They were the butt of a national joke. Posted on . I mean, cause greed is a funny animal. They discussed it further, and Campbell asked him when they should do it. Kelly Campbell, 29, a former company employee, entered guilty pleas earlier to bank larceny, money laundering and conspiracy to commit murder charges. He grabbed the tapes from two VCRs that connected to 16 security cameras. 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. See all of the stories here. Things started to go south the night of the robbery. He'd stay up all night, boosted by coffee, waiting for the sunrise over the ocean. The number of people involved had ballooned after Steve started asking friends and family to help him launder the stolen cash. Then another. Back then, it was one of the hotspots for hiding money. Ghantt planned to live off the interest for the rest of his life. They put up mauve wallpaper. 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. Three weeks later, the couple purchased, in cash, a $635,000 stone mansion. 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. Chambers and Campbell were waiting for him in the Loomis Fargo parking lot, both in separate vehicles. So I was glad it was over. The only person not to plead guilty in the case, former Gastonia attorney Jeff Guller, ended up doing eight years for money laundering. The others sat in their cars across the street and watched him struggle to open the heavy gate. The best states in the U.S. come from coast to coast. Industry leading Training and Development. He recalled that another agent, Phil King, said, "Hey, there was an article in the [Charlotte] Observer about beeper codes. That was the most painful truth to come to. 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. It wouldn't work, Kelly told him. Kelly relayed his message to Steve. 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. 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. David was excited, jabbering about their future together. 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. The biggest restitution numbers for victims of financial crimes generally involve Ponzi schemes or sweepstakes fraud, not cash thefts. Kelly Jane Campbell, a former Loomis employee; Michael L. McKinney . Keep supporting great journalism by turning off your ad blocker. As soon as Corey left, I pretended like I was leaving. She laughed for like 45 minutes. Dental plans . So he got in a cab and went to a mall. At the Halloween party, though, Kelly gave in to Steve, and agreed it had to be done. But what did that mean? On his way out, he grabbed the surveillance video, hoping to cover his tracks. The others, though, went no farther than Cramer Mountain. Working together, they got the gate open, then drove in a caravan to the Reynolds & Reynolds parking lot. In real life: False. He told him McKinney was in Mexico to kill somebody. That October, the Chamberses' bank accounts ballooned. He had even scheduled a follow-up appointment at the dentist. She also assured the teller her cash wasn't drug money. In Campbells case, Gronquist says his client was buried in court-ordered debt despite the fact that she took responsibility for what she had done and cooperated with prosecutors and the FBI. 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. By then Id figured out that Bruno was up to no good, and that Id probably never seen any more of my money. 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. "For the first year, they're all over you. Like David, Kelly was frustrated with her marriage. Question: Any contact with Steve Chambers or any of the others involved with the heist? The mystery 1-4-3 caller had been Kelly, though agents didn't know it yet. What made her abandon an ordinary existence to commit this spectacular, doomed crime? Eric watched. It's about the 1997 Loomis Fargo robbery also known as the "hillbillly heist" the second largest cash robbery in the history of the United States. In real life: True. He said every year he files his taxes and the IRS takes all of his tax return. I couldn't understand why I hadn't been more successful," David said. Ghantt and one other employee were the last to leave. He hated the sweet smell of the green ink, and the $8.15-an-hour salary. Getting restitution, its like pulling teeth.. "I thought he was goofing around.". Then FBI agent Wydra watched Steve's wife, Michele, deposit about $8,000 at a Gaston County, N.C., bank. You might as well go all the way now.". In mid-November, McKinney carried $10,000 to Cancun but wound up spending most of it on himself. On Oct. 5, the Loomis heist celebrates its 25th birthday. 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. Question: You were a consultant? And to me, if it pisses them off, Im all for it.. The platform is designed to engage citizens and government leaders in a discussion about what needs improvement across the country. What that says is, We will never forgive you for what youve done.. Though David had said earlier he thought there was $15 million in the vault, the sight of that much cash held them spellbound. CHARLOTTE, N.C. (AP) _ A woman who helped plan the $17 million robbery of armored car company Loomis, Fargo & Co. was sentenced Tuesday to nearly six years in prison and ordered to pay back more than $4 million. They placed a bust of Caesar in the dining room. I didn't think I had the guts. and "I love money!" So the last third of the movie is almost entirely fiction. Or that it was an inheritance. The robbery of some $17 million quickly became one of the wildest bank heists of the last quarter century. This is where it starts to unravel, Ghantt tells me with a wry laugh. 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. I wanted to get as far away as I could. Loomis, Fargo offered a $500,000 reward after the theft. . We got this guy named Bruno. They involve Loomis armored car driver David Scott Ghantt. "But I had to know.". David was living under the name Mike McKinney on a phony ID. 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. 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. A report by the General Accounting Office found that as of budget year 2016, $110 billion in restitution ordered by the federal courts was outstanding and that more than 90% of the amount had been classified as uncollectible.. As it turned out, Ghantt was zipping up his scuba suit in Mexico. In hindsight, it doesnt surprise me a bit, Ghantt says, a bitter laugh catching in his throat. Now that Kelly believes she has found Jesus, she has become more analytical about her past. I learned something that was valuable at the time: Most criminals never leave a 250, maybe 300-mile circle from their home base. Kelly says she underestimated the value of her life before the heist. Or purchase a subscription for unlimited access to real news you can count on. 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. (John D. Simmons/The Charlotte Observer via AP) The Associated Press, BY MICHAEL GORDON, The Charlotte Observer. Steve also offered $100,000 to his 26-year-old cousin. Until, that is, he decided to hell with it he was going to pull-off the second largest heist in U.S. history. 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. David complained it wasn't enough. Ghantt was missing and no one, not even his wife, knew where he was. "As soon as you start, you realize there's no going back," David recalled. You cannot fine low-income people millions of dollars. 2500 City West Blvd., Suite 2300 Houston, TX 77042. Ghantt started at Loomis Fargo in 1994, and soon worked his way up from an armored car driver to a vault supervisor. On his second trip, Steve gave McKinney David's hotel address. Throughout the multi-year-long case and subsequent trials, journalists often referred to Ghantt and the others as trailer trash and hillbillies. I've got a good woman.". Kelly Campbell, 29, a former company employee, entered guilty pleas earlier to bank larceny, money laundering and conspiracy to commit murder charges. In a word, "Teamwork. But after a year, they'll cut it down to two agents. I'll never pay it off on my paycheck." He had an endearing smile, a beautiful wife and two children. Her case closes in 2025. Was Queen Charlotte Black? So I guess I have no regrets. The plan called for David to leave the vault door ajar, then maneuver a few minutes alone at the end of his shift, long enough to loot the cash, then pass it to Kelly and Steve. Not many people can say they stole $17 million from their employer and had Zach Galifianakis play them in a movie. David was sentenced to 7 1/2 years. She declined to take a lie-detector test. Ghantt knew Chambers as Steve, but didnt find out that his last name was Chambers until the arrests were made. He rewarded Robert with $3,000 and vowed never to meet McKinney alone. Federal prosecutors would ultimately charge 21 defendants in the case, including the Floyds, who were charged with (and pleaded guilty to) money laundering. ];Kelly Jane Campbell [Misc. I hear her typing. Hed be in contact. Kelly was lying. Nah, it was always about the money, he told the agents. She asked about the limit for a cash deposit before "paperwork" was required. . Time passed, and Campbell eventually quit her job at Loomis Fargo. Instead of lobster, the man who stole $17 million survived on home-cooked pasta and grilled cheese sandwiches. He says the Loomis case shows how the criminal justice system and the courts treat lower-income people differently. Actor Owen Wilson plays him in the movie, which includes the real names of all the major players. His wife, Tammy, was as shocked as Loomis officials. It was the first Saturday in October. 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. Theres less security. There it was, "The Heist." Even still, he was 27, married and struggling to provide for his family. Kelly drove her pickup to a lot across the street from the Loomis building, on Suttle Avenue in Charlotte. They tried to break the van's bulletproof windows. His collection case, which closes in November 2026, got credit for the couples $540,000 house on Cramer Mountain in Gaston County, Butcher says. Down in Jacksonville, a Loomis Fargo employee took $18 million from an armored van he was driving. It was late in 1996. Filming in the Asheville area starting in early July, and is. Im on the phone with Kelly [Campbell], and Im like, Hey, I really was expecting a package to arrive. Ghantt:Since I still owe the federal government money I can't get paid. 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. That led to better jobs, like the one at Loomis. But I thought this is me being hard-headed Im going to ride this thing to the ground. And so thats what I did.. Few who were living in the area at the time can forget the "Velvet Elvis" painting Chambers had hanging in his mansion or the tales of cosmetic surgery, BMW convertibles and other signs of excess. The pager entry was 1-4-3. Everybody seemed stunned. Chambers never held Campbell hostage by locking her in a shed on his property. 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. 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. 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. There was in fact a basically similar conversation involving Chambers and Campbell that took place during a barbecue the Campbells were hosting. Clerk of Court Frank Johns of Charlotte. It's one of the biggest jokes at the place. 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. 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.. Thats one of my personality flaws. Steve was sentenced to 11 years 3 months in prison. The bigger the amount, however, the bigger the damages to victims that likely will never be repaid: Amy Paynes collection account was closed in 2020 with her having paid $53,000 of the $274,000 she owed. 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 early December, Steve and Michele invited relatives to their daughter's sixth birthday party. He'd even bragged that he'd killed people. I didnt pick the heist team. Yes, happy. If you want me to leave, Ill leave. Then, Ghantt went into another room. Basically, he needed a score to make his problems go away. "We're not the type that questions everything people tell us," Floyd said. They paid for all of it in cash. This material may not be published, broadcast, rewritten or redistributed. They picked me, he says with a rueful tone. Did you get paid? Given his position at the bank, hed be the one to pull off the robbery, and he intended to be ready. "You" has three. LeVaughn Kelly Campbell (born July 23, 1980 in Atlanta, Georgia) is a former football wide receiver. On Monday, October 6th, the FBI agents who were investigating the robbery located the Loomis Fargo van abandoned in the woods. If they could just sit on the money until then, he said, they'd be fine. "Every time my conscience would start bothering me," Kelly recalled, "I'd smoke another joint and forget about it.". Explain? Because surprise! real kelly campbell loomis fargo heist. And after two years, you're just a file." Find 145 people named Kelly Loomis along with free Facebook, Instagram, Twitter, and TikTok profiles on PeekYou - true people search. In that time, I realized most of my problems were because of me. When he walked onto the plane, he was wearing big, tall cowboy boots, where hed stuffed a majority of the smuggled cash. 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. There used to be a consulate in Cancun. It wasnt a big hit, but Ghantt, who was played by Galifianakis, gives it a rave review. . He flip-flopped on the heist idea three or four times. This is the person I counted as my friend. Why did this Charlotte engineer leave her job? Theres some things I want to do., Ghantt planned on traveling from Mexico to the Cayman Islands, bypassing customs along the way. He took bus tours of Mayan ruins. At the sight of all that money, Scott and Eric had the same thought: They'd made the worst mistake of their lives. In early November, Steve lured the real Mike McKinney, an ex-Marine, to North Carolina from his Illinois home. . Ghantt:It baffles me to this day. 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. Although David was in on most of the planning, one discussion between Steve and Kelly was kept a secret. Looking for Kelly Loomis? That time in prison was actually good for me. A woman by the name of Kelly Campbell had worked there in 1996, and she and Ghantt had become friends in that time. 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. They ditched the Loomis van, then drove the cash-heavy Budget van to Steve's mobile home in Lincoln County, where his wife, Michele, waited with a calculator and rubber bands. CLICK HERE FOR PHOTOS FROM 1998 and ACTORS IN MOVIE. I knew that the news wouldnt break until later that morning. She didn't plan to move to Mexico. The next week, they heard Steve plan to send Mike McKinney to Mexico to kill David Ghantt. When he landed in Cancun, his first stop was Walmart. And robbing a truck was dangerous. Now, I kind of know something is fishy., Alone in Mexico with limited cash, Ghantt thought about turning himself in. And when everybody else voted to kill me, she voted with them, he explains. 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,. 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. When neighbors asked where they got their money, Steve said hed played in the NFL. The whole town I was staying in was 98.9 percent Mexican, except for when the cruise ships were in, Ghantt recalls. Im a very deliberate person. Steve told Scott to ignore the remaining stacks, which were mostly ones and fives. Then, I started loading the van., Money, when bound in bulk and stacked in canvas bags, is heavier than you might expect. He pocketed the money and told Chambers and Campbell to send him his cut in Mexico. Visit us at Loomis.us. Steve told her to send David to Atlanta on a bus and drive back to the trailer. Back in North Carolina, Ghantts former accomplices were living high on the hog. When she realized Ghantt never came home from work the night before, she contacted the police and filed a missing persons report. The bash had a Cinderella theme, with a three-tiered cake that looked like a castle. Criminals dont usually get high-paying jobs after leaving prison. It affects everybody different. I can take it.". Chambers went from a mobile home in Lincoln County to a mansion in Cramerton. Hes going to start bringing you money. Alright. When Chambers and the two Erics were done loading the stolen millions into barrels, they abandoned the van in the woods. She'd heard his stories of other successful schemes, like getting refunds on phony tax returns, or operating a loan shark business. 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. I thought, Okay, if I get out of that bubble because the cops depend on that, even the feds my chances to get away go way up.. Question: How much of 'Masterminds' is true? 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. Her husband gave her a brown teddy bear. Thats nearly $11 million less than former Kings Mountain resident David Ghantt (played by Galifianakis in the film) helped steal from the vault where he worked in Charlotte back in October 1997. Ghantt was never in Chamberss presence until he actually handed off the money to him. 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. 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. His collection case closes in two years. The last time he called me, he said, Hey Ghantt, I just saw a big Loomis Fargo truck. Steve had another conversation with Kelly about killing David. Ultimately, though, the heist wasnt Ghantts idea, which meant he didnt decide who else was involved. He placed stacks of currency on a cart and wheeled it to the van about 15 feet away, inside the building. Soon thereafter, he met Kelly Campbell, a co-worker at Loomis Fargo. She could visit friends. Besides her prison sentence, Campbell must undergo mental health and drug treatment and spend two years in a supervised release program. Agents began picking up signs that David definitely had help: The abandoned Loomis van with $3.3 million in small bills still inside, and phone records showing that somebody beeped him while he stole the money, using David's own cell phone. He told Steve he hadn't been able to find David. I threw you out, and then threw the parachute after you. On Nov. 12, a confidential informant told the FBI about Steve Chambers's move from mobile home to mansion. He para-sailed, power-skied and scuba-dived. Loomis Armored Shreveport, LA, 1124 Forum Dr, Shreveport, LA, USA Shreveport, LA, USA Req #1990. That's the kind of movie they wanted to make. Hidden in it was a 3 1/2-carat diamond ring that cost $43,000. He hated his job, with its 12-hour shifts. The government does not run debtors prisons, says U.S. David told her he'd need help moving the money, getting a new ID and leaving the country. Ghantt:I've always known that story had potential to be a comedy or a drama. The first weekday after the heist, Michele Chambers, co-conspirator Steve's wife, walked into a NationsBank branch with a briefcase containing $5,000. After a Gulf War stint in the Army, David got married in 1992. Money'll turn your head, I don't care who you are. Question: Are you happy that Wilkesboro-nativeZach Galifianakis plays you in the movie? Kelly told the FBI she had done drugs with David but denied knowing about the theft. Dependent care account. The cart held about $2 million, and the thief made multiple trips. Each week, Michele deposited thousands of dollars in cash. "Things I always wanted to do, but never had the time or the money," he said. "He was in tears. I was burned out and just didn't know it. "But, I hate to admit it, it doesn't faze me one bit. Twenty people were convicted of roles big and small in the massive 1997 armored-car warehouse heist in west Charlotte. . Alert: Obviously, spoilers abound. 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. 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. . It was an ear-biting, Pierce Brosnan-loving, comet-obsessed world, and were here to relive every minute of it. It was his goodbye. Exciting. She will never get beyond the debt. I wish them all a happy life and that's about it. The barrels were Steves idea, Ghantt says. He longed for the middle-class lifestyle of his childhood, with its private religious-school education and Disney World vacations. He frequently entertained there, buying steaks for his guests. I mentioned it to Kelly. Ghantt would go on to spend six and a half years in federal prison. 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. Despite a mega-watt cast featuring Zach Galifianakis and a handful of some of Saturday Night Lives biggest current and former stars, Masterminds, the comedy about Loomis Fargo robbery completely tanked at the box office in its opening weekend, bowing in sixth place with just $6.6 million. Question: What made you, Chambers and the others think you could get away with this? Scary. Question: You went to Mexico. I loved it. Everything came crashing down on an early March morning in 1998.