Ghantt and one other employee were the last to leave. No dry runs, no rehearsals. Kelly drove her pickup to a lot across the street from the Loomis building, on Suttle Avenue in Charlotte. 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. I flew from Atlanta to New Orleans. I was just going to get the money into the van. 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. He goes, My name is Bruno. Next month, Payne will back in the Charlotte federal courthouse, this time to be sentenced from weapons and methamphetamine trafficking charges. "As soon as you start, you realize there's no going back," David recalled. . 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. At 6-1 and 220 pounds, Steve was stocky and imposing, a fast talker with a brown goatee. As soon as Corey left, I pretended like I was leaving. 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. Our Benefits. 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. There used to be a consulate in Cancun. Meanwhile, back in North Carolina, Ghantts wife woke up to find her husband missing. But few could have guessed how spectacularly the heist would go wrong after the criminals initially got away with it. 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. That was great. Did you get paid? The Loomis defendants face no additional legal jeopardy for not paying off their debts. Once I start something, Im going to the end., As for how he felt in the moment, he says, Imagine me and you went on an airplane. 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 story was originally published October 3, 2016, 9:12 PM. 2022 marks the 25th anniversary of the year that everything happened 1997. . If you go from a mobile home to a mansion, that's going to attract attention. He hated the sweet smell of the green ink, and the $8.15-an-hour salary. His mobile home was nicely furnished, on eight acres with a stream in the back. 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. David had grabbed $50,000 cash, but could figure out only how to carry $25,000 with him on the plane. CHARLOTTE, N.C. (AP) During one overnight shift, a bumbling conspiracy of thieves just west of Charlotte stole more than $17 million from Loomis Fargo. 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 . "I'm glad I've grown out of that.". And youre like, Come on parachute. In real life: False. Question: What made you, Chambers and the others think you could get away with this? 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. "It wasn't me, it was Steve," she says she told him. In hindsight, it doesnt surprise me a bit, Ghantt says, a bitter laugh catching in his throat. 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. Tickle Me Kaczynski: How the Inventor of the Ultimate Elmo Toy Became a Unabomber Suspect, A Highly Questionable Cultural History of Richard Geres Ass Gerbil. Then, I started loading the van., Money, when bound in bulk and stacked in canvas bags, is heavier than you might expect. There was a little voice in my head that said, 'Don't do it. Ghantt ended up doing more than five years in prison, Chambers did more than 11 years. 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. In early December, Steve and Michele invited relatives to their daughter's sixth birthday party. I didn't think I had the guts. This time, David told McKinney the truth. Note: No quotes were altered, although in some cases additional quotes were added to the questions as Ghantt expanded on his thoughts. 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. By then Id figured out that Bruno was up to no good, and that Id probably never seen any more of my money. Basic and voluntary life insurance plan. The Loomis case is another example where the amount of restitution ordered vs. what is actually paid are two dramatically different numbers. I loved it. He has no contact with any of those convicted with him in the crime, including his former wife, and doesn't plan to see the movie, he said. White-collar criminals are pretty good at hiding their money, she said. I think I always knew that, but lost my way for a while.". Ghantt pulled out $50,000 from the back of the unmarked Loomis Fargo van. And though she had been made night shift supervisor at Allied Security, she still felt she would never make the money she needed. I had to go in there and tell her the whole story, and she was real cool about it. The FBI was also surveilling Kelly Campbell and followed her to a pay phone that she used to place calls to Mexico. 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. Or as he tells me, How many people in the United States havent thought about robbing a bank? Steve told me to tell [David] whatever was necessary to keep him happy.". Only a nickel on every dollar have been collected so far. So I was glad it was over. "A lot of people out there had it worse than me, but . When we worked together [for Loomis], we'd joke about it. real kelly campbell loomis fargo heist real kelly campbell loomis fargo heist (No Ratings Yet) . He kept looking over his shoulder. . As you probably know, it's loosely based on the Loomis Fargo heist in Charlotte back in the late nineties. He played high school football at Mays High School in Atlanta, and college football at Georgia Tech . They placed a bust of Caesar in the dining room. For her part, Kelly Campbell spent six years in federal prison. 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. On October 5, 1997, FBI agents gathered at the Loomis, Fargo & Co. warehouse in Charlotte, North Carolina, to watch a security videotape of a man loading stacks of cash into a pushcart and wheeling them from the vault. He comes to my door, and hes got a brown paper bag in his hand. First, they loaded the cash into blue 55-gallon barrels, and then they moved the barrels into a rental van. Too many questions remained: Where was the cash? 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. But after a year, they'll cut it down to two agents. 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. In the first days after the arrests, agents recovered or accounted for all but about $2 million of the stolen money. All I needed was a change of pace.". He then began loading $17 million in unmarked bills inside a company van before driving away. So he got in a cab and went to a mall. Stay informed daily on the latest news and advice on COVID-19 from the editors at U.S. News & World Report. Loomis employees drive the very core of our business. "For the first year, they're all over you. Now worried about both the FBI and McKinney, he spent even more time alone in his room. At the time of the real robbery, Chambers was facing criminal charges hed written 30K worth of bad checks and was facing jail time for it. No regrets. Truth be told, Ghantt had something of a crush on Campbell, and so, he told her exactly how hed pull off such a heist. So much so that one suspicious neighbor called the FBI. David trusted her. She was like, Well, at least you had guts, he says. It was unclear whether anyone will get that money, authorities said. 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. The name she gave the pup is apropos. Ghantt simply got ready for work one morning knowing it would be his last day on the job. David told her he'd need help moving the money, getting a new ID and leaving the country. LeVaughn Kelly Campbell (born July 23, 1980 in Atlanta, Georgia) is a former football wide receiver. . It was the first Saturday in October. That was the most painful truth to come to. 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. It wouldn't work, Kelly told him. 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. "I missed my family. The best states in the U.S. come from coast to coast. And it turned Steve into he thought he was Don Corleone all of a sudden.. Why fans love it. It wasn't known whether anyone would receive it. 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. Now two NC men face prison. real kelly campbell loomis fargo heist seeing a woodpecker after someone dies lectomano que significa. In February 1998, the FBI tapped their phones and listened to Steve discuss depositing $2.5 million in the Cayman Islands. She could walk under the trees, with the chickens and goats and dogs that live around her mobile home. She laughed for like 45 minutes. 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. Everybody seemed stunned. Things started to go south the night of the robbery. Clerk of Court Frank Johns of Charlotte. Hed be in contact. "Love" has four. He gave the rest to Kelly. Three weeks later, the couple purchased, in cash, a $635,000 stone mansion. Down in Jacksonville, a Loomis Fargo employee took $18 million from an armored van he was driving. He had an endearing smile, a beautiful wife and two children. Things were spiraling fast. If you were one of the much-smaller-than-expected group of people who caught Masterminds at the theater this weekend, and are looking for a fact-check of the events depicted on screen, here are some of the highlights of our chat with Diamant. I couldn't understand why I hadn't been more successful," David said. "He was in tears. Thanksgiving and Christmas were difficult. This is the person I counted as my friend. "We're not the type that questions everything people tell us," Floyd said. It was his goodbye. He didnt even really question me. (The conversation was depicted as 100 percent private on screen). Not until David was gone did Scott realize he didn't know which key to use. Ghantt:It baffles me to this day. Federal prosecutors would ultimately charge 21 defendants in the case, including the Floyds, who were charged with (and pleaded guilty to) money laundering. He figured Tammy wouldn't go for it, and though his marriage had been troubled, he wasn't certain he wanted to leave her. 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. On the radio, the "John Boy and Billy" show played the song "Take the Money and Run. . With the help of Aldo, a Mexican waiter he had befriended, David found a beach apartment in Cancun. "I've learned that I'm a fortunate man," he said. Michele tells me you're in a financial bind. I just want people to go to the movies and have a good laugh, even if it's at my expense. 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. (John D. Simmons/The Charlotte Observer via AP) The Associated Press, BY MICHAEL GORDON, The Charlotte Observer. Just under $14 million sat in an outbuilding behind his home, inside blue steel barrels. I was burned out and just didn't know it. One thing about teammates, in David's view: You could always trust them. Chambers did hire McKinney to kill Ghantt, but initially McKinney was making personal cash deliveries to Ghantt in Mexico on behalf of Chambers. "I wanted to be more like my mom and dad were.". On Oct. 5, the Loomis heist celebrates its 25th birthday. Then Steve pushed Scott inside, and he began throwing plastic-wrapped bundles of tens, twenties, fifties and hundreds to Eric and Steve, who placed them in three blue 55-gallon barrels. CLICK HERE FOR PHOTOS FROM 1998 and ACTORS IN MOVIE. . Like David, Kelly was frustrated with her marriage. That October, the Chamberses' bank accounts ballooned. Chambers went from a mobile home in Lincoln County to a mansion in Cramerton. They loaded the wine cellar with Pabst Blue Ribbon, and Steve hung a velvet portrait of Elvis Presley in the basement. 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. Then another. Yes, happy. He was doing what the rest of us were doing making bad decisions. Then, on a mid-September day, as he reviewed a credit card bill, David did some math. Guller was the attorney for Steven Chambers, who came up with the original idea for the Loomis theft. Its everything thats coming north.. I said, Probably, the best time would be on the weekend; theres fewer people there. I was looking at small sailboats and theyre not cheap, he tells me. She was the group's only contact with David, and she was smoking marijuana "like other people smoke cigarettes," she said. She also must . I've got a good woman.". They discussed it further, and Campbell asked him when they should do it. When October 1997 began, Steve and Michelle Chambers lived in a double-wide trailer. On Monday, October 6th, the FBI agents who were investigating the robbery located the Loomis Fargo van abandoned in the woods. Dental plans . He told him McKinney was in Mexico to kill somebody. Question: Should people go see this movie? Paying the money back has taken a lot longer, and time is running out for the U.S. government to collect. Kelly, she says now, was thinking about how happy she would be to send this man far away from her. It was an ear-biting, Pierce Brosnan-loving, comet-obsessed world, and were here to relive every minute of it. . At the time, it was the largest cash heist in history. He partied, met women, drank, skied and hung out at the beach. I would call us friends. 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 realized that if they met the minimum monthly payments, the bill would take 30 years to pay. Steve was sentenced to 11 years 3 months in prison. When she realized Ghantt never came home from work the night before, she contacted the police and filed a missing persons report. "I'd been told all my life, money will not make you happy," Kelly said. Was Queen Charlotte Black? Steve also offered $100,000 to his 26-year-old cousin. When neighbors asked where they got their money, Steve said hed played in the NFL. That's the kind of movie they wanted to make. The figures can be astounding. ". 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.". Explain? By . Ghantt knew Chambers as Steve, but didnt find out that his last name was Chambers until the arrests were made. If I hadn't done what I did the, the life I have now with my wife and child, I wouldn't have. Because lets be brutally honest: Theyre not wrong, okay? 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. Back then, it was one of the hotspots for hiding money. Ghantt planned to live off the interest for the rest of his life. They didn't know it, but they were leaving $3.3 million behind. To protect themselves, David and Steve didn't meet or talk. Visit us at Loomis.us. But after she left, she reached back out to Ghantt and brought up what theyd talked about that day in the break room. The top-ranked pie in North Carolina doesnt look like pie at all. Eric watched. He was signed by the Minnesota Vikings as an undrafted free agent in 2002. That sounds like a lot of money until its compared to the $18,930,201.26 the group was ordered to pay. She was devastated, Diamant said. Michele received the best gift of the night. ". In real life: False. 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. By late November, McKinney made a third trip to Mexico, saying he'd help David move to Mexico City. Question: Do you ever think you could have been killed? And I said, Hey, man, I got this. 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.