On Oct. 5, the Loomis heist celebrates its 25th birthday. They cursed. Steve told her to send David to Atlanta on a bus and drive back to the trailer. Restitution is a familiar part of sentencing in federal court. 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. Based on a true story, the premise itself is fascinating, which makes Masterminds all the more a waste. Ghantt worked at Loomis Fargos regional office vault in Charlotte. In 2017, for example, Paul Burks of Lexington was ordered to pay $244 million to the victims of his worldwide Ponzi scheme, Zeek Rewards. Where was Ghantt? This material may not be published, broadcast, rewritten or redistributed. Chambers never held Campbell hostage by locking her in a shed on his property. Then, I started loading the van., Money, when bound in bulk and stacked in canvas bags, is heavier than you might expect. When Chambers and the two Erics were done loading the stolen millions into barrels, they abandoned the van in the woods. Even still, he was 27, married and struggling to provide for his family. (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. Without really intending to, Kelly recalls, she turned the conversation to the possibility of a heist. Did you get paid? You can reach Kevin Ellis at 704-869-1823 or Twitter.com/TheGazetteKevin. Real-time updates and all local stories you want right in the palm of your hand. She could visit friends. Truth was, David wanted more than help leaving, he wanted company. . 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. 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. 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. It will be some time before she can commune with domestic animals again. I was burned out and just didn't know it. 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. 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 . I don't want to be mean, but that's probably the dumbest thing they could do. 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. 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. Health savings account and flexible spending account. I didnt pick the heist team. I pay (restitution to) thousands of people, but its in drips and drabs.. That time in prison was actually good for me. David was excited, jabbering about their future together. They were the butt of a national joke. By . He appeared happily matched with his high-spirited wife, Michele, and the two children from her first marriage. But I thought this is me being hard-headed Im going to ride this thing to the ground. And so thats what I did.. Twelve hours later, at 6 that evening, Eric Payne drove a rented Budget van to his workplace, a graphics company on Performance Road in western Mecklenburg County called Reynolds & Reynolds, which was closed for the night and had a secluded parking lot where they intended to transfer the cash. ". 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. A version of this story originally appeared on CharlotteObserver.com. 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. Hed be in contact. Soon thereafter, he met Kelly Campbell, a co-worker at Loomis Fargo. About 200 keys dangled from it. The best states in the U.S. come from coast to coast. Steve told Scott to ignore the remaining stacks, which were mostly ones and fives. Steve led the planning. She tried to apologize for the murder plot. This story was originally published October 3, 2016, 9:12 PM. His name was Corey. I really enjoyed the little scuba diving trip. He then began loading $17 million in unmarked bills inside a company van before driving away. The first weekday after the heist, Michele Chambers, co-conspirator Steve's wife, walked into a NationsBank branch with a briefcase containing $5,000. My love for my family is by far the most important thing in my life. Eventually, Steve made Kelly believe they could steal from Loomis and get away with it, she said. Zach always plays that bumbling kind of lunatic, but hes not, Ghantt says. "I missed my family. Kelly called David at. I just want people to go to the movies and have a good laugh, even if it's at my expense. Guller was the attorney for Steven Chambers, who came up with the original idea for the Loomis theft. The mystery 1-4-3 caller had been Kelly, though agents didn't know it yet. Scott Grant and Steve pulled up next to her in a Mazda. She could walk under the trees, with the chickens and goats and dogs that live around her mobile home. When she realized Ghantt never came home from work the night before, she contacted the police and filed a missing persons report. This real-life crime is the core of "Untitled Armored Car Project," which stars Zach Galifianakis, Owen Wilson and Kristen Wiig. Money'll turn your head, I don't care who you are. Yes, Carrie Underwood adopted a dog in Charlotte. 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. Question: Should people go see this movie? For reasons that remain obscure, Robert spilled the beans to David. Then another. But agents weren't ready to arrest Kelly and Steve. Clerk of Court Frank Johns of Charlotte. CLICK HERE FOR PHOTOS FROM 1998 and ACTORS IN MOVIE. Her case closes in 2025. He realized that if they met the minimum monthly payments, the bill would take 30 years to pay. David kissed his sleeping wife on the cheek on the morning of Oct. 4. 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. He didn't want to abandon his parents. Now two NC men face prison. For her part, Kelly Campbell spent six years in federal prison. I had a four-hour layover there, and then from New Orleans to Cancun.. There used to be a consulate in Cancun. Then Steve pushed Scott inside, and he began throwing plastic-wrapped bundles of tens, twenties, fifties and hundreds to Eric and Steve, who placed them in three blue 55-gallon barrels. I told them, Take it, box it up, and youll be able to ship it to me in Mexico. Back in the 1990s, you couldve probably boxed up a hot pink elephant and shipped it to Mexico; no one wouldve ever noticed. 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. Nah, it was always about the money, he told the agents. He says the Loomis case shows how the criminal justice system and the courts treat lower-income people differently. What made her abandon an ordinary existence to commit this spectacular, doomed crime? Hidden in it was a 3 1/2-carat diamond ring that cost $43,000. Filming in the Asheville area starting in early July, and is. I missed my wife. 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. She also must . Michele received the best gift of the night. Chambers went from a mobile home in Lincoln County to a mansion in Cramerton. She was devastated, Diamant said. Get to me. Its that kind of excitement.. Question: Are you happy that Wilkesboro-nativeZach Galifianakis plays you in the movie? I said, Probably, the best time would be on the weekend; theres fewer people there. We got to the end of the day, and he was acting like he wanted to linger. Federal law stops government collection efforts 20 years after a defendant leaves prison. The cart held about $2 million, and the thief made multiple trips. Next month, Payne will back in the Charlotte federal courthouse, this time to be sentenced from weapons and methamphetamine trafficking charges. Three weeks later, the couple purchased, in cash, a $635,000 stone mansion. Ghantt was scheduled to work a shift at the armored car company Oct. 4. real kelly campbell loomis fargo heist seeing a woodpecker after someone dies lectomano que significa. The Evergreen State takes the top spot again in the U.S. News Best States ranking on the strength of its tech sector and other industries. We spoke to the FBI agents who investigated the case who say the real-life. In the dark, Scott inserted one key into the back door slot. The barrels were Steves idea, Ghantt says. But it wasnt. Looking for Kelly Loomis? Steve now needed a hit man. It was an ear-biting, Pierce Brosnan-loving, comet-obsessed world, and were here to relive every minute of it. "We kept going, '1-4-3, 1-4-3,' " recalled Vic O'Korn, assistant special agent in charge of Charlotte's FBI office. 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. Loomis officials--forced to break into their own vault because David had taken the keys with him--calculated that he had stolen $17,044,000, making the second biggest heist in U.S. history, following the $18.8 million theft of an armored car by another Loomis Fargo employee just six months earlier. David, now 30, says he's sorry he abandoned his wife--who he says still loves him--and his family. They discussed it further, and Campbell asked him when they should do it. Ghantt and one other employee were the last to leave. Stay informed daily on the latest news and advice on COVID-19 from the editors at U.S. News & World Report. Then FBI agent Wydra watched Steve's wife, Michele, deposit about $8,000 at a Gaston County, N.C., bank. At the party, Steve invited Michele's stepfather, truck driver Dennis Floyd, to the basement to play pool. Military + Veterans. ". ". . To celebrate Halloween, about seven of Steve's friends, including Eric Payne and Kelly, gathered for a party at Steve's house. 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. All the while, Ghantt prepared himself for the task at hand. Was that really what it was about? Ghantt was never in Chamberss presence until he actually handed off the money to him. The FBI, in fact, obtained the evidence they needed to bring down the major players, including Chambers, after catching them talking about the murder plot on the telephone via wiretap. 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. He wouldn't give me the opportunity to say anything else. And though she had been made night shift supervisor at Allied Security, she still felt she would never make the money she needed. At the end of one session, they wound up kissing outside the pickup. Its hilarious. 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) They didn't know it, but they were leaving $3.3 million behind. At that same time, Steve was growing sick of the calls to send more money to Ghantt, and was looking for a way to end that issue. Careers. In early December, Steve and Michele invited relatives to their daughter's sixth birthday party. 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). Down in Jacksonville, a Loomis Fargo employee took $18 million from an armored van he was driving. "I thought he was goofing around.". . That sounds like a lot of money until its compared to the $18,930,201.26 the group was ordered to pay. I knew that the news wouldnt break until later that morning. 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. 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. He was also a former FBI informant who had tipped the bureau off to a planned robbery of a Loomis Fargo armored truck that never came to fruition. And it turned Steve into he thought he was Don Corleone all of a sudden.. When he walked onto the plane, he was wearing big, tall cowboy boots, where hed stuffed a majority of the smuggled cash. About the same time, Kelly and McKinney received phone calls from agents who told them to open their doors. Steve Chambers has told agents the missing cash was stolen from a shed in Lincoln County. He comes to my door, and hes got a brown paper bag in his hand. I was looking at small sailboats and theyre not cheap, he tells me. According to Butcher, Campbells last official payment came in June 2021 when the government appears to have seized a tax refund of $81.24. David didn't even know Steve's name. There were times when I drank really heavily.". I didn't think I had the guts. When we worked together [for Loomis], we'd joke about it. His new life in Mexico had begun. In that time, I realized most of my problems were because of me. He goes, My name is Bruno. He took bus tours of Mayan ruins. That day, FBI agents also would arrest Scott Grant and Eric Payne, who had spent his share of the money on a motorcycle and breast implants for his wife and two sisters. He'd even bragged that he'd killed people. 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,. It was unclear whether anyone will get that money, authorities said. They found Ghantts truck, and in it were his keys, some personal items and his wedding ring. I mean, cause greed is a funny animal. In real life: Yes and no. On his second trip, Steve gave McKinney David's hotel address. Or that hed gotten lucky gambling. 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. So yeah, Im kind of proud of it.. Kelly drove her pickup to a lot across the street from the Loomis building, on Suttle Avenue in Charlotte. She could spend time with her children and parents. She just called me up on the phone and said, Hey, lets meet one day after work. And then, we were talking and she says, How do you feel about robbing Loomis Fargo? Ghantt tells me. Ghantt:I don't think he ever really meant to harm me. First, in January, he tried to get someone to take some millions down to Mexico. I did every touristy thing you could possibly do while I was down there. (John D. Simmons/The Charlotte Observer via AP) The Associated Press, BY MICHAEL GORDON, The Charlotte Observer. When he was done, the man drove off to a nearby printing press, where the money was distributed into private vehicles amongst a handful of people. That was great. 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. and "I love money!" They stocked a wine cellar. I loved it. And with Loomis, were looking at only one case. Ghantt knew Chambers as Steve, but didnt find out that his last name was Chambers until the arrests were made. 2500 City West Blvd., Suite 2300 Houston, TX 77042. Best States is an interactive platform developed by U.S. News for ranking the 50 U.S. states, alongside news analysis and daily reporting. The figures can be astounding. 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. Back in North Carolina, Ghantts former accomplices were living high on the hog. I did a little research into crime statistics and the local cops. Basic and voluntary life insurance plan. Him and I still talk every now and then. He hated the sweet smell of the green ink, and the $8.15-an-hour salary. Her only brush with the law had been a DUI arrest. "Things I always wanted to do, but never had the time or the money," he said. Youre supposed to get less time for cooperating, a lesser penalty, and instead, you see what she got hit with. Gronquist said. 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. With the help of Aldo, a Mexican waiter he had befriended, David found a beach apartment in Cancun. 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. Time passed, and Campbell eventually quit her job at Loomis Fargo. They picked me, he says with a rueful tone. Then another. >> PHOTOS: The Loomis Fargo heist, 25 years later Ghantt, his former co-worker Kelly Campbell and her friends Steve and Michelle Chambers, carried out the Loomis Fargo heist on Oct. 4,.