real life kelly campbell loomis fargo real life kelly campbell loomis fargo

That led to better jobs, like the one at Loomis. 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. They placed a bust of Caesar in the dining room. 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. If you want me to leave, Ill leave. Then, Ghantt went into another room. The bash had a Cinderella theme, with a three-tiered cake that looked like a castle. 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. The cart held about $2 million, and the thief made multiple trips. 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 fled to Mexico. David kissed his sleeping wife on the cheek on the morning of Oct. 4. . Money'll turn your head, I don't care who you are. The next week, they heard Steve plan to send Mike McKinney to Mexico to kill David Ghantt. Best States is an interactive platform developed by U.S. News for ranking the 50 U.S. states, alongside news analysis and daily reporting. 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. 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. So yeah, Ghantt continues, I took a bus from there to Atlanta, and then I hopped a cab from the bus station to the airport in Atlanta., Back in North Carolina, his accomplices were working as fast as they could to hide the $17 million. 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. About the same time, Kelly and McKinney received phone calls from agents who told them to open their doors. . There it was, "The Heist." Ghantt knew Chambers as Steve, but didnt find out that his last name was Chambers until the arrests were made. Basic and voluntary life insurance plan. Is he telling the truth? "I was unhappy with my life. Besides her prison sentence, Campbell must undergo mental health and drug treatment and spend two years in a supervised release program. "I thought he was goofing around.". He told Steve he hadn't been able to find David. In that time, I realized most of my problems were because of me. Instead of lobster, the man who stole $17 million survived on home-cooked pasta and grilled cheese sandwiches. In real life: False. I was just going to get the money into the van. His assignment was to deliver the cash to David and keep him happy until they could find a way to kill him, McKinney said. Steve had already paid McKinney $50,000 for the use of his ID. 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. Scott Grant and Steve pulled up next to her in a Mazda. It was late in 1996. Only a nickel on every dollar have been collected so far. Then, on a mid-September day, as he reviewed a credit card bill, David did some math. Many of the lesser players in the conspiracy have been the most effective in paying their debts. . Michele tells me you're in a financial bind. Thats pretty standard in restitution matters. "But I had to know.". Michele received the best gift of the night. 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. 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. In real life: True. Now, I kind of know something is fishy., Alone in Mexico with limited cash, Ghantt thought about turning himself in. how to match 8 hypercubes in bejeweled. It didnt take the local police long to put the pieces together. 27 febrero, 2023 . David, the international fugitive, lived it up, too--for a while. Then, I started loading the van., Money, when bound in bulk and stacked in canvas bags, is heavier than you might expect. But you cant get blood from a stone, Johns said. 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. His collection case, which closes in November 2026, got credit for the couples $540,000 house on Cramer Mountain in Gaston County, Butcher says. He partied, met women, drank, skied and hung out at the beach. Steve told Scott to ignore the remaining stacks, which were mostly ones and fives. On Nov. 12, a confidential informant told the FBI about Steve Chambers's move from mobile home to mansion. Not Ghantt. Thatd be the time to do it, Ghantt recalls. Not a documentary. This is where it starts to unravel, Ghantt tells me with a wry laugh. Ghantt was already married when he took part in the heist, to a woman named Tammy who author Diamant described as very nice. It is true, however, that she had no idea about the plot and that he fled to Mexico without telling her. 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. 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. 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. The number of people involved had ballooned after Steve started asking friends and family to help him launder the stolen cash. The initials on the money wrapper belonged to a Loomis employee who hadn't worked there since before the heist. 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. 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. Though David had no criminal experience, he felt he could offer expert advice: He'd just finished reading a book on the FBI. There used to be a consulate in Cancun. 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. I would call us friends. And robbing a truck was dangerous. It's one of the biggest jokes at the place. ", "I wouldn't do it. Except the person he offered $150,000 to mule $2.5 million down to Ghantt in Mexico turned him down and instead went to the FBI. For her part, Kelly Campbell spent six years in federal prison. ". Scary. As soon as Corey left, I pretended like I was leaving. Fourteen defendants were ordered to make restitution payments to Loomis Fargo totaling almost $19 million. He couldn't talk.". Or is the loot buried in somebody's yard? Was that really what it was about? 2022 marks the 25th anniversary of the year that everything happened 1997. He hated the sweet smell of the green ink, and the $8.15-an-hour salary. Michelle, meanwhile, purchased new breasts for herself, along with a $43,000 diamond ring and a new convertible BMW Z3. The teller, who hadn't asked, filed a "suspicious activity report." Should David be killed after he gave them the money? In real life: Mostly true. Truth was, David wanted more than help leaving, he wanted company. Kelly was lying. And with Loomis, were looking at only one case. That was pretty awesome., It felt like a dream vacation until he started running out of money. I couldn't understand why I hadn't been more successful," David said. 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. LeVaughn Kelly Campbell (born July 23, 1980 in Atlanta, Georgia) is a former football wide receiver. They agreed that after the heist, David would immediately move to Mexico, alone, but Kelly would soon join him there, with her two children. Now two NC men face prison. It was an ear-biting, Pierce Brosnan-loving, comet-obsessed world, and were here to relive every minute of it. I wish them all a happy life and that's about it. She also must . In real life: True. Kelly drove her pickup to a lot across the street from the Loomis building, on Suttle Avenue in Charlotte. Yes, happy. I'll never pay it off on my paycheck." On his way out, he grabbed the surveillance video, hoping to cover his tracks. Because surprise! He longed for the middle-class lifestyle of his childhood, with its private religious-school education and Disney World vacations. As soon as you put that first bag of stolen money in that van, theres no going back. A woman by the name of Kelly Campbell had worked there in 1996, and she and Ghantt had become friends in that time. He worked fueling airplanes, driving a forklift, and in 1994 he got a job as a vault superintendent at Loomis. Question: Should people go see this movie? 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. Scott Grant said he hesitated, but agreed if no guns would be involved. But first they wanted to know if it was a robbery or a robbery-homicide. Then another. Or purchase a subscription for unlimited access to real news you can count on. David quickly realized he was the intended victim. He was signed by the Minnesota Vikings as an undrafted free agent in 2002. They didn't know it, but they were leaving $3.3 million behind. 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. [Kelly] told me, 'Just think about it.' There was a third person with them, too, a man named Eric Grant. . Thatd probably been the best thing for me to do, really. Some amateur thieves might turn to movies and TV shows for lessons on criminal behavior. He learned to parachute. Or does it sit in an offshore account, waiting for a prison sentence to end? Kelly Campbell, 29, a former company employee, entered guilty pleas earlier to bank larceny, money laundering and conspiracy to commit murder charges. CLICK HERE FOR PHOTOS FROM 1998 and ACTORS IN MOVIE. No regrets. He grabbed the tapes from two VCRs that connected to 16 security cameras. Actor Owen Wilson plays him in the movie, which includes the real names of all the major players. He played high school football at Mays High School in Atlanta, and college football at Georgia Tech . On his second trip, Steve gave McKinney David's hotel address. Was Queen Charlotte Black? Chambers, who still lives in Gaston County and operates a gym, declined to comment. 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. At the end of one session, they wound up kissing outside the pickup. In real life: False. In the two days after the robbery, agents interviewed more than 100 people, most connected with David. 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. He said every year he files his taxes and the IRS takes all of his tax return. 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. Now he offered to pay him to carry cash to David--Steve said he was a friend hiding out after a bad drug deal, McKinney recalled. When neighbors asked where they got their money, Steve said hed played in the NFL. Ghantt worked at Loomis Fargos regional office vault in Charlotte. 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. 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. Based on a true story, the premise itself is fascinating, which makes Masterminds all the more a waste. On Monday, October 6th, the FBI agents who were investigating the robbery located the Loomis Fargo van abandoned in the woods. He appeared happily matched with his high-spirited wife, Michele, and the two children from her first marriage. Then another. Nah, it was always about the money, he told the agents. I knew that the news wouldnt break until later that morning. But I thought this is me being hard-headed Im going to ride this thing to the ground. And so thats what I did.. In real life: False. You've violated that trust. 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. 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. Although David was in on most of the planning, one discussion between Steve and Kelly was kept a secret. About 200 keys dangled from it. Campbell was released from federal custody in 2004 after serving five years, meaning her collection case will age out in December 2024. Get to me. Its that kind of excitement.. . 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. Tags: Associated Press, courts, crime, North Carolina. They put up mauve wallpaper. You might as well take it all, Ghantt tells me. Loomis Armored Shreveport, LA, 1124 Forum Dr, Shreveport, LA, USA Shreveport, LA, USA Req #1990. She could walk under the trees, with the chickens and goats and dogs that live around her mobile home. 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. 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. At first, David Ghantt said, "I didn't take her seriously. Federal law stops government collection efforts 20 years after a defendant leaves prison. We got this guy named Bruno. . 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. 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.. All rights reserved. And youre like, Come on parachute. 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. Steve told me to tell [David] whatever was necessary to keep him happy.". I wanted to make a drastic change and I went for it," Ghantt said. . They planned to kill a man named David Ghantt, the guy who had made their extravagant new lifestyle a reality. The cash was covered with dog food. Federal prosecutors would ultimately charge 21 defendants in the case, including the Floyds, who were charged with (and pleaded guilty to) money laundering. Even still, he was 27, married and struggling to provide for his family. Then FBI agent Wydra watched Steve's wife, Michele, deposit about $8,000 at a Gaston County, N.C., bank. He was doing what the rest of us were doing making bad decisions. 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. 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. real kelly campbell loomis fargo heist. What made her do it? 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. Real-time updates and all local stories you want right in the palm of your hand. If you want to go ahead and go, I got it. "Every time my conscience would start bothering me," Kelly recalled, "I'd smoke another joint and forget about it.". Visit us at Loomis.us. Each week, Michele deposited thousands of dollars in cash. On the radio, the "John Boy and Billy" show played the song "Take the Money and Run. 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. He recalled that another agent, Phil King, said, "Hey, there was an article in the [Charlotte] Observer about beeper codes. . By late November, McKinney made a third trip to Mexico, saying he'd help David move to Mexico City. Zach always plays that bumbling kind of lunatic, but hes not, Ghantt says. By then Id figured out that Bruno was up to no good, and that Id probably never seen any more of my money. Your California Privacy Rights/Privacy Policy. . The whole town I was staying in was 98.9 percent Mexican, except for when the cruise ships were in, Ghantt recalls. My love for my family is by far the most important thing in my life. The bizarre true story of the criminals behind the second-largest bank heist in American history. It was unclear whether anyone will get that money, authorities said. 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. Question: Do you ever think you could have been killed? Its everything thats coming north.. He and co-worker Kelly Campbell, 27, had developed a close relationship and were spending time together outside of work. 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. These (Loomis) guys, not so much.. Steve had another conversation with Kelly about killing David. Then he was driving in the darkness with a van full of cash. There was in fact a basically similar conversation involving Chambers and Campbell that took place during a barbecue the Campbells were hosting. Question: What made you, Chambers and the others think you could get away with this? He flew in an ultra-light plane. Why fans love it. Chambers never held Campbell hostage by locking her in a shed on his property. Though David had said earlier he thought there was $15 million in the vault, the sight of that much cash held them spellbound. And it turned Steve into he thought he was Don Corleone all of a sudden.. David was living under the name Mike McKinney on a phony ID. 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. Ghantt: My cut was supposed to be about $5 million, but that's not what I ended up with. Kelly, she says now, was thinking about how happy she would be to send this man far away from her. Ghantt:I don't think he ever really meant to harm me. 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. David was sentenced to 7 1/2 years. David told her he'd need help moving the money, getting a new ID and leaving the country. These days, the 52-year-old husband and father lives in Jacksonville, Florida, where he works at a heavy equipment rental agency. She could spend time with her children and parents. 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. It wasn't known whether anyone would receive it. In the dark, Scott inserted one key into the back door slot. The mystery 1-4-3 caller had been Kelly, though agents didn't know it yet. I was looking at small sailboats and theyre not cheap, he tells me. On March 1, David Ghantt left his hotel to do some laundry. He then began loading $17 million in unmarked bills inside a company van before driving away. His collection case closes in two years. Theres no way to get it back, Butcher told The Charlotte Observer. In real life: Yes and no. So he convinced a local hoodlum in Mexico to try to kill Ghantt. Theres less security. I mean, cause greed is a funny animal. Here's what Floyd recalls: After two games of pool, Steve told him, "You know, we do a lot of gambling. Without really intending to, Kelly recalls, she turned the conversation to the possibility of a heist. Scott was so nervous, he said, that he couldn't help. This was in the 1990s the Columbia Airport back then was closed at around 9:30, 10 oclock. "For the first year, they're all over you. Ghantt:I hate to say it, but I had six years of sitting in a box to think about my life. Kelly drove David to the airport. 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. I don't want to be mean, but that's probably the dumbest thing they could do. Ghantt was working a late shift, and just after 6:30 p.m., his coworkers were packing up and heading for home. Exhibit A was that Steve had no steady job but plenty of cash. "Think of how many women would have stood by. I hear her typing. He told her he wanted more of "his" cash. Loomis employees drive the very core of our business. Eventually, Steve made Kelly believe they could steal from Loomis and get away with it, she said. But he tried to keep his face averted, so David wouldn't be able to ID him. The Loomis case is another example where the amount of restitution ordered vs. what is actually paid are two dramatically different numbers. While the agents initiated their investigation, the Chambers spent money as quickly as they could. Kelly Campbell, 29, a former company employee, entered guilty pleas earlier to bank larceny, money laundering and conspiracy to commit murder charges. Thats one of my personality flaws. That time in prison was actually good for me. Will Vin Sant Leave You Jacked or Scammed? The best states in the U.S. come from coast to coast. 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. 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.