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. Real-time updates and all local stories you want right in the palm of your hand. "He showed me a lot of money," McKinney said. Instead of lobster, the man who stole $17 million survived on home-cooked pasta and grilled cheese sandwiches. I studied up on the FBI. They loaded the wine cellar with Pabst Blue Ribbon, and Steve hung a velvet portrait of Elvis Presley in the basement. 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. He and co-worker Kelly Campbell, 27, had developed a close relationship and were spending time together outside of work. The last time he called me, he said, Hey Ghantt, I just saw a big Loomis Fargo truck. Even still, he was 27, married and struggling to provide for his family. Visit us at Loomis.us. 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. They agreed that after the heist, David would immediately move to Mexico, alone, but Kelly would soon join him there, with her two children. . Zaron Burnett is an investigative journalist and longform features writer based in Los Angeles. On the evening of October 4, 1997, one man loaded $17.3 million in cash from the vaults of Loomis, Fargo & Co. into the back of a van. Without really intending to, Kelly recalls, she turned the conversation to the possibility of a heist. More agents waited outside to arrest them. 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. They sweated, though the night was cool. In February 1998, the FBI tapped their phones and listened to Steve discuss depositing $2.5 million in the Cayman Islands. "I said, 'That's all they gave me,' " McKinney recalled. And that's OK with Ghantt, who's just a few weeks shy of his 47th birthday, out of federal prison for more than a decade, married with a 9-year-old daughter . Explain? Kelly called David at. Michele told her mother she and Steve had been saving gambling winnings for the down payment. 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. If I hadn't done what I did the, the life I have now with my wife and child, I wouldn't have. He told Steve he hadn't been able to find David. 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. Hidden in it was a 3 1/2-carat diamond ring that cost $43,000. "It probably should bother me," he said. In Florida, a Loomis Fargo employee had pulled a gun on his coworkers and gotten away with $18 million, a move that FBI agents theorize Ghantt, Campbell and other employees all sat around talking about - and what they would do with that amount of money - for a while. 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. Cool, I say. 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. Ghantt:Since I still owe the federal government money I can't get paid. The next day, he was sitting next to FBI agent Mark Rozzi on a US Airways flight to Charlotte. He para-sailed, power-skied and scuba-dived. They paid for all of it in cash. 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. "But I had to know.". Twenty-five years ago, a small group of rural North Carolinian amateur bank robbers pulled off the second-largest heist in American history. But you cant get blood from a stone, Johns said. More than half of the amount came from the seizure of a luxury home purchased by husband-and-wife defendants during their post-heist spending spree. "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. "He said, 'Yeah, right,' and turned his head. And though she had been made night shift supervisor at Allied Security, she still felt she would never make the money she needed. You see, there's a reason Loomis Fargo used armored cars to move large amounts of cash. He comes to my door, and hes got a brown paper bag in his hand. 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. The FBI was also surveilling Kelly Campbell and followed her to a pay phone that she used to place calls to Mexico. 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. The biggest restitution numbers for victims of financial crimes generally involve Ponzi schemes or sweepstakes fraud, not cash thefts. 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. By late November, McKinney made a third trip to Mexico, saying he'd help David move to Mexico City. Was Queen Charlotte Black? It didnt take the local police long to put the pieces together. Where I was going was right there near the Cayman Islands. That led to better jobs, like the one at Loomis. 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. Or purchase a subscription for unlimited access to real news you can count on. Ghantt was missing and no one, not even his wife, knew where he was. Ghantt:It's kid-friendly, it's family-friendly (the movie is rated PG-13). . What purpose does that serve other than to denigrate that person into abject poverty?. ". I don't blame him.". They entered their dogs in fights and watched them die. The name she gave the pup is apropos. One number is working in Campbells favor. At first, David Ghantt said, "I didn't take her seriously. It wasnt a big hit, but Ghantt, who was played by Galifianakis, gives it a rave review. 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. Thatd probably been the best thing for me to do, really. Her only brush with the law had been a DUI arrest. After a Gulf War stint in the Army, David got married in 1992. Restitution is a familiar part of sentencing in federal court. . Not many people can say they stole $17 million from their employer and had Zach Galifianakis play them in a movie. You can reach Kevin Ellis at 704-869-1823 or Twitter.com/TheGazetteKevin. Going south, nobody really looks at what youre shipping. Sweat soaked David's uniform. Truth was, David wanted more than help leaving, he wanted company. I hit the local library the thing that we used to do before Google, Ghantt says with a small laugh. He drove to the edge of the Loomis compound, which was surrounded by a chain-link fence. His assignment was to deliver the cash to David and keep him happy until they could find a way to kill him, McKinney said. Its really just a matter of timing, more than anything. And she says, How much do you think wed get out of there? I said, Ten to 15 million. But I didnt really know.. He kept looking over his shoulder. On Oct. 7, 1997, two FBI agents arrived at Kelly Campbell's home after two Loomis employees had told agents she and David had once dated. Copyright 2022 TheAssociated Press. Ghantt was never in Chamberss presence until he actually handed off the money to him. ", "I wouldn't do it. I can take it.". The next week, they heard Steve plan to send Mike McKinney to Mexico to kill David Ghantt. He longed for the middle-class lifestyle of his childhood, with its private religious-school education and Disney World vacations. This time, David told McKinney the truth. Thanksgiving and Christmas were difficult. real kelly campbell loomis fargo heist. . 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. Kelly Campbell, 29, a former company employee, entered guilty pleas earlier to bank larceny, money laundering and conspiracy to commit murder charges. Ghantt was scheduled to work a shift at the armored car company 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. 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 10 frantic minutes later, Scott found the right key. Chambers never held Campbell hostage by locking her in a shed on his property. The next day, Kelly drove back to Steve's mobile home to watch the news with Steve and Michele. Steve now needed a hit man. Actor Owen Wilson plays him in the movie, which includes the real names of all the major players. Charlotte Magazine even ran a feature story about the Loomis Fargo heist with the title, White Trash Crime. The headlines, however, never bothered Ghantt. And robbing a truck was dangerous. They didn't know it, but they were leaving $3.3 million behind. Kelly Campbell, 29, a former company employee, entered guilty pleas earlier to bank larceny, money laundering and conspiracy to commit murder charges. 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,. . 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. She was a wife and mother with two children. Where was Ghantt? And I think that makes it all the more funny, because it really offends my co-defendants. The robbery of some $17 million quickly became one of the wildest bank heists of the last quarter century. "We kept going, '1-4-3, 1-4-3,' " recalled Vic O'Korn, assistant special agent in charge of Charlotte's FBI office. Ghantt, meanwhile, was losing his patience and starting to make threats. ", "I said, 'If you drive a truck, you're always in a financial bind. 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. Her case closes in 2025. They found Ghantts truck, and in it were his keys, some personal items and his wedding ring. Three weeks after the theft, Steve and Michele moved from their Lincoln County mobile home to a $635,000 house in a gated Cramerton, N.C., neighborhood. I mentioned it to Kelly. They picked me, he says with a rueful tone. "I was thinking, 'They aren't paying me enough,' " McKinney recalled. Campbell left her job in the summer of 1997, but she would later use Ghantt's feelings for her to her own advantage to get him to agree to carry out the multi-million-dollar heist. The bizarre true story of the criminals behind the second-largest bank heist in American history. Inside the Mazda, Steve told Scott Grant to get out and help David. So the last third of the movie is almost entirely fiction. Scott Grant said he hesitated, but agreed if no guns would be involved. And to me, if it pisses them off, Im all for it.. 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. If you go from a mobile home to a mansion, that's going to attract attention. (The conversation was depicted as 100 percent private on screen). Not a documentary. At first, I just blended in with the tourists and picked up a few translation books, Ghantt explains. Ive never taken offense to anything like that, he tells me. There it was, "The Heist." The FBI's final challenge is finding the remaining $2 million. Eric watched. 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. Hes well thought-out. I wanted to get as far away as I could. Some received probation for money laundering, many others did hard time. Loomis, Fargo offered a $500,000 reward for his arrest and conviction. 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. There, Scott and Eric paced the floor as Steve tried to calm them down. The first weekday after the heist, Michele Chambers, co-conspirator Steve's wife, walked into a NationsBank branch with a briefcase containing $5,000. . But as soon as he drove off, I went right back in and opened the vault. 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. I said, Probably, the best time would be on the weekend; theres fewer people there. Loomis employees drive the very core of our business. real kelly campbell loomis fargo heist. Until, that is, he decided to hell with it he was going to pull-off the second largest heist in U.S. history. There was in fact a basically similar conversation involving Chambers and Campbell that took place during a barbecue the Campbells were hosting. Ghantt:We're both North Carolina boys so we had a lot to talk about from the very beginning. Or that hed gotten lucky gambling. No regrets. And I knew that by that time, Id be in Cancun no matter what. To celebrate Halloween, about seven of Steve's friends, including Eric Payne and Kelly, gathered for a party at Steve's house. 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. I just had to call you., Today, Ghantt cant look back on the whole ordeal without some degree of pride. 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. A week later, another informant told the FBI that Eric Payne had quit his job at a printing company soon after the heist and was spending money he probably hadn't earned legally. Anybody who gets caught up in the system is getting chewed up by it, the now-retired Gronquist told the Observer. The robbery was committed by Loomis vault supervisor David Scott Ghantt, his married girlfriend Kelly Campbell (a former Loomis co-worker), Steven Eugene Chambers (a one-time FBI informant), his wife Michelle Chambers, Michael Gobbies, and four other co-conspirators. 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. I said, Listen, You all need to get your shit together, or Im just going to walk over here to the government building and tell them who the fuck I am. That lit a little fire under her ass, for a bit.. Federal law stops government collection efforts 20 years after a defendant leaves prison. I mean, it was dark, Ghantt explains. But after a year, they'll cut it down to two agents. About 20 ago, Campbell sent him a letter of apology, but he never responded. I threw you out, and then threw the parachute after you. Not Ghantt. . That was pretty awesome., It felt like a dream vacation until he started running out of money. She asked about the limit for a cash deposit before "paperwork" was required. 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.
