Eventually, Steve made Kelly believe they could steal from Loomis and get away with it, she said. There, Scott and Eric paced the floor as Steve tried to calm them down. But because David's relationship with his Loomis bosses had been rocky, he says, he doesn't feel sorry about what he did to the company. But I thought this is me being hard-headed Im going to ride this thing to the ground. And so thats what I did.. 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. The others, though, went no farther than Cramer Mountain. shes now Miss USA. Posted on . He flew in an ultra-light plane. He grabbed the tapes from two VCRs that connected to 16 security cameras. I didnt pick the heist team. And it turned Steve into he thought he was Don Corleone all of a sudden.. 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. 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. 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. Kelly had no problem fanning the flames of their old flirtation. Campbell was another employee at Loomis Fargo and she and Ghantt quickly struck up a relationship, one that Campbell denies was ever romantic though FBI evidence says otherwise, and one that continued after she left the company. On his second trip, Steve gave McKinney David's hotel address. David quickly realized he was the intended victim. Updated: 11:31 AM EDT October 4, 2022 CHARLOTTE, N.C. Tuesday is the 25th anniversary of the infamous Loomis Fargo heist in Charlotte, where a bank worker, with the help of two accomplices,. "I said, 'That's all they gave me,' " McKinney recalled. This real-life crime is the core of "Untitled Armored Car Project," which stars Zach Galifianakis, Owen Wilson and Kristen Wiig. Should David be killed after he gave them the money? Then another. 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. . Ghantt, meanwhile, was losing his patience and starting to make threats. 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. Chambers never held Campbell hostage by locking her in a shed on his property. 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. The name she gave the pup is apropos. He and his wife, Tammy, lived in a mobile home in Kings Mountain, N.C. Money was always tight. As soon as Corey left, I pretended like I was leaving. Hidden in it was a 3 1/2-carat diamond ring that cost $43,000. "We're not the type that questions everything people tell us," Floyd said. Kelly called David at. Did you get paid? This meant a bump in pay, up to $8.15 an hour. I hit the local library the thing that we used to do before Google, Ghantt says with a small laugh. At the Halloween party, though, Kelly gave in to Steve, and agreed it had to be done. And though she had been made night shift supervisor at Allied Security, she still felt she would never make the money she needed. 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. SEVEN NABBED IN CHARLOTTE HEIST\ - Greensboro News and Record Some received probation for money laundering, many others did hard time. 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. 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. David told her he'd need help moving the money, getting a new ID and leaving the country. Hes going to start bringing you money. Alright. Youre supposed to get less time for cooperating, a lesser penalty, and instead, you see what she got hit with. Gronquist said. Its in the ether. In hindsight, it doesnt surprise me a bit, Ghantt says, a bitter laugh catching in his throat. Yes, happy. When he said, 'I'll give you $20,000 to hold a million,' I said, 'Sure.' The barrels were Steves idea, Ghantt says. Kelly was no criminal. Then he was driving in the darkness with a van full of cash. 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. Some of that money is just gone. Not a documentary. That led to better jobs, like the one at Loomis. Records show the government has garnished his Social Security checks. Until, that is, he decided to hell with it he was going to pull-off the second largest heist in U.S. history. He had just returned to his home in Jacksonville, Fla., when he agreed to talk about the heist, his life now and what went wrong when a group of friends who thought they could get away with stealing $17 million cash. He had stolen $17 million from Loomis Fargo. Meanwhile, Michele Chambers was laughing and saying, repeatedly, "Look at all this money!" He had an endearing smile, a beautiful wife and two children. But as soon as he drove off, I went right back in and opened the vault. Federal law stops government collection efforts 20 years after a defendant leaves prison. He realized that if they met the minimum monthly payments, the bill would take 30 years to pay. He goes, My name is Bruno. In early November, Steve lured the real Mike McKinney, an ex-Marine, to North Carolina from his Illinois home. 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. The whole town I was staying in was 98.9 percent Mexican, except for when the cruise ships were in, Ghantt recalls. They didn't know it, but they were leaving $3.3 million behind. Ultimately, though, the heist wasnt Ghantts idea, which meant he didnt decide who else was involved. To protect themselves, David and Steve didn't meet or talk. First, they loaded the cash into blue 55-gallon barrels, and then they moved the barrels into a rental van. "I wanted to be more like my mom and dad were.". I've got a good woman.". Ghantt knew Chambers as Steve, but didnt find out that his last name was Chambers until the arrests were made. Ghantt and one other employee were the last to leave. At the party, Steve invited Michele's stepfather, truck driver Dennis Floyd, to the basement to play pool. If you go from a mobile home to a mansion, that's going to attract attention. So the last third of the movie is almost entirely fiction. Figure in Loomis Heist Gets Prison | AP News "I've learned that I'm a fortunate man," he said. The pager entry was 1-4-3. Stay informed daily on the latest news and advice on COVID-19 from the editors at U.S. News & World Report. After a Gulf War stint in the Army, David got married in 1992. Ive never taken offense to anything like that, he tells me. David trusted her. Twenty-five years ago, a small group of rural North Carolinian amateur bank robbers pulled off the second-largest heist in American history. Loomis, Fargo offered a $500,000 reward after the theft. I pay (restitution to) thousands of people, but its in drips and drabs.. She also assured the teller her cash wasn't drug money. When she realized Ghantt never came home from work the night before, she contacted the police and filed a missing persons report. Though David had no criminal experience, he felt he could offer expert advice: He'd just finished reading a book on the FBI. . Besides her prison sentence . Masterminds (2016 film) - Wikipedia He said every year he files his taxes and the IRS takes all of his tax return. Throughout the multi-year-long case and subsequent trials, journalists often referred to Ghantt and the others as trailer trash and hillbillies. Only a nickel on every dollar have been collected so far. He played high school football at Mays High School in Atlanta, and college football at Georgia Tech . 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. real kelly campbell loomis fargo heist real kelly campbell loomis fargo heist (No Ratings Yet) . . . I really enjoyed the little scuba diving trip. . In February 1998, the FBI tapped their phones and listened to Steve discuss depositing $2.5 million in the Cayman Islands. Things started to go south the night of the robbery.
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