real life kelly campbell loomis fargo

And so, he told her, Google my name. 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. The platform is designed to engage citizens and government leaders in a discussion about what needs improvement across the country. I knew it was just a matter of time. Kelly had no problem fanning the flames of their old flirtation. I'd probably change jobs. They sweated, though the night was cool. 2500 City West Blvd., Suite 2300 Houston, TX 77042. Michelle Chambers received seven years and eight months, while Steve Chambers was handed an 11-year sentence. At first, I just blended in with the tourists and picked up a few translation books, Ghantt explains. 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. 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." Heist!: The $17 Million Loomis Fargo Theft - amazon.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. I told the lead investigator I was glad to see him.. 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. And I was thinking about just showing up there. Punishment needs to be fair and realistic. He flew in an ultra-light plane. and "I love money!" It affects everybody different. real kelly campbell loomis fargo heist. Best States is an interactive platform developed by U.S. News for ranking the 50 U.S. states, alongside news analysis and daily reporting. It's one of the biggest jokes at the place. In mid-November, McKinney carried $10,000 to Cancun but wound up spending most of it on himself. Soon, the couple would be paying for something else, too: a hitman. Loomis Armored Shreveport, LA, 1124 Forum Dr, Shreveport, LA, USA Shreveport, LA, USA Req #1990. . "Every time my conscience would start bothering me," Kelly recalled, "I'd smoke another joint and forget about it.". 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. Twenty-five years ago, a small group of rural North Carolinian amateur bank robbers pulled off the second-largest heist in American history. Question: Should people go see this movie? On Monday, October 6th, the FBI agents who were investigating the robbery located the Loomis Fargo van abandoned in the woods. Ghantt, his former co-worker Kelly Campbell and her friends Steve and Michelle Chambers carried out the Loomis Fargo heist on Oct. 4, 1997. Loomis - Home By . 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. I was looking at small sailboats and theyre not cheap, he tells me. Before David left for the airport, he had handed Scott an eight-inch key ring. David, the international fugitive, lived it up, too--for a while. Steve told her to send David to Atlanta on a bus and drive back to the trailer. The government does not run debtors prisons, says U.S. Steve had another conversation with Kelly about killing David. He para-sailed, power-skied and scuba-dived. 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. They paid for all of it in cash. Or purchase a subscription for unlimited access to real news you can count on. And though she had been made night shift supervisor at Allied Security, she still felt she would never make the money she needed. real kelly campbell loomis fargo heist - phnxathletica.com 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. It was late in 1996. He would pay McKinney $250,000, half upfront. Alert: Obviously, spoilers abound. Then another. David had grabbed $50,000 cash, but could figure out only how to carry $25,000 with him on the plane. But after a year, they'll cut it down to two agents. Scott was so nervous, he said, that he couldn't help. The figures can be astounding. 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. "He was speechless," said Sandra Floyd. Chambers did hire McKinney to kill Ghantt, but initially McKinney was making personal cash deliveries to Ghantt in Mexico on behalf of Chambers. In real life: False. They picked me, he says with a rueful tone. 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. 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. "I was unhappy with my life. David thought about it. He was signed by the Minnesota Vikings as an undrafted free agent in 2002. I knew that the news wouldnt break until later that morning. That led to better jobs, like the one at Loomis. 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. Theres less security. Jeffrey Guller, who at 81 is by far the oldest of the Loomis defendants, still owes almost $1.1 million on his original court debt of $1.14 million and will remain on the governments books for another four years. Based on a true story, the premise itself is fascinating, which makes Masterminds all the more a waste. Only a nickel on every dollar have been collected so far. David was living under the name Mike McKinney on a phony ID. That's the kind of movie they wanted to make. He'd even bragged that he'd killed people. Then he was driving in the darkness with a van full of cash. In that time, I realized most of my problems were because of me. No regrets. Man at the center of Loomis Fargo heist 25 years ago now a 'normal guy Figure in Loomis Heist Gets Prison | AP News Not many people can say they stole $17 million from their employer and had Zach Galifianakis play them in a movie. By the time the month concluded, the couple had purchased a 7,000-square-foot stone mansion in a gated country club community. Without really intending to, Kelly recalls, she turned the conversation to the possibility of a heist. Steve also offered $100,000 to his 26-year-old cousin. Looking back at the Loomis heist - Gaston Gazette "Think of how many women would have stood by. He hated his job, with its 12-hour shifts. But I thought this is me being hard-headed Im going to ride this thing to the ground. And so thats what I did.. About 5:45 a.m., he got into his pickup and began the 45-minute drive to work in Charlotte. I didn't think I had the guts. His collection case, which closes in November 2026, got credit for the couples $540,000 house on Cramer Mountain in Gaston County, Butcher says. Everything came crashing down on an early March morning in 1998. We got to the end of the day, and he was acting like he wanted to linger. An officer rang the doorbell. When he walked onto the plane, he was wearing big, tall cowboy boots, where hed stuffed a majority of the smuggled cash. I did every touristy thing you could possibly do while I was down there. You cannot fine low-income people millions of dollars. David was sentenced to 7 1/2 years. And I said, Hey, man, I got this. Some family members hid money in bank deposit boxes, other friends were asked to mule cash to the Cayman Islands. Michele told her mother she and Steve had been saving gambling winnings for the down payment. Working together, they got the gate open, then drove in a caravan to the Reynolds & Reynolds parking lot. Ghantt worked at Loomis Fargos regional office vault in Charlotte. You've violated that trust. On Nov. 12, a confidential informant told the FBI about Steve Chambers's move from mobile home to mansion. Ghantt was never in Chamberss presence until he actually handed off the money to him. Dental plans . 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. This is the person I counted as my friend. Mexican police, Interpol officers and an FBI agent were watching him. The next week, they heard Steve plan to send Mike McKinney to Mexico to kill David Ghantt. They also purchased tanning beds, a pool table, a Harley-Davidson Road King motorcycle and all kinds of expensive furniture. Chambers went from a mobile home in Lincoln County to a mansion in Cramerton. As soon as Corey left, I pretended like I was leaving. What that says is, We will never forgive you for what youve done.. There are multiples of thousands of these things coming every year. 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. She also must . "We had David Ghantt and Kelly Campbell tied together, and we had Steven Chambers and Eric Payne with unexplained wealth, but we didn't have a tie between them," Agent John Wydra said. Ghantt:Since I still owe the federal government money I can't get paid. Actor Owen Wilson plays him in the movie, which includes the real names of all the major players. 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. For reasons that remain obscure, Robert spilled the beans to David. >> 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,. The real 'Masterminds' Not until David was gone did Scott realize he didn't know which key to use. 6-Year Sentence For Kelly Campbell | The Seattle Times 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. "For the first year, they're all over you. Now, I kind of know something is fishy., Alone in Mexico with limited cash, Ghantt thought about turning himself in. 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. She was like, Well, at least you had guts, he says. Kelly Loomis Facebook, Instagram & Twitter on PeekYou Question: Any contact with Steve Chambers or any of the others involved with the heist? (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. They discussed it further, and Campbell asked him when they should do it. Cool, I say. His collection case closes in two years. Some of that money is just gone. I pay (restitution to) thousands of people, but its in drips and drabs.. Butcher says the federal courts in the Western District of North Carolina have never handled a case quite like Loomis. 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. Ghantt, meanwhile, was losing his patience and starting to make threats. She could walk under the trees, with the chickens and goats and dogs that live around her mobile home. And it turned Steve into he thought he was Don Corleone all of a sudden.. Federal prosecutors would ultimately charge 21 defendants in the case, including the Floyds, who were charged with (and pleaded guilty to) money laundering. Burks was also ordered to serve 15 years in prison, limiting his ability to balance his books. Just head on out. And so, he did. Then, I started loading the van., Money, when bound in bulk and stacked in canvas bags, is heavier than you might expect. 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. First, in January, he tried to get someone to take some millions down to Mexico. But first they wanted to know if it was a robbery or a robbery-homicide. Figure in Loomis Heist Gets Prison | AP News Then FBI agent Wydra watched Steve's wife, Michele, deposit about $8,000 at a Gaston County, N.C., bank. Ghantt went on to explain that he left for his flight to Mexico with about $25,000, and that two or three deliveries of extra money was made to him by the man Chambers would pay to kill him. The Chambers, however, didnt fit in with the other members of the gated community. Steve was sentenced to 11 years 3 months in prison. Get to me. Its that kind of excitement.. Did you get paid? Steven Chambers [Misc. But as soon as he drove off, I went right back in and opened the vault. But few could have guessed how spectacularly the heist would go wrong after the criminals initially got away with it. He took bus tours of Mayan ruins. Clerk of Court Frank Johns of Charlotte. 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. "Steve said, 'I think we ought to do it that night, when he drops off the van,' " Kelly recalled. His name was Corey. More than 20 people ended up in the FBI's dragnet. When neighbors asked where they got their money, Steve said hed played in the NFL. It was one of those things everyone (at Loomis Fargo) joked about, but in time, it became serious. Ghantt was scheduled to work a shift at the armored car company Oct. 4. Steve solicited two others to help move cash during the theft. Together, they drove in a convoy to an industrial warehouse eight miles away, where Eric Payne, a fourth accomplice was. "But, I hate to admit it, it doesn't faze me one bit. Truth be told, Ghantt had something of a crush on Campbell, and so, he told her exactly how hed pull off such a heist. 'Masterminds' Review: Loomis Fargo Robbery Where Are They Now? - Pajiba There was a little voice in my head that said, 'Don't do it. And youre like, Come on parachute. To say nothing of their art purchases like the aforementioned velvet Elvis portrait and a painting of a bulldog dressed as General George S. Patton. When Chambers and the two Erics were done loading the stolen millions into barrels, they abandoned the van in the woods. My love for my family is by far the most important thing in my life. Scott Grant said he hesitated, but agreed if no guns would be involved. If I hadn't done what I did the, the life I have now with my wife and child, I wouldn't have. Ghantt ultimately agreed to the plan, largely, due to a mountain of credit-card debt and in hopes of changing his life for the better. David complained it wasn't enough. In real life: Mostly true. Because surprise! Should David be killed after he gave them the money? 1997 Loomis Fargo Robbery - Strange Unexplained Mysteries Basic and voluntary life insurance plan. Contact Us | Loomis US 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. "I felt that if I didn't do something, I was going to snap," David said. Sandra Floyd, Michele Chambers's mother, remembers the first time she saw the house. Time passed, and Campbell eventually quit her job at Loomis Fargo. "He was in tears. 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 Mountain. Its hilarious. Him and I still talk every now and then. 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. Eric watched. Then, on a mid-September day, as he reviewed a credit card bill, David did some math. Steve told Scott to ignore the remaining stacks, which were mostly ones and fives. "I work construction. I had to go in there and tell her the whole story, and she was real cool about it. He flip-flopped on the heist idea three or four times. . When I call Ghantt to discuss his involvement in the Loomis Fargo heist, he confesses that hes feeling a bit tired from a day of honest labor. Each week, Michele deposited thousands of dollars in cash. If you want to go ahead and go, I got it. One thing about teammates, in David's view: You could always trust them. Speaking of his co-defendants, Ghantt says hes not currently in contact with any of them. Or as he tells me, How many people in the United States havent thought about robbing a bank? It wasnt a big hit, but Ghantt, who was played by Galifianakis, gives it a rave review. Ghantt was missing and no one, not even his wife, knew where he was. At the party, Steve invited Michele's stepfather, truck driver Dennis Floyd, to the basement to play pool. "I thought he was goofing around.". The biggest restitution numbers for victims of financial crimes generally involve Ponzi schemes or sweepstakes fraud, not cash thefts. Loomis, Fargo offered a $500,000 reward for his arrest and conviction. ];Kelly Jane Campbell [Misc. shes now Miss USA. What concerned her was the chance of getting caught. So I guess I have no regrets. 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. Theres no management around. I had a four-hour layover there, and then from New Orleans to Cancun.. On the radio, the "John Boy and Billy" show played the song "Take the Money and Run. They involve Loomis armored car driver David Scott Ghantt. . kellis@gastongazette.com 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. Steve had already paid McKinney $50,000 for the use of his ID. 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. I flew from Atlanta to New Orleans. "I'm glad I've grown out of that.". Kelly found herself standing beside David while they waited together for a bond hearing. 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. . They loaded the wine cellar with Pabst Blue Ribbon, and Steve hung a velvet portrait of Elvis Presley in the basement. I hope everyone has moved on. October was "a blast," he said. When he landed in Cancun, his first stop was Walmart. I wish them all a happy life and that's about it. David kissed his sleeping wife on the cheek on the morning of Oct. 4. Why did this Charlotte engineer leave her job? The movie was overly silly and, based on a post-screening conversation with former Observer reporter Jeff Diamant who wrote a detailed 279-page book about the occasionally funny but mostly just-plain fascinating crime, titled Heist much of what wound up in the film is fiction. It will be some time before she can commune with domestic animals again. Ghantt:It's kid-friendly, it's family-friendly (the movie is rated PG-13). 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. Kelly, using David's cell phone, kept beeping him. You see, there's a reason Loomis Fargo used armored cars to move large amounts of cash. He covers culture, politics, race, and other perplexing mysteries for MEL. 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. Now two NC men face prison. Is he telling the truth? They tried to break the van's bulletproof windows. The plan was to split the money three ways: Chambers, Campbell and Ghantt would each walk away with what Ghantt estimated to be $5 million a piece the kind of money that changes lives forever. The FBI now knew Chambers had Loomis cash. Campbell, a mother of two, was in the process of divorcing her. Steve Chambers has told agents the missing cash was stolen from a shed in Lincoln County. 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). The robbery of some $17 million quickly became one of the wildest bank heists of the last quarter century. Some received probation for money laundering, many others did hard time. . Meanwhile, back in North Carolina, Ghantts wife woke up to find her husband missing. David Ghantt And The Loomis Fargo Heist: The Outrageous True Story Heres what happened on Sunday nights episode. 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. I just had to call you., Today, Ghantt cant look back on the whole ordeal without some degree of pride. Campbell was released from federal custody in 2004 after serving five years, meaning her collection case will age out in December 2024. He and co-worker Kelly Campbell, 27, had developed a close relationship and were spending time together outside of work. Then another. "It probably should bother me," he said. Loomis employees drive the very core of our business. 1-4-3 is 'I love you.' In early November, Steve lured the real Mike McKinney, an ex-Marine, to North Carolina from his Illinois home. Thats pretty standard in restitution matters. Kelly drove her pickup to a lot across the street from the Loomis building, on Suttle Avenue in Charlotte. Too stupid to be true? Five 'Masterminds' missteps that actually happened About 5:30 the next morning, McKinney knocked on David's door and dropped $8,500 on the bed. The mystery 1-4-3 caller had been Kelly, though agents didn't know it yet. Kelly's company. He hated the sweet smell of the green ink, and the $8.15-an-hour salary. Things started to go south the night of the robbery. Im a very deliberate person. ". Question: How much of 'Masterminds' is true? Youre supposed to get less time for cooperating, a lesser penalty, and instead, you see what she got hit with. Gronquist said. Meanwhile, outside Reynolds & Reynolds, Steve, Scott and Eric needed to move 2,748 pounds of cash, quickly, from the Loomis van into the Budget van. He worked fueling airplanes, driving a forklift, and in 1994 he got a job as a vault superintendent at Loomis. Going south, nobody really looks at what youre shipping. Come for the Chumbawamba, and stay for the return of the Mack. . 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 . Fact check: Is there much truth to the new 'Masterminds' movie? Three weeks later, the couple purchased, in cash, a $635,000 stone mansion. Guller was the attorney for Steven Chambers, who came up with the original idea for the Loomis theft. David didn't even know Steve's name. I'll never pay it off on my paycheck." Thats where they feel comfortable., This piece of information would become critical to his getaway plan. And with Loomis, were looking at only one case. ', "He asked me if I'd mind holding some money for him. It was unclear whether anyone will get that money, authorities said. Was that really what it was about? In hindsight, it doesnt surprise me a bit, Ghantt says, a bitter laugh catching in his throat. All I needed was a change of pace.". More agents waited outside to arrest them. Kelly Jane Campbell, a former Loomis employee; Michael L. McKinney . 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. He had a favorite restaurant, Zandunga, which had a mariachi band each night and a view of the Caribbean. They set the date, Oct. 4, a Saturday when David knew he could be alone in the building after his shift. 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.

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