real kelly campbell loomis fargo heist

They kept several furnishings from the previous owners, including a painting of Elvis Presley on black velvet. 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. Then, keeping with the plan, Ghantt took $50,000 (the maximum that could by law be taken across the border without further authorization) with him and left for Mexico, winding up at the popular Yucatan Peninsula resort-island of Cozumel. For the New York State assemblyman, see. But of course, then they had to decorate that spectacular new space and so they spent tens of thousands of dollars on things like cigar store Indians, paintings of Elvis, and a bulldog dressed up like George Patton. In total, 24 people were convicted and all but one of the Ghantt was sentenced to 7 1/2 years in prison. Soon everyone would know about the arrests in the $17 million Loomis Fargo heist. Back in North Carolina, Ghantts former accomplices were living high on the hog. 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. WebNo products in the cart. Anonymous tips had the FBI monitoring Chambers calls. Eight people were indicted for bank larceny and money laundering,whichnine friends and relatives were also charged for, as theyd co-signed safe deposit boxes to store some of the cash. That was pretty awesome., It felt like a dream vacation until he started running out of money. When neighbors asked where they got their money, Steve said hed played in the NFL. Ghantt and his compatriots, it turns out, had underestimated how bulky money is. Thats one of my personality flaws. Although the FBI investigation was able to quickly connect Ghantt to Campbell, connecting Ghantt to Chambers was a more difficult task. Galifianakis is game for anything, including eating a dead tarantula (who knew tarantulas were filled with caramel syrup? In total, 24 people were convicted. The Dunbar Armored robbery is the largest cash robbery to have occurred in the United States. The figures can be astounding. Chambers served 11 years before being released. On the evening of October 4, 1997, one man loaded $17.3 million in cash from the vaults of Loomis, Fargo & Co. into the back of a van. They left behind the cash they couldnt fit in their cars. So with the assistance of a co-worker and possible love interest as well as a small-time criminal, David Ghantt pulled off the then-second-largest cash heist in U.S. history. 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. Learning about US history? Inside were, along with other personal items, his keys and wedding ring. wydd radio pittsburgh; dumb military bases The best states in the U.S. come from coast to coast. So Chambers decided to solve the problem by putting a hit on Ghantt. Going south, nobody really looks at what youre shipping. 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. Generally, the events of the film are fairly close to reality when they follow the broad details of the case. Its really just a matter of timing, more than anything. And she says, How much do you think wed get out of there? I said, Ten to 15 million. But I didnt really know.. According to an Observer report, this was seven times larger than their trailer. Ghantt was sentenced to seven and a half years in prison, though he was released on parole after five. They discussed it further, and Campbell asked him when they should do it. Authorities said they hired a man named Michael McKinney to meet up with Ghantt and kill him, under the guise that he was planning to give Ghantt more of the money he was owed. More than 2 million dollars is still missing to this day. Thatd be the time to do it, Ghantt recalls. And I knew that by that time, Id be in Cancun no matter what. But first they wanted to know if it was a robbery or a robbery-homicide. The Loomis defendants face no additional legal jeopardy for not paying off their debts. Ill never pay it off on my paycheck, Ghantt said. Michelle Chambers received seven years and eight months, while Steve Chambers was handed an 11-year sentence. Paying the money back has taken a lot longer, and time is running out for the U.S. government to collect. 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. These days, the 52-year-old husband and father lives in Jacksonville, Florida, where he works at a heavy equipment rental agency. They also purchased tanning beds, a pool table, a Harley-Davidson Road King motorcycle and all kinds of expensive furniture. Her case closes in 2025. Its kind of like that. It was an ear-biting, Pierce Brosnan-loving, comet-obsessed world, and were here to relive every minute of it. An additional tip reached the FBI when Michelle Chambers made a large deposit at a bank. Anybody who gets caught up in the system is getting chewed up by it, the now-retired Gronquist told the Observer. Together, they drove in a convoy to an industrial warehouse eight miles away, where Eric Payne, a fourth accomplice was. 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. One day, Campbell was speaking to an old friend named Steve Chambers. Not only was Ghantt the only unaccounted for employee the morning after the heist, there was also footage of Ghantt moving the cash into the back of the Loomis Fargo van. But as soon as he drove off, I went right back in and opened the vault. I started just chucking it as fast as I could, he said, adding the sweat was pouring off of me.. On July 10, Jon Daly joined the cast of the film to play an FBI agent. Ghantt pulled out $50,000 from the back of the unmarked Loomis Fargo van. 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. What that says is, We will never forgive you for what youve done.. 4 What is the largest armored car robbery? Ghantt would go on to spend six and a half years in federal prison. You can garnish wages. Ultimately, though, the heist wasnt Ghantts idea, which meant he didnt decide who else was involved. Thats pretty standard in restitution matters. There was also no dramatic showdown between Chambers and Ghantt as the movie suggests. So yeah, Im kind of proud of it.. I hear her typing. Campbell knew theyd need the help of the warehouses vault supervisor, who just happened to have a crush on her, and she called Ghantt to ask for his help. While the agents initiated their investigation, the Chambers spent money as quickly as they could. Nah, it was always about the money, he told the agents. Kelly Campbell, 29, a former company employee, entered guilty pleas earlier to bank larceny, money laundering and conspiracy to commit murder charges. By comparison, Ghantt served seven years in prison and was fined $26,000. The pair began to daydream about whether they could really pull off the heist. Theres no management around. The bigger the amount, however, the bigger the damages to victims that likely will never be repaid: Amy Paynes collection account was closed in 2020 with her having paid $53,000 of the $274,000 she owed. As the FBI listened in to Chambers calls, they discovered that he was also planning to have Ghantt assassinated, hoping to keep all the money for himself. Things started to go south the night of the robbery. But before thehit could be carried out, the FBI swooped in and arrested Ghantt and the others. But after she left, she reached back out to Ghantt and brought up what theyd talked about that day in the break room. The Latest Innovations That Are Driving The Vehicle Industry Forward, More than $100 million of property stolen, Diamonds, gold, silver and other type of jewelry. The Loomis case is another example where the amount of restitution ordered vs. what is actually paid are two dramatically different numbers. The thieves had simply abandoned whatever they couldnt carry away. But thanks in part to the film, the outlandish story of David Ghannt and the Loomis Fargo heist will surely live on for years to come. After this look at David Ghantt and the Loomis Fargo heist, read about a more successful robbery, the Antwerp diamond heist. Ghantt spent a solid hour moving what ended up being 2,700 pounds of cash more than an actual ton into an unmarked company van. Many of the lesser players in the conspiracy have been the most effective in paying their debts. Check out never-before-seen content, free digital evidence kits, and much more! Ghantt started at Loomis Fargo in 1994, and soon worked his way up from an armored car driver to a vault supervisor. When the rest of the Loomis Fargo employees showed up the next morning and found that they couldnt open the vault, they called the police. Ive never taken offense to anything like that, he tells me. wydd radio pittsburgh; dumb military bases In the film, Jason Sudeikis plays a sadistic assassin hired to knock off Ghantt, who befriends him. He hadnt checked ahead of time if the airport had any available flights, let alone if it would even be open. 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.. This meant a bump in pay, up to $8.15 an hour. On Oct. 5, the Loomis heist celebrates its 25th birthday. The U.S. The Antwerp diamond heist, dubbed the heist of the century, was by far the largest diamond heist.Antwerp diamond heist. Investigators also found Ghantt's pickup truck, abandoned at the warehouse. Meanwhile, David Ghantt was relaxing on a beach in Cozumel, Mexico. Unfortunately, he failed to disable the third camera. David Ghantt struck up a relationship with fellow Loomis Fargo employee Kelly Campbell, and they continued to maintain contact even after Campbell left the company. I was working sometimes 75-80 hrs a week for $8.15 an hour, I didnt even have a real home life because I was never there I was working all the time and unhappy which is understandable considering how old I was at the time. It affects everybody different. They picked me, he says with a rueful tone. On March 1, 1988, Mexican police arrested Ghantt at Playa del Carmen. WebThis real-life . Outside the building, Ghantt met up with Campbell, Chambers, and others who were involved in the plot, and drove off to a printing business called Reynolds & Reynolds in northwest Charlotte. I thought, Okay, if I get out of that bubble because the cops depend on that, even the feds my chances to get away go way up.. 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. It wasnt a big hit, but Ghantt, who was played by Galifianakis, gives it a rave review. Her sentence was delayed until Jan. 1 so she could spend the holidays with her family. Ghantt sent home a new employee and quickly loaded the money into the back of a bank van. 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. 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. In addition to her work for PrepScholar, Hayley is the author of Museum Hack's Guide to History's Fiercest Females. 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. Chambers had known enough to insist that no one blows through a ton of cash immediately after the robbery, but once he actually had his hands on the money, he couldnt follow his own advice. Chambers and his wife also made some cash payments on a few cars. There was one problem: he forgot to remove the tape from the third security camera. The two struck up a friendship during work that would continue after Campbell left the company. Restitution is a familiar part of sentencing in federal court. Webbird adoption adelaide real life kelly campbell loomis fargo. Copyright 2022 TheAssociated Press. Just days after agreeing to the plan, the group set a day to carry out the robbery. I mean, cause greed is a funny animal. Getting restitution, its like pulling teeth.. When he landed in Cancun, his first stop was Walmart. I knew that if we could stay off the radar for about a year, we could basically live a vacation life, Ghantt said. The plan to rob Loomis Fargo was spawned by Campbell and her friend Steve Chambers, during a casual bonfire at Chambers home. Although the history of the predecessor Wells Fargo & Company dates back to 1852, Loomis Fargo & Company was established in 1997 by the consolidation of Wells Fargo Armored Service and Loomis Armored Inc.; the resulting corporation employed 8,500 people and provided armored transportation, cash handling services, and automatic teller machine maintenance. One of the best ways to learn more about U.S. history is to make sure youre taking history classes. What SAT Target Score Should You Be Aiming For? He left his wedding ring behind and spent his days spending money on luxury hotels and scuba diving. And going to see the Mayan ruins. Things were spiraling fast. There was, however, one problem with his plan. Criminals dont usually get high-paying jobs after leaving prison. On March 12, a Charlotte grand jury indicted the eight co-conspirators for bank larceny and money laundering; the latter offense was included because of how they spent the stolen money. so make sure youre taking the right ones for you. The leader was Allen Pace, who turned out to be the worst safety inspector the Dunbar Armored trucking company ever employed. Marshals Service auctioned off the purchased items in Charlotte, most of which came from the Chambers and Cramers. And then I could hear her laughing. Web>> PHOTOS: The Loomis Fargo heist, 25 years later Ghantt, his former co-worker Kelly Campbell and her friends Steve and Michelle Chambers, carried out the Loomis Fargo Chambers and his wife Michele moved out of a trailer and into a luxury mansion in a nice neighborhood. Get all your true crime news from Oxygen. Burks was also ordered to serve 15 years in prison, limiting his ability to balance his books. While Ghantt waited for the heat from the robbery to die down, Chambers would send Ghantt small amounts of money. 2022 marks the 25th anniversary of the year that everything happened 1997. Pocketing $50,000 for himself, that man, named David Ghantt, hopped into a car of his own and headed towards Mexico. If you want to go ahead and go, I got it. Or as he tells me, How many people in the United States havent thought about robbing a bank? Cool, I say. This material may not be published, broadcast, rewritten or redistributed. Just head on out. And so, he did. But there was just one thing the group hadnt been counting on: the massive weight of that amount of cash. I was just going to get the money into the van. I had to go in there and tell her the whole story, and she was real cool about it. Three weeks later, the couple purchased, in cash, a $635,000 stone mansion. Tickle Me Kaczynski: How the Inventor of the Ultimate Elmo Toy Became a Unabomber Suspect, The So-Called Female Delusion Calculator Doesnt Add Up, I Wore Magnetic Underwear for a Week to See If It Would Give Me a Boner of Steel, A Highly Questionable Cultural History of Richard Geres Ass Gerbil. And I think that makes it all the more funny, because it really offends my co-defendants. The two struck up a friendship during work that would continue after Campbell left the 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. The next day, the Chambers, Campbell and other members of the ring were arrested. Was Loomis Fargo heist real? 9 Where did the masterminds live after the heist? He says the Loomis case shows how the criminal justice system and the courts treat lower-income people differently. Next month, Payne will back in the Charlotte federal courthouse, this time to be sentenced from weapons and methamphetamine trafficking charges. Masterminds is a 2016 American comedy film based on the October 1997 Loomis Fargo Robbery in North Carolina. I was working sometimes 75-80 hours a week at $8.15 an hour. 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. With the plan in place, Ghantt sent a newly employed co-worker home early (reportedly at 6 p.m) who had been assigned to train with him. followed by "Don't worry, it is not drug money," the bank filled out a suspicious activity report, which ultimately reached the FBI. On similar grounds, four other people were ultimately also charged with money laundering. It changes you. Once the hitman Chambers had hired arrived in Mexico, he found that he couldnt bring himself to kill Ghantt. To make a successful getaway, Ghantt had to lift nearly 2,800 pounds of currency. What ACT target score should you be aiming for? Charlotte Agenda is now Axios Charlotte -. Chambers and Campbell were waiting for him in the Loomis Fargo parking lot, both in separate vehicles. He was the only employee unaccounted for the next morning, and videotapes recovered at the Loomis Fargo Charlotte office showed Ghantt removing "cubes of cash" and loading it into a Loomis Fargo armored van for over an hour. Ghantt and one other employee were the last to leave. First, they loaded the cash into blue 55-gallon barrels, and then they moved the barrels into a rental van. From there, hed meet Campbell, Chambers and Grant, a friend of Chambers, in a parking lot, from where they would head to an industrial warehouse and load all but $50,000 into a rental van. the Loomis Fargo heist Other noteworthy purchases included a diamond ring and Rolex for themselves, tanning beds and big-screen TVs for their home and breast implants for Chambers wife. 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. He comes to my door, and hes got a brown paper bag in his hand. Clerk of Court Frank Johns of Charlotte. WebThis real-life . Its kind of out of sight, out of mind, she said of the reasoning. This page was last edited on 7 January 2023, at 02:50. The FBI quickly connected Ghantt to Campbell, who was a former Loomis Fargo employee. On Oct. 5, 1997, Ghantt carried out the heist during his regular shift after sending another employee home, stealing more than $17 million from the bank vault. Check out our top-rated graduate blogs here: PrepScholar 2013-2018. I was looking at small sailboats and theyre not cheap, he tells me. The government does not run debtors prisons, says U.S. [1], This robbery was the second-largest cash robbery on U.S. soil at the time, as only seven months earlier, on March 29, 1997 in Jacksonville, Florida, Philip Noel Johnson stole $18.8 million from the Loomis Fargo armored vehicle he was driving.[2]. For a time, it was nicknamed "the hillbilly heist" because nearly all of the major players in the case came from small towns around Charlotte. 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. From the beginning, the FBIs prime suspect was David Ghantt. Loomis Fargo employees could not open the vault the next morning and called the police. Instead, the two started hanging out on the beach together and became friends. Campbellwho was married herselfrepresented something new and exciting. The connection to Chambers took more time. All rights reserved. But after one visit, she asked a teller "How much can I deposit before you have to report it to the feds?" Campbell left her job in the summer of 1997, but she would later use Ghantts feelings for her to her own advantage to get him to agree to carry out the multi-million-dollar heist. In 2020, the television show Super Heists portrayed the heist in Episode 3, "Van Full of Dollars". And with Loomis, were looking at only one case. He was released in 2006. WebGhantt was joking in the breakroom with fellow Loomis Fargo employee Kelly Campbell. For her part, Kelly Campbell spent six years in federal prison. Ghantt has never explained where that money went. Coverage of the latest true crime stories and famous cases explained, as well as the best TV shows, movies and podcasts in the genre. According to Butcher, Campbells last official payment came in June 2021 when the government appears to have seized a tax refund of $81.24. David Ghantt had been a model employee for an armored car company before pulling off the second biggest cash heist in U.S. history, fleeing with more than $17 million in untraceable bills in 1997. Soon, the couple would be paying for something else, too: a hitman. I was expecting her to kick me out of the house., Years later, after they married and had a child together, they watched a movie based on the whole ordeal. White-collar criminals are pretty good at hiding their money, she said. Husband and wife Steven and Michelle Chambers, whose conspicuous consumption of a luxury home, a BMW convertible, breast implants and a $600 wooden Indian, among other purchases, helped the FBI solve the crime, were assessed $3.81 million and $4.8 million, respectively. The plan was for Ghantt to commit the robbery and then quickly leave the country for Mexico but to leave the bulk of the cash with Chambers. Sign up forOxygen Insiderfor all the best true crime content. If so,check out some of these books on our AP History Exam reading list. Michelle, meanwhile, purchased new breasts for herself, along with a $43,000 diamond ring and a new convertible BMW Z3. The next day, the Chambers, Campbell, and some other notable parties were arrested in Charlotte. Before he decided to steal $17 million from the bank, Ghantt had worked for years as a relatively taciturn and compliant employee. WebLoomis Fargo Robbery There is a vault reserved for only the most outrageous, preposterous, and far-fetched real life stories. Ron DeSantis has awarded $100 million for beach erosion projects and other restoration efforts in 16 coastal counties damaged by Hurricane Ian and Hurricane Nicole, A Tennessee judge has ruled that video detailing the treatment of a death row inmate who cut off his penis while on suicide watch must be made public, An Indiana man faces felony charges after his diaper-clad 4-year-old son was seen pointing a loaded handgun at people outside their apartment.