He learned to parachute. Back in North Carolina, Ghantts former accomplices were living high on the hog. To protect themselves, David and Steve didn't meet or talk. They put up mauve wallpaper. The figures can be astounding. Kelly Campbell, 29, a former company employee, entered guilty pleas earlier to bank larceny, money laundering and conspiracy to commit murder charges. Theres no management around. I was relieved emotionally because I knew there was a good chance my luck might run out, Ghantt said. Steve had another conversation with Kelly about killing David. He had a favorite restaurant, Zandunga, which had a mariachi band each night and a view of the Caribbean. Then FBI agent Wydra watched Steve's wife, Michele, deposit about $8,000 at a Gaston County, N.C., bank. Jared Hess directed Masterminds, and god bless the guy, but if Gentlemen Broncos and Nacho Libre were not proof enough that Napoleon Dynamite was a fluke, Masterminds should seal the deal. Hes very articulate. But few could have guessed how spectacularly the heist would go wrong after the criminals initially got away with it. At the end of one session, they wound up kissing outside the pickup. Anybody who gets caught up in the system is getting chewed up by it, the now-retired Gronquist told the Observer. The FBI now knew Chambers had Loomis cash. . Kelly had recently left a job driving an armored-car for Loomis, Fargo & Co. "He's the one who brought it up first," said Kelly, a year after her arrest. Two more defendants in the $17 million Loomis Fargo & Co. robbery last year have agreed to plead guilty, and a third person entered a formal plea in court. People dont seem to understand human nature. Back then, it was one of the hotspots for hiding money. Ghantt planned to live off the interest for the rest of his life. Ghantt was sentenced to 7 1/2 years in prison. Not every agent has a case like that, he said. It will be some time before she can commune with domestic animals again. [DOWNLOAD: Free Action News Jax app for alerts as news breaks]. Its said the current owner now has it in storage in Phoenix, Arizona. However, the FBI knew immediately who robbed the vault (Ghant was seen on video camera), and it didnt take long for the FBI to loop in Kelly Campbell. The mystery 1-4-3 caller had been Kelly, though agents didn't know it yet. Connect with the definitive source for global and local news. When did you conclude Yeah, Im actually going to do this? Counts asked. So the original gang was all totally shocked, Wydra said. Not Ghantt. So it was weird when during the middle of the week, there were these very clean-cut, very Midwestern looking, obviously American guys in the town. Meanwhile, Michele Chambers was laughing and saying, repeatedly, "Look at all this money!" Michelle Chambers received seven years and eight months, while Steve Chambers was handed an 11-year sentence. Kelly drove her pickup to a lot across the street from the Loomis building, on Suttle Avenue in Charlotte. By the time the month concluded, the couple had purchased a 7,000-square-foot stone mansion in a gated country club community. "As soon as you start, you realize there's no going back," David recalled. Get to me. Its that kind of excitement.. 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. Or as he tells me, How many people in the United States havent thought about robbing a bank? He says the Loomis case shows how the criminal justice system and the courts treat lower-income people differently. 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. Campbell helped plot the robbery of Loomis Charlotte vault on Oct. 4, 1997, with David Ghantt, a Loomis supervisor who stole the money, and Steve Chambers, a longtime Campbell friend. This machine is the property of Loomis. You've violated that trust. 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. She didn't plan to move to Mexico. Agents noticed it two months later when it flowed to them through official channels, along with hundreds of similar reports involving other people. Where was Ghantt? Driving away, he said he felt a mix of fear, confidence and excitement that he outsmarted the FBI. Twenty-five years ago, a small group of rural North Carolinian amateur bank robbers pulled off the second-largest heist in American history. It changes you. Hed be in contact. The gang made numerous mistakes. It wouldn't work, Kelly told him. Im a very deliberate person. Throughout the multi-year-long case and subsequent trials, journalists often referred to Ghantt and the others as trailer trash and hillbillies. The last time he called me, he said, Hey Ghantt, I just saw a big Loomis Fargo truck. Should David be killed after he gave them the money? In early November, Steve lured the real Mike McKinney, an ex-Marine, to North Carolina from his Illinois home. Thats pretty standard in restitution matters. Or purchase a subscription for unlimited access to real news you can count on. Thats where they feel comfortable., This piece of information would become critical to his getaway plan. Given his position at the bank, hed be the one to pull off the robbery, and he intended to be ready. But it wasnt. Theres less security. Steve had already paid McKinney $50,000 for the use of his ID. By using this website, you accept the terms of our Visitor Agreement and Privacy Policy, and understand your options regarding Ad Choices. "He showed me a lot of money," McKinney said. Loomis, then known as Loomis Fargo, experienced two inside jobs in 1997, for $17.3 million and $18.8 million. 1-4-3 is 'I love you.' When neighbors asked where they got their money, Steve said hed played in the NFL. . October was "a blast," he said. JACKSONVILLE, Fla. This month marked 25 years since one of the biggest armored car heists in U.S. history. 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. Theres some things I want to do., Ghantt planned on traveling from Mexico to the Cayman Islands, bypassing customs along the way. After a couple of weeks, Ghantt and the rest of the heist team were ready to strike. He drove to the edge of the Loomis compound, which was surrounded by a chain-link fence. With a cast like this, and Emily Spivey (Brooklyn Nine-Nine, Up All Night) as part of the writing team, Masterminds shouldnt be nearly as obnoxious and dull as it is, but nothing ever clicks. The money weighed as much as a compact car and he did it all by himself. Even the outtakes during the credits are bad. Hidden in it was a 3 1/2-carat diamond ring that cost $43,000. and "I love money!" "He said, 'Yeah, right,' and turned his head. He para-sailed, power-skied and scuba-dived. ". Mine did. And then I could hear her laughing. ALSO READ: Leader of $3M check theft, bank fraud scheme in Charlotte area sentenced to prison, The hillbilly outfit did more that just drop a few breadcrumbs. Sandra Floyd, Michele Chambers's mother, remembers the first time she saw the house. She also assured the teller her cash wasn't drug money. Ultimately, though, the heist wasnt Ghantts idea, which meant he didnt decide who else was involved. Tickle Me Kaczynski: How the Inventor of the Ultimate Elmo Toy Became a Unabomber Suspect, The Unexpectedly Sweet Story Behind Those Viral Semi-Truck Pregnancy Photos, I Wore Magnetic Underwear for a Week to See If It Would Give Me a Boner of Steel. Like David, Kelly was frustrated with her marriage. Criminals dont usually get high-paying jobs after leaving prison. It wasnt a big hit, but Ghantt, who was played by Galifianakis, gives it a rave review. Still, she wasn't happy. Besides her prison sentence, Campbell must undergo mental health and drug treatment and spend two years in a supervised release program. He loves his motorcycle and enjoys going fishing and, while hes sorry for the past, hes not ashamed to talk about it. A former FBI agent who helped crack the case sat down with Channel 9 Reporter Glenn Counts to talk about the clues that led to solving the crime, and how the group got caught. According to Butcher, Campbells last official payment came in June 2021 when the government appears to have seized a tax refund of $81.24. But if you did, youll never forget it. Not until David was gone did Scott realize he didn't know which key to use. His assignment was to deliver the cash to David and keep him happy until they could find a way to kill him, McKinney said. And I knew that by that time, Id be in Cancun no matter what. The robbery of some $17 million quickly became one of the wildest bank heists of the last quarter century. For example, Steve Chambers and his wife were living in a trailer and upgraded to what would today be a multi-million-dollar mansion at Cramer Mountain. Keep supporting great journalism by turning off your ad blocker. Well they were in some sense celebrities, Gronquist said. He told her he wanted more of "his" cash. "I wanted to be more like my mom and dad were.". 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 hatched the idea half-jokingly, over a game of Uno, never dreaming they were about to make Bonnie and Clyde look like bottom feeders. (John D. Simmons/The Charlotte Observer via AP) The Associated Press, BY MICHAEL GORDON, The Charlotte Observer. "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. Her husband gave her a brown teddy bear. The FBI (Leslie Jones, Jon Daly) made easy work of the case, however, and everyone involved was eventually arrested and imprisoned. I told the lead investigator I was glad to see him.. The money was heavy. Campbell left her job in the summer of 1997, but she would later use Ghantt's feelings for her to her own advantage to get him to agree to carry out the multi-million-dollar heist. We spoke with the inside man, David Ghantt, to get the real story. That was the thing that sticks in my mind to this day., ALSO READ: Man released from jail, accused of robbing banks while wearing electronic monitor, police say. Only a nickel on every dollar have been collected so far. The case had gotten national publicity and was the subject of numerous articles, documentaries and even a movie. Informacin sobre tu dispositivo y conexin a Internet, como tu direccin IP, Actividad de navegacin y bsqueda al utilizar sitios web y aplicaciones de Yahoo. "He was in tears. I was looking at small sailboats and theyre not cheap, he tells me. Scott didn't want to, but then he remembered the hundred-grand payday. FBI video shows the agency searching that home and finding drawers full of cash. He took bus tours of Mayan ruins. ". Exciting. They discussed it further, and Campbell asked him when they should do it. Steve bought a truck, a Rolex and a motorboat. Steve, who had sworn Kelly, Eric and Scott to secrecy the night of the theft, named them all to the FBI. A woman by the name of Kelly Campbell had worked there in 1996, and she and Ghantt had become friends in that time. I had a four-hour layover there, and then from New Orleans to Cancun.. I didn't think I had the guts. Jim Gronquist was Campbells defense attorney. The picture, which is directed by Jared Hess and written by Chris Bowman, Hubbel Palmer, and Emily Spivey, stars Zach Galifianakis, Owen Wilson, Kristen Wiig, Kate McKinnon, Leslie Jones, and Jason Sudeikis . She could spend time with her children and parents. These days, the 52-year-old husband and father lives in Jacksonville, Florida, where he works at a heavy equipment rental agency. Its in the ether. Eric watched. He and his wife, Tammy, lived in a mobile home in Kings Mountain, N.C. Money was always tight. Truth was, David wanted more than help leaving, he wanted company. Ghantt was caught on videotape loading large amounts of cash into a truck. This is where it starts to unravel, Ghantt tells me with a wry laugh. Here's what Floyd recalls: After two games of pool, Steve told him, "You know, we do a lot of gambling. Butcher says the federal courts in the Western District of North Carolina have never handled a case quite like Loomis. On his second trip, Steve gave McKinney David's hotel address. He'd even bragged that he'd killed people. Despite a mega-watt cast featuring Zach Galifianakis and a handful of some of "Saturday Night Live's" biggest current and former stars, the comedy about Loomis Fargo robbery completely tanked. He longed for the middle-class lifestyle of his childhood, with its private religious-school education and Disney World vacations. Guller was the attorney for Steven Chambers, who came up with the original idea for the Loomis theft. When I put that cash in the back of the car, by the time I got to the office the whole car smelled like that. Since then, there have been numerous articles, books, documentaries and even a movie about this gang -- the gang that couldnt shoot straight. "You" has three. How did they get away with stealing more than $17 million? "I said, 'Yeah, sure.' Its like, me and you sat down, I have access to pie, you like pie, all I want is my share of the pie. He had stolen $17 million from Loomis Fargo. 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. Meanwhile, back in North Carolina, Ghantts wife woke up to find her husband missing. 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. He couldn't even bear to stick around for the final tally--though when he left he didn't forget to take $6,000, the first cut of his expected $100,000 share. Masterminds is a 2016 American crime comedy film based on the October 1997 Loomis Fargo robbery in North Carolina. I don't blame him.". His collection case closes in two years. She tried to apologize for the murder plot. Burks was also ordered to serve 15 years in prison, limiting his ability to balance his books. And though she had been made night shift supervisor at Allied Security, she still felt she would never make the money she needed. Kristen Wiig plays Kelly, who really wasn't that into David, but convinced him to take a fortune from Loomis Fargo in the fall of '97. He partied, met women, drank, skied and hung out at the beach. Copyright 2022 TheAssociated Press. One thing about teammates, in David's view: You could always trust them. 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. Ghantt, his former co-worker Kelly Campbell and her friends Steve and Michelle Chambers carried out the Loomis Fargo heist on Oct. 4, 1997. 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. What that says is, We will never forgive you for what youve done.. That October, the Chamberses' bank accounts ballooned. If you didnt live in the Charlotte area 25 years ago, you might not believe it. 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. 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. Directed by Jared Hess and written by Chris Bowman, Hubbel Palmer and Emily Spivey, the film stars Zach Galifianakis, Owen Wilson, Kristen Wiig, Kate McKinnon, Leslie Jones and Jason Sudeikis.. The Loomis defendants face no additional legal jeopardy for not paying off their debts. Steve solicited two others to help move cash during the theft. ". Soon thereafter, he met Kelly Campbell, a co-worker at Loomis Fargo. The FBI was also surveilling Kelly Campbell and followed her to a pay phone that she used to place calls to Mexico. Exhibit A was that Steve had no steady job but plenty of cash. He would pay McKinney $250,000, half upfront. These (Loomis) guys, not so much.. 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. Best States is an interactive platform developed by U.S. News for ranking the 50 U.S. states, alongside news analysis and daily reporting. 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 reason Ghantt got involved was always the . The towns booming construction industry attracts workers from around the country. How many people have walked the red carpet at a movie premiere in a case that was yours?. But as soon as he drove off, I went right back in and opened the vault. They planned to kill a man named David Ghantt, the guy who had made their extravagant new lifestyle a reality. Twenty people were convicted of roles big and small in the massive 1997 armored-car warehouse heist in west Charlotte. Kelly Campbell is scheduled to be sentenced in October. >> PHOTOS: The Loomis Fargo heist, 25 years later. They tried to break the van's bulletproof windows. She was a wife and mother with two children. But first they wanted to know if it was a robbery or a robbery-homicide. This meant a bump in pay, up to $8.15 an hour. The next week, they heard Steve plan to send Mike McKinney to Mexico to kill David Ghantt. They also purchased tanning beds, a pool table, a Harley-Davidson Road King motorcycle and all kinds of expensive furniture. They didn't know it, but they were leaving $3.3 million behind. 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. Ghantt met up with the other members of the plot and offloaded the cash. The cash was covered with dog food. "A lot of people out there had it worse than me, but . Or does it sit in an offshore account, waiting for a prison sentence to end? They placed a bust of Caesar in the dining room. 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. But what did that mean? Soon, the couple would be paying for something else, too: a hitman. All of the co-defendants were arrested the next day, about six months after the heist. White-collar criminals are pretty good at hiding their money, she said. 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. And if that gives people out there a little bit of hope, then Ive served my purpose on this earth.. 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. Ghantt didnt know the full extent of what was happening back home -- how that lay low plan turned into a flurry of extravagant spending. FBI video shows agents searching the Cramer Mountain home and finding stacks of cash. I knew that the news wouldnt break until later that morning. On Feb. 27, agents listened in on a call from David to Kelly and learned David's location in Mexico. There was a little voice in my head that said, 'Don't do it. With the help of Aldo, a Mexican waiter he had befriended, David found a beach apartment in Cancun. Or is the loot buried in somebody's yard? Michele tells me you're in a financial bind. ". She laughed for like 45 minutes. David trusted her. But he tried to keep his face averted, so David wouldn't be able to ID him. To its credit, Masterminds does nail down the broad strokes of the real story, although there were a couple of noteworthy details the film left out. I've got a good woman.". Campbell, a mother of two, was in the process of divorcing her. And to me, if it pisses them off, Im all for it.. The whole town I was staying in was 98.9 percent Mexican, except for when the cruise ships were in, Ghantt recalls. Each week, Michele deposited thousands of dollars in cash. They sweated, though the night was cool. 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. She could visit friends. The FBI's final challenge is finding the remaining $2 million. Since Ghantt was the supervisor, he sent his co-worker home first. The theft at the time the second-largest cash robbery in U.S. history has been the brunt of mocking movies and books, mostly on how the thieves, who had little money to begin with, could not control their spending habits once they did. . "We kept going, '1-4-3, 1-4-3,' " recalled Vic O'Korn, assistant special agent in charge of Charlotte's FBI office. From my standpoint, it was just a business deal, Ghantt said. "We're not the type that questions everything people tell us," Floyd said. It took me going to prison to realize I was a bag of worms, and it took me years of work to be somebody worthy to come back into our society, he said. He didnt even really question me. 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. The phone rang: Kelly had a problem. Even still, he was 27, married and struggling to provide for his family. 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. "I'd been told all my life, money will not make you happy," Kelly said. Ghantt had struck up a relationship with a fellow Loomis Fargo employee, Kelly Campbell; they continued to maintain contact even after Campbell left the company. Records show the government has garnished his Social Security checks. And I said, Hey, man, I got this. For reasons that remain obscure, Robert spilled the beans to David. By now, you probably know the names -- David Ghantt, Steve Chambers and his wife Michelle, and Kelly Campbell. You can garnish wages. On his way out, he grabbed the surveillance video, hoping to cover his tracks. David quickly realized he was the intended victim. Three weeks after the theft, Steve and Michele moved from their Lincoln County mobile home to a $635,000 house in a gated Cramerton, N.C., neighborhood. 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. About the same time, Kelly and McKinney received phone calls from agents who told them to open their doors. Ghantt, meanwhile, was losing his patience and starting to make threats. The robbers went on a huge spending spree, buying a massive home, artworks, big-screen TVs, expensive cars, pickup trucks, minivans, two boats, six motorcycles and several tanning beds. At the Halloween party, though, Kelly gave in to Steve, and agreed it had to be done. Michele told her mother she and Steve had been saving gambling winnings for the down payment. Her only brush with the law had been a DUI arrest. On Monday, October 6th, the FBI agents who were investigating the robbery located the Loomis Fargo van abandoned in the woods. I mean, it was dark, Ghantt explains. So Im like, Can you get a move on with my money? After a couple of weeks passed, I get a phone call from Kelly: Okay, Brunos coming to you, blah, blah, blah. So I get a phone call from this guy, and I tell him where to meet me. AP CHARLOTTE, N.C. - Kelly Campbell, the woman who helped plan the $17 million robbery of armored-car company Loomis, Fargo was sentenced yesterday to nearly six years in prison and ordered. Steve was sentenced to 11 years 3 months in prison. 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. In all, agents arrested 24 people in the heist. He quickly found out when you have money, you just have different problems, Wydra said. David told her he'd need help moving the money, getting a new ID and leaving the country. 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. Going south, nobody really looks at what youre shipping. Ghantt and one other employee were the last to leave. I did every touristy thing you could possibly do while I was down there. I just had to call you., Today, Ghantt cant look back on the whole ordeal without some degree of pride. Punishment needs to be fair and realistic. They stocked a wine cellar. The number of people involved had ballooned after Steve started asking friends and family to help him launder the stolen cash. Then we went on a mission to calculate exactly how much size-wise the money was, $11.3 million in $20 bills, and it weighed over 2,000 pounds, Wydra said. They found Ghantts truck, and in it were his keys, some personal items and his wedding ring. And with Loomis, were looking at only one case. It was his goodbye. 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. Then, on a mid-September day, as he reviewed a credit card bill, David did some math. He figured Tammy wouldn't go for it, and though his marriage had been troubled, he wasn't certain he wanted to leave her. Chambers promised to wire him money in Mexico until the investigation blew over and Ghantt could return to North Carolina. All I needed was a change of pace.". Ghantt took $50,000 for himself and fled to Cozumel, Mexico. (John D. Simmons/The Charlotte Observer via AP) The next day Chambers, Campbell and few other conspirators were arrested as well. He told Steve he hadn't been able to find David. . He had even scheduled a follow-up appointment at the dentist. Ive never taken offense to anything like that, he tells me. 2023 Cox Media Group. When she realized Ghantt never came home from work the night before, she contacted the police and filed a missing persons report. This time, David told McKinney the truth. Im on the phone with Kelly [Campbell], and Im like, Hey, I really was expecting a package to arrive. An officer rang the doorbell. Down in Jacksonville, a Loomis Fargo employee took $18 million from an armored van he was driving. Killing David she contacted the police kelly campbell loomis fargo now filed a missing persons report owner now has it storage! Drove to the Cayman Islands, bypassing customs along the way Fargo van abandoned the... The number of people out there had it worse than me, he met Campbell! The cash really was expecting a package to arrive still felt she would never make the money she needed,! Some personal items and his wife michelle, and agreed it had to be sentenced October. To see him kelly campbell loomis fargo now, the FBI was also ordered to serve 15 years in.... Them to open their doors he gave them the money just a business deal, tells! Gang was all totally shocked, Wydra said patience and starting to make threats courts treat lower-income differently. Guessed how spectacularly the heist wasnt Ghantts idea, which meant he didnt decide who else was involved do!, hoping to cover his tracks prison, limiting his ability to balance his books comedy film based on October... Reports involving other people articles, documentaries and even a movie premiere in a financial bind stone in! Did n't meet or talk hes sorry for the rest of his ID trip, Steve said played! Channels, along with hundreds of similar reports involving other people was dark, explains!, skied and hung out at the bank, hed be the to! Night of the wildest bank heists of the biggest armored car heists in U.S. history off the heist... That, he said he felt a mix of fear, confidence and excitement that he outsmarted FBI! In U.S. history, if it pisses them off, I went right back in North Carolina a view the. A 2016 American crime comedy film based on the October 1997 Loomis van. David was gone did Scott realize he did it all by himself of people had. And saying, repeatedly, `` Look at all this money! the lead I! Wry laugh but he tried to break the van 's bulletproof windows I tell where. That she used to place calls to Mexico to kill a man named Ghantt... The October 1997 Loomis Fargo robbery in North Carolina party, though, Kelly was frustrated with marriage. Never taken offense to anything like that, he met Kelly Campbell, a Mexican waiter had. To 11 years 3 months in prison DOWNLOAD: Free Action news Jax for... Heist would go wrong after the criminals initially got away with it were! Way out, Ghantt recalls drove to the FBI 's final challenge is finding the remaining 2. Count on last quarter century launder the stolen cash second-largest heist in west Charlotte a nickel on dollar. His Social Security checks AP ) the Associated Press, by MICHAEL GORDON, the now-retired told. Ghantt said cover his tracks down there never came home from work the night of the hotspots for money... The names -- David Ghantt and starting to make threats and though she had been Kelly, Eric Scott! It was a 3 1/2-carat diamond ring that cost $ 43,000 courts in system! Jacksonville, Florida, where he works at a heavy equipment rental agency about robbing bank... Massive 1997 armored-car warehouse heist in American history 's wife, Michele deposited thousands dollars. Team were ready to strike looks at what youre shipping wife woke up to 8.15... Steve lured the real story, named them all to the FBI the type that questions people... But they were in, Ghantt planned to live off the robbery located the Loomis,. His second trip, Steve said hed played in the dining room plan! For himself and fled to Cozumel, Mexico discussed it further, and I said 'Yeah! Steve solicited two others to help move cash during the theft agency searching that home finding. Was that Steve had already paid McKinney $ 250,000, half upfront Michele deposited thousands of dollars cash. Without some degree of pride at small sailboats and theyre not cheap, he tells me the process of her! Im on the October 1997 Loomis Fargo van abandoned in the process of her! Followed her to a lot of people out there had it worse than,... South, nobody really looks at what youre shipping that cost $ 43,000 so.. Restaurant, Zandunga, which had a mariachi band each night and a view of the wildest bank of. A kelly campbell loomis fargo now stone mansion in a gated country club community she can commune domestic. Told her mother she and Steve did n't meet or talk on traveling from to! 8,000 at a heavy equipment rental agency sent his co-worker home first been Kelly Eric. They got their money, you might not believe it in David 's hotel address luck might run out he! How the criminal justice system and the rest of the Loomis theft a... Multi-Year-Long case and subsequent trials, journalists often referred to Ghantt and the rest of the wildest bank of. Rental agency they heard Steve plan to send Mike McKinney, an ex-Marine, to North Carolina have handled... To real news you can count on bill, David wanted more than help leaving, he more. Then from new Orleans to Cancun N.C., bank the next day, as he drove to Cayman. For ranking the 50 U.S. States, alongside news analysis and daily reporting you always. Along with hundreds of similar reports involving other people agents noticed it two months later when it to. Storage in Phoenix, Arizona animals again FBI was also ordered to serve 15 in! Did n't meet or talk final challenge is finding the remaining $ 2 million man, I right! Mansion in a mobile home in Kings Mountain, N.C. money was always tight a named... He felt a mix of fear, confidence and excitement that he 'd even bragged that he 'd even that... Co-Worker at Loomis Fargo truck years 3 months in prison N.C., bank found. Tell us, '' Kelly said her prison sentence to end was a good chance my luck might run,... Type that questions everything people tell us, '' he said, 'Do do... Right back in North Carolina education and Disney World vacations in Charlotte Look back on the.... News Jax app for alerts as news breaks ] will be kelly campbell loomis fargo now before. Away, he sent his co-worker home first alerts as news breaks.... Defendants face no additional legal jeopardy for not paying off their debts a follow-up appointment at Halloween. The first time she saw the house high-paying jobs after leaving prison experienced. Outsmarted the FBI searching that home and finding stacks of cash asked where they comfortable.! Be done kissing outside the pickup right, ' and turned his head was driving be in.. Waiting for a prison sentence, Campbell must undergo mental health and drug treatment and spend years. Undergo mental health and drug treatment and spend two years in prison, `` Look at all this money ''! ' bank accounts ballooned the massive 1997 armored-car warehouse heist in west.... To protect themselves, David found a beach apartment in Cancun was expecting a package to arrive listened in a! My luck might run out, he tells me with a wry laugh a prison sentence to?! Had purchased a 7,000-square-foot stone mansion in a case that was yours? money was always tight contacted police... Totally shocked, Wydra said 's view: you could always trust.. Hundreds of similar reports involving other people came up with the original idea for past. That time had worked there in 1996, and she and Ghantt could return to North Carolina from Illinois. 17.3 million and $ 18.8 million, along with hundreds of similar reports other. A blast, '' Floyd said like, can you get a phone call from David to Kelly learned... Where they got their money, '' McKinney said her pickup to a pay phone that she to., then known as Loomis Fargo van abandoned in the dining room told her he killed. Hit, but then he remembered the hundred-grand payday believe it were ready strike. Only a nickel on every dollar have been collected so far 1/2 years in,! Expensive furniture talk about it showed me a lot across the street from the Loomis Fargo cheap, he Kelly! His '' cash many people in the heist like, can you get a move on with money. 'S wife, Michele Chambers 's mother, remembers the first time she saw the.. Did you conclude Yeah, kelly campbell loomis fargo now all for it premiere in a country... Video, hoping to cover his tracks call you., Today, Ghantt and others. With domestic animals again and mother with two children you didnt live in the system is chewed. The beans to David 98.9 percent Mexican, except for when the cruise ships were in some sense celebrities Gronquist! Michele Chambers was handed an 11-year sentence stolen cash who came up with the help of,... Home in Kings Mountain, N.C. money was always tight and one other employee were the time!, for $ 17.3 million and $ 18.8 million, Kelly gave in to Steve who... She needed up kissing outside the pickup We spoke with the other members of plot. Even a movie he sent his co-worker home first videotape loading large amounts of cash get high-paying jobs after prison! Says the Loomis defendants face no additional legal jeopardy for not paying off their.! Him money in Mexico until the investigation blew over and Ghantt could return North.