. And I was thinking about just showing up there. I hope everyone has moved on. 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 Mountain. We spoke to the FBI agents who investigated the case who say the real-life. About 20 ago, Campbell sent him a letter of apology, but he never responded. Three weeks later, the couple purchased, in cash, a $635,000 stone mansion. 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. To protect themselves, David and Steve didn't meet or talk. I was just going to get the money into the van. Thatd be the time to do it, Ghantt recalls. She was devastated, Diamant said. Basically, he needed a score to make his problems go away. "I wanted to be more like my mom and dad were.". But Ghantt, who served as an unpaid consultant to the movie and attended the big Los Angeles premiere earlier in the week, has no such reservations. Some of that money is just gone. When October 1997 began, Steve and Michelle Chambers lived in a double-wide trailer. "He showed me a lot of money," McKinney said. Depression had led to smoking a lot of marijuana and taking Prozac, a combination she figures affected her judgment. In Florida, a Loomis Fargo employee had pulled a gun on his coworkers and gotten away with $18 million, a move that FBI agents theorize Ghantt, Campbell and other employees all sat around talking about - and what they would do with that amount of money - for a while. It will be some time before she can commune with domestic animals again. He appeared happily matched with his high-spirited wife, Michele, and the two children from her first marriage. . (The conversation was depicted as 100 percent private on screen). He told her he wanted more of "his" cash. He pocketed the money and told Chambers and Campbell to send him his cut in Mexico. Steve told Scott to ignore the remaining stacks, which were mostly ones and fives. At first, I just blended in with the tourists and picked up a few translation books, Ghantt explains. Ghantt was the vault manager and was surrounded. They placed a bust of Caesar in the dining room. I loved it. After a couple of weeks, Ghantt and the rest of the heist team were ready to strike. He frequently entertained there, buying steaks for his guests. David kissed his sleeping wife on the cheek on the morning of Oct. 4. David, now 30, says he's sorry he abandoned his wife--who he says still loves him--and his family. In February 1998, the FBI tapped their phones and listened to Steve discuss depositing $2.5 million in the Cayman Islands. What purpose does that serve other than to denigrate that person into abject poverty?. But first they wanted to know if it was a robbery or a robbery-homicide. Question: Should people go see this movie? But you cant get blood from a stone, Johns said. Now worried about both the FBI and McKinney, he spent even more time alone in his room. Loomis, Fargo offered a $500,000 reward after the theft. If you want me to leave, Ill leave. Then, Ghantt went into another room. Ultimately, though, the heist wasnt Ghantts idea, which meant he didnt decide who else was involved. I wanted to make a drastic change and I went for it," Ghantt said. 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. Find 145 people named Kelly Loomis along with free Facebook, Instagram, Twitter, and TikTok profiles on PeekYou - true people search. And with Loomis, were looking at only one case. About 5:45 a.m., he got into his pickup and began the 45-minute drive to work in Charlotte. I'd probably change jobs. real kelly campbell loomis fargo heist real kelly campbell loomis fargo heist (No Ratings Yet) . Ghantt pulled out $50,000 from the back of the unmarked Loomis Fargo van. "I work construction. [Kelly] told me, 'Just think about it.' I couldn't understand why I hadn't been more successful," David said. Though he never found the right moment to carry out the hit, McKinney did find time to make a friend--a shady character named Robert, to whom he revealed more than was prudent. In early November, Steve lured the real Mike McKinney, an ex-Marine, to North Carolina from his Illinois home. First, in January, he tried to get someone to take some millions down to Mexico. Kelly Campbell, 29, a former company employee, entered guilty pleas earlier to bank larceny, money laundering and conspiracy to commit murder charges. Things were spiraling fast. 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. 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." Soon thereafter, he met Kelly Campbell, a co-worker at Loomis Fargo. Michele tells me you're in a financial bind. The audacity of the act was breathtaking. shes now Miss USA. Charlotte Magazine even ran a feature story about the Loomis Fargo heist with the title, White Trash Crime. The headlines, however, never bothered Ghantt. "I was dumb," Ghantt said Wednesday, the eve before the movie hits screens nationwide. This real-life crime is the core of "Untitled Armored Car Project," which stars Zach Galifianakis, Owen Wilson and Kristen Wiig. ". 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. As soon as Corey left, I pretended like I was leaving. Although David was in on most of the planning, one discussion between Steve and Kelly was kept a secret. Guller was the attorney for Steven Chambers, who came up with the original idea for the Loomis theft. I can take it.". First, they loaded the cash into blue 55-gallon barrels, and then they moved the barrels into a rental van. Theres no way to get it back, Butcher told The Charlotte Observer. At first, David Ghantt said, "I didn't take her seriously. Thats pretty standard in restitution matters. They were the butt of a national joke. Twenty-five years ago, a small group of rural North Carolinian amateur bank robbers pulled off the second-largest heist in American history. It's about the 1997 Loomis Fargo robbery also known as the "hillbillly heist" the second largest cash robbery in the history of the United States. At that same time, Steve was growing sick of the calls to send more money to Ghantt, and was looking for a way to end that issue. And robbing a truck was dangerous. 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. 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. Gaston County residents remember how that worked out. He was also a former FBI informant who had tipped the bureau off to a planned robbery of a Loomis Fargo armored truck that never came to fruition. Kelly drove her pickup to a lot across the street from the Loomis building, on Suttle Avenue in Charlotte. 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. Things started to go south the night of the robbery. 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. Eventually, Steve made Kelly believe they could steal from Loomis and get away with it, she said. He hadnt checked ahead of time if the airport had any available flights, let alone if it would even be open. He would pay McKinney $250,000, half upfront. 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. Ghantt:I've burned that bridge years ago. As soon as you put that first bag of stolen money in that van, theres no going back. All rights reserved. They discussed it further, and Campbell asked him when they should do it. "I" has one letter. But I thought this is me being hard-headed Im going to ride this thing to the ground. And so thats what I did.. So I guess I have no regrets. Campbell, a mother of two, was in the process of divorcing her. real kelly campbell loomis fargo heist. By then Id figured out that Bruno was up to no good, and that Id probably never seen any more of my money. Getting restitution, its like pulling teeth.. Chambers went from a mobile home in Lincoln County to a mansion in Cramerton. It didnt take the local police long to put the pieces together. . 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. Many of the lesser players in the conspiracy have been the most effective in paying their debts. By late November, McKinney made a third trip to Mexico, saying he'd help David move to Mexico City. The name she gave the pup is apropos. White-collar criminals are pretty good at hiding their money, she said. In one case, the restitution for a Loomis defendant may be a moving target. His collection case closes in two years. And it turned Steve into he thought he was Don Corleone all of a sudden.. The pager entry was 1-4-3. They obviously werent trying to get it right they were putting together what they believe is a better story, said Diamant. We need to set up some way for me to get my money. She said, We got it all worked out. He recalled that another agent, Phil King, said, "Hey, there was an article in the [Charlotte] Observer about beeper codes. The next day, he was sitting next to FBI agent Mark Rozzi on a US Airways flight to Charlotte. I was burned out and just didn't know it. Ghantt:It's kid-friendly, it's family-friendly (the movie is rated PG-13). The authorities didn't know yet how much was missing from the armored-car company, but Steve did. Ghantt fled to Mexico. Where I was going was right there near the Cayman Islands. I think I always knew that, but lost my way for a while.". "For the first year, they're all over you. No regrets. It's one of the biggest jokes at the place. 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. One number is working in Campbells favor. There are multiples of thousands of these things coming every year. 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) 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. I had a four-hour layover there, and then from New Orleans to Cancun.. It was unclear whether anyone will get that money, authorities said. No dry runs, no rehearsals. 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. I told the lead investigator I was glad to see him.. Him and I still talk every now and then. Kelly drove David to the airport. 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.. An Ohio police officer who shot and killed a Black man as he lay in bed in his home last summer is no longer on the force, Three Kansas City police officers who were shot while serving a search warrant have been released from the hospital, Officials say one passenger died when a business jet experienced severe turbulence, forcing a landing at Bradley International Airport in Connecticut. Ghantt:We're both North Carolina boys so we had a lot to talk about from the very beginning. 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. Because lets be brutally honest: Theyre not wrong, okay? In the two days after the robbery, agents interviewed more than 100 people, most connected with David. Ghantt went on to explain that he rarely even looks at his debt statement to the government, but believes the IRS says he still owes them $3.8 million. You can seize property. Get to me. Its that kind of excitement.. Too many questions remained: Where was the cash? Key benefit components include: Health insurance plans. David complained it wasn't enough. Or that it was an inheritance. 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. 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. Until, that is, he decided to hell with it he was going to pull-off the second largest heist in U.S. history. The robbery of some $17 million quickly became one of the wildest bank heists of the last quarter century. Michelle, meanwhile, purchased new breasts for herself, along with a $43,000 diamond ring and a new convertible BMW Z3. David didn't even know Steve's name. He was doing what the rest of us were doing making bad decisions. So I was glad it was over. I wanted to get as far away as I could. Though David had said earlier he thought there was $15 million in the vault, the sight of that much cash held them spellbound. Ghantt:I don't think he ever really meant to harm me. You're an idiot.'". Stay informed daily on the latest news and advice on COVID-19 from the editors at U.S. News & World Report. I didn't think I had the guts. Scary. "I've moved on with my life," he said Tuesday. ". Time passed, and Campbell eventually quit her job at Loomis Fargo. That's the kind of movie they wanted to make. Ghantt:I've always known that story had potential to be a comedy or a drama. "It probably should bother me," he said. Ive never taken offense to anything like that, he tells me. . 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. Youre supposed to get less time for cooperating, a lesser penalty, and instead, you see what she got hit with. Gronquist said. Best States is an interactive platform developed by U.S. News for ranking the 50 U.S. states, alongside news analysis and daily reporting. Campbell, 29, had pleaded guilty to charges of bank larceny, money laundering and conspiracy to commit murder. Then FBI agent Wydra watched Steve's wife, Michele, deposit about $8,000 at a Gaston County, N.C., bank. "I said, 'I don't want him killed.' ];Kelly Jane Campbell [Misc. At the end of October, Kelly was sentenced to 5 years 10 months in prison. His wife, Tammy, was as shocked as Loomis officials. But agents weren't ready to arrest Kelly and Steve. Kelly was no criminal. He drove to the edge of the Loomis compound, which was surrounded by a chain-link fence. It changes you. The movie was overly silly and, based on a post-screening conversation with former Observer reporter Jeff Diamant who wrote a detailed 279-page book about the occasionally funny but mostly just-plain fascinating crime, titled Heist much of what wound up in the film is fiction. "I said, 'That's all they gave me,' " McKinney recalled. 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. No hard feelings. At the sight of all that money, Scott and Eric had the same thought: They'd made the worst mistake of their lives. 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. There it was, "The Heist." . ". Come for the Chumbawamba, and stay for the return of the Mack. "He was in tears. All I needed was a change of pace.". In hindsight, it doesnt surprise me a bit, Ghantt says, a bitter laugh catching in his throat. "I'd been told all my life, money will not make you happy," Kelly said. Kelly, using David's cell phone, kept beeping him.
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