I said, It comes down to picking the right day, and the right time of the month, and all that good stuff. I even told her, It wouldnt be all that difficult. "I was thinking, 'They aren't paying me enough,' " McKinney recalled. Down in Jacksonville, a Loomis Fargo employee took $18 million from an armored van he was driving. Find 145 people named Kelly Loomis along with free Facebook, Instagram, Twitter, and TikTok profiles on PeekYou - true people search. Agents noticed it two months later when it flowed to them through official channels, along with hundreds of similar reports involving other people. 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. When he said, 'I'll give you $20,000 to hold a million,' I said, 'Sure.' Eric watched. ". He partied, met women, drank, skied and hung out at the beach. Its everything thats coming north.. I hit the local library the thing that we used to do before Google, Ghantt says with a small laugh. 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. Scary. Anybody who gets caught up in the system is getting chewed up by it, the now-retired Gronquist told the Observer. The Loomis case is another example where the amount of restitution ordered vs. what is actually paid are two dramatically different numbers. You see, there's a reason Loomis Fargo used armored cars to move large amounts of cash. So I was glad it was over. But it wasnt. That October, the Chamberses' bank accounts ballooned. Meanwhile, Michele Chambers was laughing and saying, repeatedly, "Look at all this money!" After years of reflection and time in prison to work on himself, Ghantt was able to find a way to a better version of himself. For her part, Kelly Campbell spent six years in federal prison. The last time he called me, he said, Hey Ghantt, I just saw a big Loomis Fargo truck. At the end of one session, they wound up kissing outside the pickup. . The problem with the movie, however, is that the talented cast had no idea what the hell they were trying to do. 2022 marks the 25th anniversary of the year that everything happened 1997. If you want to go ahead and go, I got it. Clerk of Court Frank Johns of Charlotte. Theyre meant to be trailer-park trash, but they come off as character experiments on a bad night at the Groundlings. And youre like, Come on parachute. Or does it sit in an offshore account, waiting for a prison sentence to end? The government does not run debtors prisons, says U.S. All the while, Ghantt prepared himself for the task at hand. In hindsight, it doesnt surprise me a bit, Ghantt says, a bitter laugh catching in his throat. He hated the sweet smell of the green ink, and the $8.15-an-hour salary. Oh were not going to talk to anybody, theyre not going to be able to convict us, that bravado happens in the beginning and then it often gets worn down by the reality, Gronquist said. I mean, cause greed is a funny animal. At the time, it was the largest cash heist in history. Although David was in on most of the planning, one discussion between Steve and Kelly was kept a secret. "I thought he was goofing around.". 1-4-3 is 'I love you.' Money'll turn your head, I don't care who you are. The FBI says Chambers hired a hitman to tie up the ultimate loose end -- Ghantt. Records show the government has garnished his Social Security checks. 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. Thats pretty standard in restitution matters. You might as well go all the way now.". "He was speechless," said Sandra Floyd. Were others involved? She could spend time with her children and parents. He'd even bragged that he'd killed people. Temptation to do something that you think you normally wouldnt do can change a lot of minds when its that kind of cash, and thats what it was., (WATCH BELOW: VIDEO: The Loomis Fargo heist: 25 years later). Without really intending to, Kelly recalls, she turned the conversation to the possibility of a heist. Inside the Mazda, Steve told Scott Grant to get out and help David. kellis@gastongazette.com 0:04 1:38 On Oct. 4, 1997, former Kings Mountain resident David Scott Ghantt finished his shift as a vault supervisor for Loomis Fargo in Charlotte. And when everybody else voted to kill me, she voted with them, he explains. For his part, Ghantt was now officially on his way to Mexico, his future stretched out before him. Butcher says the federal courts in the Western District of North Carolina have never handled a case quite like Loomis. They heard Michele brag about her $43,000 ring. About 5:45 a.m., he got into his pickup and began the 45-minute drive to work in Charlotte. Meanwhile, Steve was keeping a close eye on Kelly. She later hired someone to kill Ghantt, though the murder never took place. He was an old friend from East Gaston High School, tough and sure of himself. Not every agent has a case like that, he said. Name. She tried to apologize for the murder plot. Kelly drove David to the airport. "You" has three. 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.. Where was Ghantt? . Agents began picking up signs that David definitely had help: The abandoned Loomis van with $3.3 million in small bills still inside, and phone records showing that somebody beeped him while he stole the money, using David's own cell phone. The modern company was formed in 1997 by the consolidation of two armoured security concerns, Wells Fargo Armored Service and Loomis Armored Inc. Their international network covers over 200 operating locations in the US and eleven western European countries. The FBI was also surveilling Kelly Campbell and followed her to a pay phone that she used to place calls to Mexico. 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. 0 Comments Get local news delivered to your inbox! Scott Grant and Steve pulled up next to her in a Mazda. How did they get away with stealing more than $17 million? . Criminals dont usually get high-paying jobs after leaving prison. His collection case closes in two years. Thats one of my personality flaws. They discussed it further, and Campbell asked him when they should do it. She will never get beyond the debt. . Speaking of his co-defendants, Ghantt says hes not currently in contact with any of them. But what the bank didnt tell Michelle, and Michelle didnt know, was that one of those forms get filled out if you ask about it, or if its close to $10,000 or if they suspect that any part of that transaction is suspicious, Wydra said. 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.. "I said, 'Yeah, sure.' 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. As soon as you put that first bag of stolen money in that van, theres no going back. Part 2: Channel 9 speaks with the man at the center of Loomis Fargo heist 25 years ago. Its like, me and you sat down, I have access to pie, you like pie, all I want is my share of the pie. 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. He pocketed the money and told Chambers and Campbell to send him his cut in Mexico. "She just called me up on the phone and said, 'Hey, let's meet one day after work.' ". Heres your money. Then he turns around and leaves., The problem was, it was nowhere near the amount Ghantt had expected: Im looking at it, and theres maybe $8,000. Steve also offered $100,000 to his 26-year-old cousin. He learned to parachute. By Dustin Rowles | Film | September 30, 2016 |. They placed a bust of Caesar in the dining room. In the first days after the arrests, agents recovered or accounted for all but about $2 million of the stolen money. All but one took plea deals, including Ghantt, who was sentenced to seven years in prison. She didn't plan to move to Mexico. This meant a bump in pay, up to $8.15 an hour. When she realized Ghantt never came home from work the night before, she contacted the police and filed a missing persons report. Though David had said earlier he thought there was $15 million in the vault, the sight of that much cash held them spellbound. Michele received the best gift of the night. Its about the 1997 Loomis Fargo robbery also known as the hillbillly heist the second largest cash robbery in the history of the United States. Now, at 7:45 p.m., with all the money finally inside the van, his aching muscles could take a breather. "She said, 'What would it take to convince you to do it?' "I've learned that I'm a fortunate man," he said. It will be some time before she can commune with domestic animals again. His collection case, which closes in November 2026, got credit for the couples $540,000 house on Cramer Mountain in Gaston County, Butcher says. They stocked a wine cellar. To protect themselves, David and Steve didn't meet or talk. This machine is the property of Loomis. You've violated that trust. Some of the biggest numbers remaining on the Loomis collection board, as is the case with Campbell, belong to those who played the biggest role in the crime: David Ghantt, the Loomis employee who loaded all that money 2,800 pounds in all into the back of a company van before escaping to Mexico, has paid just under $50,000 of the $3.81 million he was assessed. One thing about teammates, in David's view: You could always trust them. ", "I wouldn't do it. 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. Truth was, David wanted more than help leaving, he wanted company. "I said, 'That's all they gave me,' " McKinney recalled. Of course the problem was, the money belonged to someone else. It was late in 1996. With the help of Aldo, a Mexican waiter he had befriended, David found a beach apartment in Cancun. 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. Three weeks later, the couple purchased, in cash, a $635,000 stone mansion. Scott Grant and Steve pulled up next to her in a Mazda. real kelly campbell loomis fargo heist. 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. The towns booming construction industry attracts workers from around the country. What that says is, We will never forgive you for what youve done.. The FBI (Leslie Jones, Jon Daly) made easy work of the case, however, and everyone involved was eventually arrested and imprisoned. Michele told her mother she and Steve had been saving gambling winnings for the down payment. David told her he'd need help moving the money, getting a new ID and leaving the country.
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