It was his goodbye. Campbell and her husband had always been just scraping by, however in the weeks following the robbery, the two seemed to have more money than they've ever had. Gaston County residents remember how that worked out. I did a little research into crime statistics and the local cops. Ghantt knew Chambers as Steve, but didnt find out that his last name was Chambers until the arrests were made. Heres what happened on Sunday nights episode. 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. "It probably should bother me," he said. The phone rang: Kelly had a problem. Theres less security. Ghantt says he operates a bulldozer for a small company. 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. Some days, the robbery seems like a memory from a different life, a choice made by a different man. Scott was so nervous, he said, that he couldn't help. "Steve said, 'I think we ought to do it that night, when he drops off the van,' " Kelly recalled. Only a nickel on every dollar have been collected so far. The audacity of the act was breathtaking. 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. 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. 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. 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. Loomis Armored Shreveport, LA, 1124 Forum Dr, Shreveport, LA, USA Shreveport, LA, USA Req #1990. shes now Miss USA. Best States is an interactive platform developed by U.S. News for ranking the 50 U.S. states, alongside news analysis and daily reporting. You can reach Kevin Ellis at 704-869-1823 or Twitter.com/TheGazetteKevin. 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. In real life: False. He would pay McKinney $250,000, half upfront. He told her he wanted more of "his" cash. "I've moved on with my life," he said Tuesday. In real life: False. Agents found out where Ghantt was living because Chambers had put out a hit on him, foolishly believing Ghantt was the only person the FBI had fingered for the crime. The name she gave the pup is apropos. There are multiples of thousands of these things coming every year. At the end of one session, they wound up kissing outside the pickup. On Monday, October 6th, the FBI agents who were investigating the robbery located the Loomis Fargo van abandoned in the woods. The biggest restitution numbers for victims of financial crimes generally involve Ponzi schemes or sweepstakes fraud, not cash thefts. Cool, I say. But I thought this is me being hard-headed Im going to ride this thing to the ground. And so thats what I did.. 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. Loomis, Fargo offered a $500,000 reward for his arrest and conviction. But as he later recalled to the media, as soon as he stepped through those big-box doors, he realized he was flush with cash, and he didnt need to shop at Walmart ever again. But it didnt really hit me until later., On March 2nd, when the FBI agents walked up to Ghantt in Playa del Carmen and told him he was under arrest, Ghantt was relieved. The platform is designed to engage citizens and government leaders in a discussion about what needs improvement across the country. Meanwhile, Michele Chambers was laughing and saying, repeatedly, "Look at all this money!" We spoke with the inside man, David Ghantt, to get the real story. So yeah, Im kind of proud of it.. She was the group's only contact with David, and she was smoking marijuana "like other people smoke cigarettes," she said. It was the first Saturday in October. It had been drilled into my head that if you give me a team of five good people, I can go anywhere, do anything," David explained. The mystery 1-4-3 caller had been Kelly, though agents didn't know it yet. Sweat soaked David's uniform. In real life: False. For her part, Kelly Campbell spent six years in federal prison. There had been no signs. I mean, cause greed is a funny animal. . 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. Question: Do you ever think you could have been killed? 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. These (Loomis) guys, not so much.. Im a very deliberate person. He frequently entertained there, buying steaks for his guests. 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. Not many people can say they stole $17 million from their employer and had Zach Galifianakis play them in a movie. You're an idiot.'". 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. Here's what Floyd recalls: After two games of pool, Steve told him, "You know, we do a lot of gambling. But few could have guessed how spectacularly the heist would go wrong after the criminals initially got away with it. Ghantt was apprehended in Mexico and returned to the United States in custody. If you want to go ahead and go, I got it. On March 1, David Ghantt left his hotel to do some laundry. Actor Owen Wilson plays him in the movie, which includes the real names of all the major players. I had to go in there and tell her the whole story, and she was real cool about it. Our Benefits. Key benefit components include: Health insurance plans. I loved it. "I was trying to figure out a way to [leave my husband] and take care of my kids without having to depend on him or any other man," Kelly said. He longed for the middle-class lifestyle of his childhood, with its private religious-school education and Disney World vacations. ', "He asked me if I'd mind holding some money for him. By late November, McKinney made a third trip to Mexico, saying he'd help David move to Mexico City. Campbell, a mother of two, was in the process of divorcing her. Ghantt was never in Chamberss presence until he actually handed off the money to him. Twenty people were convicted of roles big and small in the massive 1997 armored-car warehouse heist in west Charlotte. Things were spiraling fast. Scott Grant and Steve pulled up next to her in a Mazda. LeVaughn Kelly Campbell (born July 23, 1980 in Atlanta, Georgia) is a former football wide receiver. And though she had been made night shift supervisor at Allied Security, she still felt she would never make the money she needed. Ghantt would go on to spend six and a half years in federal prison. They agreed that after the heist, David would immediately move to Mexico, alone, but Kelly would soon join him there, with her two children. He pocketed the money and told Chambers and Campbell to send him his cut in Mexico. They bought a BMW roadster. What concerned her was the chance of getting caught. He gave the rest to Kelly. Given his position at the bank, hed be the one to pull off the robbery, and he intended to be ready. Then FBI agent Wydra watched Steve's wife, Michele, deposit about $8,000 at a Gaston County, N.C., bank. Until, that is, he decided to hell with it he was going to pull-off the second largest heist in U.S. history. By the time the month concluded, the couple had purchased a 7,000-square-foot stone mansion in a gated country club community. Getting restitution, its like pulling teeth.. Exciting. Ghantt:It's a comedy. "As soon as you start, you realize there's no going back," David recalled. Michele told her mother she and Steve had been saving gambling winnings for the down payment. He recalled that another agent, Phil King, said, "Hey, there was an article in the [Charlotte] Observer about beeper codes. More agents waited outside to arrest them. A third tape he didn't know about kept recording. Inside were, along with other personal items, his keys and wedding ring. "I thought he was goofing around.". Dental plans . No hard feelings. At the time, it was the largest cash heist in history. 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. That was pretty awesome., It felt like a dream vacation until he started running out of money. Kelly, using David's cell phone, kept beeping him. When she realized Ghantt never came home from work the night before, she contacted the police and filed a missing persons report. David kissed his sleeping wife on the cheek on the morning of Oct. 4. On Nov. 12, a confidential informant told the FBI about Steve Chambers's move from mobile home to mansion. Ghantt was working a late shift, and just after 6:30 p.m., his coworkers were packing up and heading for home. 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. Chambers never held Campbell hostage by locking her in a shed on his property. and "I love money!" I learned something that was valuable at the time: Most criminals never leave a 250, maybe 300-mile circle from their home base. As soon as Corey left, I pretended like I was leaving. 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. Scott Grant and Steve pulled up next to her in a Mazda. Money'll turn your head, I don't care who you are. ". The next day, Kelly drove back to Steve's mobile home to watch the news with Steve and Michele. "I" has one letter. He goes, My name is Bruno. 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. I told the lead investigator I was glad to see him.. If you want me to leave, Ill leave. Then, Ghantt went into another room. "We kept going, '1-4-3, 1-4-3,' " recalled Vic O'Korn, assistant special agent in charge of Charlotte's FBI office. Steven Chambers [Misc. As for his new wife, when the two just started dating, he was nervous about letting her know about his past, but he wanted to be honest. Kelly had resisted this suggestion before the heist: She and David were friends. Theres some things I want to do., Ghantt planned on traveling from Mexico to the Cayman Islands, bypassing customs along the way. He says the Loomis case shows how the criminal justice system and the courts treat lower-income people differently. ", "I wouldn't do it. He comes to my door, and hes got a brown paper bag in his hand. So the last third of the movie is almost entirely fiction. At the party, Steve invited Michele's stepfather, truck driver Dennis Floyd, to the basement to play pool. It wasn't known whether anyone would receive it. Steve told Scott to ignore the remaining stacks, which were mostly ones and fives. 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. Ghantt was scheduled to work a shift at the armored car company Oct. 4. . Criminals dont usually get high-paying jobs after leaving prison. Ghantt was missing and no one, not even his wife, knew where he was. Without really intending to, Kelly recalls, she turned the conversation to the possibility of a heist. Youre supposed to get less time for cooperating, a lesser penalty, and instead, you see what she got hit with. Gronquist said. All I needed was a change of pace.". I knew it was just a matter of time. Her only brush with the law had been a DUI arrest. In mid-November, McKinney carried $10,000 to Cancun but wound up spending most of it on himself. On the radio, the "John Boy and Billy" show played the song "Take the Money and Run. Fourteen defendants were ordered to make restitution payments to Loomis Fargo totaling almost $19 million. Get to me. Its that kind of excitement.. Meanwhile, back in North Carolina, Ghantts wife woke up to find her husband missing. He and his wife, Tammy, lived in a mobile home in Kings Mountain, N.C. Money was always tight. For reasons that remain obscure, Robert spilled the beans to David. There was a third person with them, too, a man named Eric Grant. Not until David was gone did Scott realize he didn't know which key to use. The authorities didn't know yet how much was missing from the armored-car company, but Steve did. 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. He flip-flopped on the heist idea three or four times. She'd heard his stories of other successful schemes, like getting refunds on phony tax returns, or operating a loan shark business. See all of the stories here. 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. 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. The money was heavy. I wanted to make a drastic change and I went for it," Ghantt said. Ghantt was the vault manager and was surrounded. Scary. 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. All the while, Ghantt prepared himself for the task at hand. All rights reserved. Steve had another conversation with Kelly about killing David. The cart held about $2 million, and the thief made multiple trips. He was an old friend from East Gaston High School, tough and sure of himself. There was, however, one problem with his plan. So I guess I have no regrets. 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. Paying the money back has taken a lot longer, and time is running out for the U.S. government to collect. Down in Jacksonville, a Loomis Fargo employee took $18 million from an armored van he was driving. 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. As with Kelly, the worst blotch on 29-year-old Eric's record until now was a driving-while-intoxicated conviction. That's the kind of movie they wanted to make. I didn't think I had the guts. There, Scott and Eric paced the floor as Steve tried to calm them down. 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. If you go from a mobile home to a mansion, that's going to attract attention. The best states in the U.S. come from coast to coast. That October, the Chamberses' bank accounts ballooned. Because lets be brutally honest: Theyre not wrong, okay? Back then, it was one of the hotspots for hiding money. Ghantt planned to live off the interest for the rest of his life. Its in the ether. Or does it sit in an offshore account, waiting for a prison sentence to end? Not Ghantt. I knew that the news wouldnt break until later that morning. Thats one of my personality flaws. Steve bought a truck, a Rolex and a motorboat. He hated his job, with its 12-hour shifts. Punishment needs to be fair and realistic. 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. David said he realized then, for the first time, he might not see the millions he thought he had coming to him. I threw you out, and then threw the parachute after you. They discussed it further, and Campbell asked him when they should do it. They also purchased tanning beds, a pool table, a Harley-Davidson Road King motorcycle and all kinds of expensive furniture. 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. At the end of October, Kelly was sentenced to 5 years 10 months in prison. The next week, they heard Steve plan to send Mike McKinney to Mexico to kill David Ghantt. In one case, the restitution for a Loomis defendant may be a moving target. Campbell, 29, had pleaded guilty to charges of bank larceny, money laundering and conspiracy to commit murder. We got to the end of the day, and he was acting like he wanted to linger. Industry leading Training and Development. . She was like, Well, at least you had guts, he says. Twenty-five years ago, a small group of rural North Carolinian amateur bank robbers pulled off the second-largest heist in American history. October was "a blast," he said. If they could just sit on the money until then, he said, they'd be fine. At first, David Ghantt said, "I didn't take her seriously. He grabbed the tapes from two VCRs that connected to 16 security cameras. In February 1998, the FBI tapped their phones and listened to Steve discuss depositing $2.5 million in the Cayman Islands. 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. It wasnt a big hit, but Ghantt, who was played by Galifianakis, gives it a rave review. 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. She will never get beyond the debt. 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. We spoke to the FBI agents who investigated the case who say the real-life. First, they loaded the cash into blue 55-gallon barrels, and then they moved the barrels into a rental van. 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. Michele tells me you're in a financial bind. The Loomis case is another example where the amount of restitution ordered vs. what is actually paid are two dramatically different numbers. In the first days after the arrests, agents recovered or accounted for all but about $2 million of the stolen money. As he and Kelly met in a field behind a shooting range to refine the plan, she allowed him to believe she was falling for him. "Love" has four. "For the first year, they're all over you. While the agents initiated their investigation, the Chambers spent money as quickly as they could. So much so that one suspicious neighbor called the FBI. Ghantt simply got ready for work one morning knowing it would be his last day on the job. So he convinced a local hoodlum in Mexico to try to kill Ghantt. They entered their dogs in fights and watched them die. According to Butcher, Campbells last official payment came in June 2021 when the government appears to have seized a tax refund of $81.24. 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. In real life: Mostly true. All were convicted. David, now 30, says he's sorry he abandoned his wife--who he says still loves him--and his family. But in November, money ran low. Federal law stops government collection efforts 20 years after a defendant leaves prison. Hes well thought-out. Things started to go south the night of the robbery. "I said, 'I don't want him killed.' He placed stacks of currency on a cart and wheeled it to the van about 15 feet away, inside the building. So he got in a cab and went to a mall. 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. David was living under the name Mike McKinney on a phony ID. That week, the FBI designated the theft its 142nd "major case," putting it on a list--begun in the 1970s--that includes such other infamous crimes as the World Trade Center bombing. Ghantt:It baffles me to this day. (John D. Simmons/The Charlotte Observer via AP) The Associated Press, BY MICHAEL GORDON, The Charlotte Observer. I hope everyone has moved on. It's one of the biggest jokes at the place. Ghantt fled to Mexico. Kelly's company. 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. Her case closes in 2025. And to me, if it pisses them off, Im all for it.. But it wasnt. And I knew that by that time, Id be in Cancun no matter what. Basically, he needed a score to make his problems go away. "I missed my family. 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. He had a favorite restaurant, Zandunga, which had a mariachi band each night and a view of the Caribbean. 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. This real-life crime is the core of "Untitled Armored Car Project," which stars Zach Galifianakis, Owen Wilson and Kristen Wiig. Kelly was no criminal. By . Scott Grant said he hesitated, but agreed if no guns would be involved. Though David had said earlier he thought there was $15 million in the vault, the sight of that much cash held them spellbound. The cash was covered with dog food.
[email protected] 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. 2500 City West Blvd., Suite 2300 Houston, TX 77042. Dependent care account. The Loomis defendants face no additional legal jeopardy for not paying off their debts. I think I always knew that, but lost my way for a while.". First, in January, he tried to get someone to take some millions down to Mexico. Steve had already paid McKinney $50,000 for the use of his ID. When McKinney arrived in North Carolina, the plan had changed. A woman by the name of Kelly Campbell had worked there in 1996, and she and Ghantt had become friends in that time. "He was in tears. In real life: False. Your California Privacy Rights/Privacy Policy. ", "Even then . Some amateur thieves might turn to movies and TV shows for lessons on criminal behavior. Theres no management around. Burks was also ordered to serve 15 years in prison, limiting his ability to balance his books. CLICK HERE FOR PHOTOS FROM 1998 and ACTORS IN MOVIE. In the meantime, the FBI was closing in looking to bust a total of 21 suspected accomplices. The Loomis Fargo Bank Robbery was the $17.3 million cash robbery of the Charlotte, North Carolina, regional office vault of Loomis Fargo & Company on the evening of October 4, 1997, by armored car driver and vault supervisor David Scott Ghantt. An officer rang the doorbell. David was sentenced to 7 1/2 years. More than 20 people ended up in the FBI's dragnet. David thought about it. His new life in Mexico had begun. how to match 8 hypercubes in bejeweled. Some received probation for money laundering, many others did hard time. Steve also offered $100,000 to his 26-year-old cousin. At 6 that morning, FBI supervisor Rick Shaffer led 12 agents and several Gaston County police officers up a winding road on Cramer Mountain to Steve's home. Eric watched. I pay (restitution to) thousands of people, but its in drips and drabs.. He's a very likable person. Her husband gave her a brown teddy bear. 27 febrero, 2023 . You see, there's a reason Loomis Fargo used armored cars to move large amounts of cash. About 5:45 a.m., he got into his pickup and began the 45-minute drive to work in Charlotte. Called Masterminds, the 2016 film stars Zach Galifianakis, Kristen Wiig and Owen Wilson. And I think that makes it all the more funny, because it really offends my co-defendants. He said every year he files his taxes and the IRS takes all of his tax return. You might as well take it all, Ghantt tells me. This material may not be published, broadcast, rewritten or redistributed. Copyright 2022 TheAssociated Press. 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. The Columbia airport had no available flights. You cannot fine low-income people millions of dollars. 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. 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.. 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. . A couple weeks pass, and I call again, Hey, Id like to get some more money. And I was thinking about just showing up there. He appeared happily matched with his high-spirited wife, Michele, and the two children from her first marriage. He drove to the edge of the Loomis compound, which was surrounded by a chain-link fence. In real life: False. After a Gulf War stint in the Army, David got married in 1992. ". . Stay informed daily on the latest news and advice on COVID-19 from the editors at U.S. News & World Report. 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. Agents noticed it two months later when it flowed to them through official channels, along with hundreds of similar reports involving other people. David had grabbed $50,000 cash, but could figure out only how to carry $25,000 with him on the plane. Michelle, meanwhile, purchased new breasts for herself, along with a $43,000 diamond ring and a new convertible BMW Z3. The FBI's final challenge is finding the remaining $2 million. They involve Loomis armored car driver David Scott Ghantt. There it was, "The Heist." He went deep-sea fishing. 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. The last time he called me, he said, Hey Ghantt, I just saw a big Loomis Fargo truck. Loomis, Fargo offered a $500,000 reward after the theft. 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. A version of this story originally appeared on CharlotteObserver.com. 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.