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 said, 'If you drive a truck, you're always in a financial bind. 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. There are multiples of thousands of these things coming every year. I knew it was just a matter of time. Records show the government has garnished his Social Security checks. Ghantt:I've burned that bridge years ago. But he tried to keep his face averted, so David wouldn't be able to ID him. The teller, who hadn't asked, filed a "suspicious activity report." real kelly campbell loomis fargo heist seeing a woodpecker after someone dies lectomano que significa. Kelly Campbell, 29, a former company employee, entered guilty pleas earlier to bank larceny, money laundering and conspiracy to commit murder charges. But after she left, she reached back out to Ghantt and brought up what theyd talked about that day in the break room. Because lets be brutally honest: Theyre not wrong, okay? 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. Despite a mega-watt cast featuring Zach Galifianakis and a handful of some of Saturday Night Lives biggest current and former stars, Masterminds, the comedy about Loomis Fargo robbery completely tanked at the box office in its opening weekend, bowing in sixth place with just $6.6 million. It was the first Saturday in October. "I was thinking, 'They aren't paying me enough,' " McKinney recalled. And robbing a truck was dangerous. The van door opened. For his part, Ghantt was now officially on his way to Mexico, his future stretched out before him. In February 1998, the FBI tapped their phones and listened to Steve discuss depositing $2.5 million in the Cayman Islands. He drove to the edge of the Loomis compound, which was surrounded by a chain-link fence. Kelly told the FBI she had done drugs with David but denied knowing about the theft. Explain? You've violated that trust. And then I could hear her laughing. I learned something that was valuable at the time: Most criminals never leave a 250, maybe 300-mile circle from their home base. 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. Things went from bad to worse when, in November, Michelle strolled into a bank with a briefcase filled with 200 grand and asked the manager, How much can I deposit without the bank reporting the transaction? When she showed the bank manager that she really had the money to invest, the cash was still bound in Loomis Fargo wrappers. Inside were, along with other personal items, his keys and wedding ring. All rights reserved. Im a very deliberate person. I hear her typing. Mine did. 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. They loaded the wine cellar with Pabst Blue Ribbon, and Steve hung a velvet portrait of Elvis Presley in the basement. They also left behind a life-changing fortune in small bills $3.3 million in fives and ones that they overlooked and the two videotapes that Ghantt had pulled from the security cameras at the bank. That was great. 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. 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.". He recalled that another agent, Phil King, said, "Hey, there was an article in the [Charlotte] Observer about beeper codes. They soon realized David had stolen more money than would fit in their 55-gallon barrels. Its everything thats coming north.. Chambers and Campbell were waiting for him in the Loomis Fargo parking lot, both in separate vehicles. They obviously werent trying to get it right they were putting together what they believe is a better story, said Diamant. Some family members hid money in bank deposit boxes, other friends were asked to mule cash to the Cayman Islands. 27 febrero, 2023 . I don't want to be mean, but that's probably the dumbest thing they could do. Michelle Chambers received seven years and eight months, while Steve Chambers was handed an 11-year sentence. He figured Tammy wouldn't go for it, and though his marriage had been troubled, he wasn't certain he wanted to leave her. Steve told her to send David to Atlanta on a bus and drive back to the trailer. I just had to call you., Today, Ghantt cant look back on the whole ordeal without some degree of pride. Come for the Chumbawamba, and stay for the return of the Mack. 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. Meanwhile, Steve was keeping a close eye on Kelly. 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. It changes you. real kelly campbell loomis fargo heist. ", "Even then . The others, though, went no farther than Cramer Mountain. 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. He hated his job, with its 12-hour shifts. LeVaughn Kelly Campbell (born July 23, 1980 in Atlanta, Georgia) is a former football wide receiver. Keep supporting great journalism by turning off your ad blocker. Everybody seemed stunned. But in November, money ran low. I was just going to get the money into the van. From Mexico, David usually spoke with Kelly on the phone once a week, paying with calling cards. 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. There it was, "The Heist." He had stolen $17 million from Loomis Fargo. The top-ranked pie in North Carolina doesnt look like pie at all. Kelly drove her pickup to a lot across the street from the Loomis building, on Suttle Avenue in Charlotte. He was doing what the rest of us were doing making bad decisions. ". 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. Its hilarious. and "I love money!" 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. He frequently entertained there, buying steaks for his guests. Question: What made you, Chambers and the others think you could get away with this? Jim Gronquist, Campbells defense attorney during the Loomis case, says the financial penalties levied against his client and her co-defendants are grossly excessive and unjust, particularly since most of the stolen Loomis money was actually recovered. Industry leading Training and Development. Until, that is, he decided to hell with it he was going to pull-off the second largest heist in U.S. history. 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. In the wee hours of the morning, Chambers and the Erics drove back to the town of Vale, North Carolina, and holed up in a double-wide trailer while counting their cash. Then, on a mid-September day, as he reviewed a credit card bill, David did some math. Even still, he was 27, married and struggling to provide for his family. 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. By March, Steve Chambers decided he needed to do something more drastic about Ghantt, making plans to send a hitman to Mexico to silence him for good. shes now Miss USA. Question: How much of 'Masterminds' is true? They tried to break the van's bulletproof windows. And with Loomis, were looking at only one case. Everything came crashing down on an early March morning in 1998. Back then, it was one of the hotspots for hiding money. Ghantt planned to live off the interest for the rest of his life. The name she gave the pup is apropos. The next week, they heard Steve plan to send Mike McKinney to Mexico to kill David Ghantt. 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." 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. And so, he told her, Google my name. "I thought he was goofing around.". There was, however, one problem with his plan. A couple weeks pass, and I call again, Hey, Id like to get some more money. 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. Ghantt:Since I still owe the federal government money I can't get paid. Chambers never held Campbell hostage by locking her in a shed on his property. 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. Chambers did hire McKinney to kill Ghantt, but initially McKinney was making personal cash deliveries to Ghantt in Mexico on behalf of Chambers. ];Kelly Jane Campbell [Misc. It was late in 1996. 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) Kelly found herself standing beside David while they waited together for a bond hearing. So the last third of the movie is almost entirely fiction. The FBI now knew Chambers had Loomis cash. 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. Ghantt: My cut was supposed to be about $5 million, but that's not what I ended up with. Her husband gave her a brown teddy bear. Ghantt was never in Chamberss presence until he actually handed off the money to him. 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. Or that hed gotten lucky gambling. 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. Instead of lobster, the man who stole $17 million survived on home-cooked pasta and grilled cheese sandwiches. I had a four-hour layover there, and then from New Orleans to Cancun.. On his way out, he grabbed the surveillance video, hoping to cover his tracks. When McKinney arrived in North Carolina, the plan had changed. She could walk under the trees, with the chickens and goats and dogs that live around her mobile home. At the party, Steve invited Michele's stepfather, truck driver Dennis Floyd, to the basement to play pool.
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