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We got to the end of the day, and he was acting like he wanted to linger. 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. Guller was the attorney for Steven Chambers, who came up with the original idea for the Loomis theft. Everything came crashing down on an early March morning in 1998. 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. As soon as Corey left, I pretended like I was leaving. So he convinced a local hoodlum in Mexico to try to kill Ghantt. Now, I kind of know something is fishy., Alone in Mexico with limited cash, Ghantt thought about turning himself in. It was late in 1996. . 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. Throughout the multi-year-long case and subsequent trials, journalists often referred to Ghantt and the others as trailer trash and hillbillies. Clerk of Court Frank Johns of Charlotte. Yes, happy. You cannot fine low-income people millions of dollars. "It wasn't me, it was Steve," she says she told him. (The conversation was depicted as 100 percent private on screen). 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. Husband and wife Steven and Michelle Chambers, whose conspicuous consumption of a luxury home, a BMW convertible, breast implants and a $600 wooden Indian, among other purchases, helped the FBI solve the crime, were assessed $3.81 million and $4.8 million, respectively. Michele received the best gift of the night. What that says is, We will never forgive you for what youve done.. Kelly drove her pickup to a lot across the street from the Loomis building, on Suttle Avenue in Charlotte. She will never get beyond the debt. "He was in tears. The money was heavy. David was living under the name Mike McKinney on a phony ID. shaka wear graphic tees is candy digital publicly traded ellen lawson wife of ted lawson real kelly campbell loomis fargo heist 25 Feb/23 (No Ratings Yet) There had been no signs. At the Halloween party, though, Kelly gave in to Steve, and agreed it had to be done. "But, I hate to admit it, it doesn't faze me one bit. I'll never pay it off on my paycheck." I told the lead investigator I was glad to see him.. Next month, Payne will back in the Charlotte federal courthouse, this time to be sentenced from weapons and methamphetamine trafficking charges. The Loomis case is another example where the amount of restitution ordered vs. what is actually paid are two dramatically different numbers. On Monday, October 6th, the FBI agents who were investigating the robbery located the Loomis Fargo van abandoned in the woods. Not a documentary. Thats pretty standard in restitution matters. A report by the General Accounting Office found that as of budget year 2016, $110 billion in restitution ordered by the federal courts was outstanding and that more than 90% of the amount had been classified as uncollectible.. Looking for Kelly Loomis? Visit us at Loomis.us. LeVaughn Kelly Campbell (born July 23, 1980 in Atlanta, Georgia) is a former football wide receiver. Loomis Armored Shreveport, LA, 1124 Forum Dr, Shreveport, LA, USA Shreveport, LA, USA Req #1990. In real life: False. Steve led the planning. "It probably should bother me," he said. Thatd probably been the best thing for me to do, really. Before long, the FBI had wiretaps on the ringleader, Steve Chambers, and then they waited for the right time to make their arrests. Loomis, Fargo offered a $500,000 reward for his arrest and conviction. That October, the Chamberses' bank accounts ballooned. It will be some time before she can commune with domestic animals again. 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. "She said, 'What would it take to convince you to do it?' I knew I was going to be the prime suspect. 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. David quickly realized he was the intended victim. She tried to apologize for the murder plot. Why do we feel its so necessary to treat people like this, to say, OK, well just ruin the rest of your life because you made a bad decision., Punishment should not last a lifetime. He would pay McKinney $250,000, half upfront. Eric watched. Steven Chambers [Misc. In the dark, Scott inserted one key into the back door slot. There was a little voice in my head that said, 'Don't do it. His wife, Tammy, was as shocked as Loomis officials. Instead of lobster, the man who stole $17 million survived on home-cooked pasta and grilled cheese sandwiches. Now worried about both the FBI and McKinney, he spent even more time alone in his room. I thought, Okay, if I get out of that bubble because the cops depend on that, even the feds my chances to get away go way up.. When neighbors asked where they got their money, Steve said hed played in the NFL. I hit the local library the thing that we used to do before Google, Ghantt says with a small laugh. David told her he'd need help moving the money, getting a new ID and leaving the country. Thatd be the time to do it, Ghantt recalls. 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. 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. 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.. I flew from Atlanta to New Orleans. I would call us friends. Chambers and Campbell were waiting for him in the Loomis Fargo parking lot, both in separate vehicles. CLICK HERE FOR PHOTOS FROM 1998 and ACTORS IN MOVIE. Hes very articulate. ". Though David had said earlier he thought there was $15 million in the vault, the sight of that much cash held them spellbound. He comes to my door, and hes got a brown paper bag in his hand. I wanted to get as far away as I could. Michelle Chambers paid off only $27,000. But I thought this is me being hard-headed Im going to ride this thing to the ground. And so thats what I did.. "He was speechless," said Sandra Floyd. Mexican police, Interpol officers and an FBI agent were watching him. They cursed. He had stolen $17 million from Loomis Fargo. Zaron Burnett is an investigative journalist and longform features writer based in Los Angeles. Question: What made you, Chambers and the others think you could get away with this? . Kelly Campbell, 29, a former company employee, entered guilty pleas earlier to bank larceny, money laundering and conspiracy to commit murder charges. Just under $14 million sat in an outbuilding behind his home, inside blue steel barrels. She was like, Well, at least you had guts, he says. Chambers went from a mobile home in Lincoln County to a mansion in Cramerton. All I needed was a change of pace.". 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 was just going to get the money into the van. Kelly found herself standing beside David while they waited together for a bond hearing. Soon thereafter, he met Kelly Campbell, a co-worker at Loomis Fargo. In real life: True. 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. I hope everyone has moved on. Reach our Customer Contact Center by calling 877.877.0560 from 6:30 AM to 11:30 PM CT every day or by completing the provided form. I really enjoyed the little scuba diving trip. First, they loaded the cash into blue 55-gallon barrels, and then they moved the barrels into a rental van. Its a yes: Clover teen shakes off nerves to earn American Idol golden ticket, Mail carrier cant believe his eyes after seeing NC lottery win. I can take it.". I didnt pick the heist team. "Things I always wanted to do, but never had the time or the money," he said. Federal law stops government collection efforts 20 years after a defendant leaves prison. Loomis - Home What made her abandon an ordinary existence to commit this spectacular, doomed crime? In that time, I realized most of my problems were because of me. 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. I was looking at small sailboats and theyre not cheap, he tells me. When we worked together [for Loomis], we'd joke about it. He went deep-sea fishing. 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. Kelly, she says now, was thinking about how happy she would be to send this man far away from her. He figured Tammy wouldn't go for it, and though his marriage had been troubled, he wasn't certain he wanted to leave her. In the first days after the arrests, agents recovered or accounted for all but about $2 million of the stolen money. All the while, Ghantt prepared himself for the task at hand. Ghantt was working a late shift, and just after 6:30 p.m., his coworkers were packing up and heading for home. Thats one of my personality flaws. If they could just sit on the money until then, he said, they'd be fine. Kelly had resisted this suggestion before the heist: She and David were friends. They planned to kill a man named David Ghantt, the guy who had made their extravagant new lifestyle a reality. Careers. As soon as you put that first bag of stolen money in that van, theres no going back. He hadnt checked ahead of time if the airport had any available flights, let alone if it would even be open. Exhibit A was that Steve had no steady job but plenty of cash. Why had he ever believed he'd get it? The true crime behind Asheville-based Galifianakis film Its everything thats coming north.. . We spoke with the inside man, David Ghantt, to get the real story. 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. They set the date, Oct. 4, a Saturday when David knew he could be alone in the building after his shift. That was the most painful truth to come to. . There was, however, one problem with his plan. ", "I said, 'If you drive a truck, you're always in a financial bind. And I think that makes it all the more funny, because it really offends my co-defendants. 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. Steve told me to tell [David] whatever was necessary to keep him happy.". This is the person I counted as my friend. Where I was going was right there near the Cayman Islands. Ghantt worked at Loomis Fargos regional office vault in Charlotte. The best states in the U.S. come from coast to coast. 2500 City West Blvd., Suite 2300 Houston, TX 77042. They didn't know it, but they were leaving $3.3 million behind. He couldn't talk.". Criminals dont usually get high-paying jobs after leaving prison. For her part, Kelly Campbell spent six years in federal prison. Question: Are you happy that Wilkesboro-nativeZach Galifianakis plays you in the movie? Paying the money back has taken a lot longer, and time is running out for the U.S. government to collect. 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. SEVEN NABBED IN CHARLOTTE HEIST\ - Greensboro News and Record More agents waited outside to arrest them. Were others involved? He grabbed the tapes from two VCRs that connected to 16 security cameras. 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 . Ghantt was never in Chamberss presence until he actually handed off the money to him. When McKinney arrived in North Carolina, the plan had changed. October was "a blast," he said. Her husband gave her a brown teddy bear. The agents tapped the phone, and it didnt take long to locate Ghantt after that. Harley-Davidson Road King motorcycle for sale at auction of items They Had 17 Million Dollars and No Sense at All - AMW Magazine Steve now needed a hit man. "Every time my conscience would start bothering me," Kelly recalled, "I'd smoke another joint and forget about it.". I wanted to make a drastic change and I went for it," Ghantt said. Her case closes in 2025. You have to remember that it's Hollywood and they'll take what was a minor event and they'll blow it up and make it as funny as they can.". But after a year, they'll cut it down to two agents. Note: No quotes were altered, although in some cases additional quotes were added to the questions as Ghantt expanded on his thoughts. . Field Operations; Corporate; Why Loomis. Mine did. The mystery 1-4-3 caller had been Kelly, though agents didn't know it yet. The name she gave the pup is apropos. He wouldn't give me the opportunity to say anything else. Question: You were a consultant? The FBI's final challenge is finding the remaining $2 million. David Ghantt And The Loomis Fargo Heist: The Outrageous True Story He placed stacks of currency on a cart and wheeled it to the van about 15 feet away, inside the building. Her only brush with the law had been a DUI arrest. Gaston County residents remember how that worked out. Because lets be brutally honest: Theyre not wrong, okay? Kelly drove David to the airport. Heres what happened on Sunday nights episode. and "I love money!" 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 was the group's only contact with David, and she was smoking marijuana "like other people smoke cigarettes," she said. I just want people to go to the movies and have a good laugh, even if it's at my expense. . 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. I threw you out, and then threw the parachute after you. 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. Kelly's company. They were the butt of a national joke. He had an endearing smile, a beautiful wife and two children. In real life: True. 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. Real-time updates and all local stories you want right in the palm of your hand. Some of that money is just gone. The biggest restitution numbers for victims of financial crimes generally involve Ponzi schemes or sweepstakes fraud, not cash thefts. 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." I knew that the news wouldnt break until later that morning. He hated his job, with its 12-hour shifts. And when everybody else voted to kill me, she voted with them, he explains. Our Benefits. Meanwhile, Michele Chambers was laughing and saying, repeatedly, "Look at all this money!" Kelly Loomis Facebook, Instagram & Twitter on PeekYou . It was an ear-biting, Pierce Brosnan-loving, comet-obsessed world, and were here to relive every minute of it. "I wanted to be more like my mom and dad were.". If you want me to leave, Ill leave. Then, Ghantt went into another room. About 10 frantic minutes later, Scott found the right key. Though David had no criminal experience, he felt he could offer expert advice: He'd just finished reading a book on the FBI. 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. real kelly campbell loomis fargo heist - molecularrecipes.com Some family members hid money in bank deposit boxes, other friends were asked to mule cash to the Cayman Islands. She laughed for like 45 minutes. Besides her prison sentence . Ghantt:Since I still owe the federal government money I can't get paid. ". This meant a bump in pay, up to $8.15 an hour. 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. Or does it sit in an offshore account, waiting for a prison sentence to end? Getting restitution, its like pulling teeth.. In real life: False. And I knew that by that time, Id be in Cancun no matter what. They paid for all of it in cash. It didnt take the local police long to put the pieces together. Key benefit components include: Health insurance plans. Get to me. Its that kind of excitement.. He covers culture, politics, race, and other perplexing mysteries for MEL. He rewarded Robert with $3,000 and vowed never to meet McKinney alone. 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. He recalled that another agent, Phil King, said, "Hey, there was an article in the [Charlotte] Observer about beeper codes. They found Ghantts truck, and in it were his keys, some personal items and his wedding ring. He told her he wanted more of "his" cash. I had a four-hour layover there, and then from New Orleans to Cancun.. Hes going to start bringing you money. Alright. As with many recent historic events, this one had been caught on videotape, a fact that a few dozen Charlotte FBI agents would learn in a hastily organized Sunday morning meeting. They picked me, he says with a rueful tone. David had grabbed $50,000 cash, but could figure out only how to carry $25,000 with him on the plane. 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. 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. And youre like, Come on parachute. "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. (John D. Simmons/The Charlotte Observer via AP) The Associated Press, BY MICHAEL GORDON, The Charlotte Observer. He had even scheduled a follow-up appointment at the dentist. After a Gulf War stint in the Army, David got married in 1992. If you want to go ahead and go, I got it. They placed a bust of Caesar in the dining room. Kelly says she underestimated the value of her life before the heist. With the help of Aldo, a Mexican waiter he had befriended, David found a beach apartment in Cancun. Hidden in it was a 3 1/2-carat diamond ring that cost $43,000. Military + Veterans. Eventually, Steve made Kelly believe they could steal from Loomis and get away with it, she said. So yeah, Im kind of proud of it.. 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. 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. What concerned her was the chance of getting caught. Ghantt:It started out as a mental exercise and somewhere between the mental exercise and the actual event, it became serious. The teller, who hadn't asked, filed a "suspicious activity report." I couldn't understand why I hadn't been more successful," David said. Careers | Loomis US 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. Copyright 2022 TheAssociated Press. And going to see the Mayan ruins. He was doing what the rest of us were doing making bad decisions. According to Butcher, Campbells last official payment came in June 2021 when the government appears to have seized a tax refund of $81.24. And robbing a truck was dangerous. Filming in the Asheville area starting in early July, and is. Ghantt:I've always known that story had potential to be a comedy or a drama. . The government does not run debtors prisons, says U.S. 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. Is he telling the truth? David thought about it. See all of the stories here. They discussed it further, and Campbell asked him when they should do it. There was in fact a basically similar conversation involving Chambers and Campbell that took place during a barbecue the Campbells were hosting.