loomis fargo heist kelly campbell

He hated his job and his bosses, he'd lost hope in his marriage, he wasn't going to advance at Loomis, and he couldn't afford to quit to enroll in college. Theres no way to get it back, Butcher told The Charlotte Observer. Campbell was released from federal custody in 2004 after serving five years, meaning her collection case will age out in December 2024. 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Marine Fisheries Commission advocates for water quality, North Carolina the only state allowing unnecessary killing of sea turtles, 'Pagan' bike gang leader in N. Carolina sentenced to prison, Deputy cleared in shooting death of Gloucester woman, Beaufort amends charter to allow four-year mayoral term. So we were able to figure out with all the denominations, it would require about 20 safe deposit boxes to store it all.. There's just one hitch: Ghantt has entrusted the money to an oddball crew of accomplices who had wooed him into committing this massive theft in the first placeand who, he soon learns, are trying to take him out. In Campbells case, Gronquist says his client was buried in court-ordered debt despite the fact that she took responsibility for what she had done and cooperated with prosecutors and the FBI. There are multiples of thousands of these things coming every year. In the end, the FBI was able to capture the original gang in five months, snaring 21 individuals for their participation in the crime. You can garnish wages. There was no reason to leave anything, he felt. He had since served time in prison for the crime and told our sister station WSOC-TV Channel 9s Glenn Counts he learned a valuable lesson while behind bars. 'Masterminds' Review: Loomis Fargo Robbery Where Are They Now? - Pajiba David Ghantt was just an average Joe with an average low-wage job. A third surveillance tape was carelessly left behind, and the company was able to identify the man who robbed the vault as David Ghantt. 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. But after one visit, she asked a teller How much can I deposit before you have to report it to the feds? followed by Dont worry, it is notdrug money, the bank filled out asuspicious activity report, which ultimately reached the FBI. 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 to. https://www.charlotteagenda.com/67457/loomis-fargo-heist-masterminds-movie/, http://www.charlotteobserver.com/news/state/article104506876.html, https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/October_1997_Loomis_Fargo_robbery#Company, http://retroclt.blogspot.com/2014/07/loomis-fargo-heist.html, . Criminals dont usually get high-paying jobs after leaving prison. 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. In the parking lot, David sat in his pickup truck smoking a cigarette and waving good-bye as the trainee drove home. Well they were in some sense celebrities, Gronquist said. Not all of them, but some of them are going to forgive you, theyre going to overlook it., he said. 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. He had since held one low-paying job after another. ", "I don't need any more friends," she'd shot back. In August 1997, Campbell informed Ghantt about an old high school friend of hers named Steve Chambers, who could assist Ghantt to execute a massive cash robbery of the Loomis Fargo vault in one night. Change). TWO TO ENTER GUILTY PLEAS IN ARMORED-CAR ROBBERY - Greensboro News and uncanny, eerie, unnatural, preternatural, supernatural, unearthly, other-worldly, unreal, ghostly, mysterious, mystifying, strange, abnormal, unusual. David said he needed Kelly to drive to Loomis before the theft that night to remove a duffel bag from his parked pickup truck. In the first couple of weeks, they had heard both Steve and Shelley bragging about their new-found fortune, and spending remarkable amounts of money. Butcher says the federal courts in the Western District of North Carolina have never handled a case quite like Loomis. That was taking the long view. Human nature is a flexible part of life, Gronquist said. So the pieces were falling into place for investigators. Pink, Mr. Blue, Mr. Orange, Mr. Blonde. Discover some of the worlds strangest ancient places. We also use third-party cookies that help us analyze and understand how you use this website. Well she was a pretty happy-go-lucky person, he said. The plan to rob Loomis Fargo was spawned by Campbell and her friend Steve Chambers, during a casual bonfire at Chambers' home. But opting out of some of these cookies may affect your browsing experience. You cannot fine low-income people millions of dollars. He says the Loomis case shows how the criminal justice system and the courts treat lower-income people differently. The loot would later be divided among David, Kelly, and Steve. The case resurfaced in the federal courts on Thursday, Sept. 1, when the U.S. Attorneys Office in Charlotte posted a public reminder in the case file of Loomis defendant Kelly Campbell that she had fallen behind in her restitution. How many people have walked the red carpet at a movie premiere in a case that was yours?. The unsolved mystery of the Van Meter Visitor a winged creature! America's Dumbest Heist! (True Crime Documentary) | Real Stories The gang made numerous mistakes. You can seize property. Ghantt, who by then was long out of prison, served as a consultant. Loomis Fargo heist: 25 years later David Scott Ghantt, his former co-worker Kelly Campbell and her friends Steve and Michelle Chambers carried out the Loomis Fargo heist on Oct. 4, 1997. The case had gotten national publicity and was the subject of numerous articles, documentaries and even a movie. : The $17 Million Loomis Fargo Theft. Seven p.m. came and went, and so did 7:20. But they'd stayed in touch, and now they were poised to attempt a crime like almost no other. His collection case closes in two years. Thats pretty standard in restitution matters. They swept the surrounding counties, locating Kelly Campbell and Eric Payne in their homes. Of course the problem was, the money belonged to someone else. David Scott Ghantt, his former co-worker Kelly Campbell and her friends Steve and Michelle Chambers carried out the Loomis Fargo heist on Oct. 4, 1997. Feet Security Officer Bo Foot's Incident In Happy Town | ipl.org The strange story of Mary Reeser Spontaneous Human Combustion. Loomis has received $978,983.79, according to Sally Butcher, an assistant clerk in the federal courts of the Western District of North Carolina who specializes in criminal debt. Soon thereafter, he met Kelly Campbell, a co-worker at Loomis Fargo. The $17 million Loomis Fargo heist in Charlotte, North Carolina, was the second largest armored car robbery in U.S. history. To be brutally honest, it was that morning, Ghantt replied. The friend was Steve Chambers, and Kelly said he knew his way around the world of crime. Chambers had told Campbell to do whatever she needed to do to get Ghantt to commit the robbery. Two days later, when the FBI found the Loomis Fargo armored van, they discovered almost $3.3 million in cash left in the back of the van; it was later discovered that the thieves had miscalculated the sheer bulk of the small denomination currency, and that they simply left the cash that they could not take with them in the back of the van. Masterminds (2016 film) - Wikipedia This category only includes cookies that ensures basic functionalities and security features of the website. The FBI heard about the plot and agents knew they could no longer wait. In addition, he also rented Mike his own apartment, paid him $400/weekly and bought him a gun. The defendants received sentences ranging from probation for several relatives to over 11 years in federal prison for Steve Chambers. I pay (restitution to) thousands of people, but its in drips and drabs.. About the worst he had done as a teenager was stealing a construction company's Porta-Jon with a friend, tying it to the back of a pickup truck, and driving around for about fifteen minutes. Inside $3.3 million was located along with the two stolen surveillance tapes, apparently left due to the robber and his accomplices being sloppy, or in a hurry. be blocked or permanently banned without warning. David Ghantt And The Loomis Fargo Heist: The Outrageous True Story This station is part of Cox Media Group Television. That sounds like a lot of money until its compared to the $18,930,201.26 the group was ordered to pay. Click here to download the free Action News Jax news and weather apps, click here to download the Action News Jax Now app for your smart TV and click here to stream Action News Jax live. On Oct. 5, the Loomis heist celebrates its 25th birthday. The next day, before Mike was able to leave the country, the FBI arrested him in his hotel room. 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. Now and again I run into blog posts that tends to make me want to get started on bloggin myself. Steve and Michelle Chambers, who had lived in a mobile home, bought a mansion in Cramer Mountain. The figures can be astounding. All but one of the defendants pleaded guilty. Discover the truth behind unexplained ancient mysteries, UFO mysteries, secret locations and paranormal events. Campbell used to work for Loomis and continued the friendship with Ghantt, eventually hooking him up with Chambers. 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. The figures can be astounding. High around 65F. According to Butcher, Campbells last official payment came in June 2021 when the government appears to have seized a tax refund of $81.24. In order to receive more evidence, the FBI decided to listen. Then one day, while reviewing his and Tammy's credit card bill, he did some quick math and realized that even if they met the minimum monthly payments, the bill would take thirty years to pay. Sunny. The movie was called Masterminds and stars Zach Galifianakis, Kristen Wiig and Owen Wilson. On Oct. 5, the Loomis heist celebrates its 25th birthday. The Charlotte area's economy was booming all around him, and he felt passed over. For example, Steve Chambers and his wife were living in a. They had met in December 1995 on one of her first days at Loomis. 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 hired a hitman to take Ghantt out, tying up the ultimate loose end. Afterward, everything became comical. Next month, Payne will back in the Charlotte federal courthouse, this time to be sentenced from weapons and methamphetamine trafficking charges. They also found several stacks of money with Loomis bands still attached throughout all the homes searched. She will never get beyond the debt. If we work together, we can all have plenty of pie.. I made a joke once that was the hardest Id ever worked for Wells Fargo -- yeah, its a lot of work, Ghantt said. Thirty years! While David Ghantt trusted Steve Chambers enough to leave his cut behind, Chambers had other plans. All of the defendants are out of prison -- the longest sentence was 11 years. She was five-foot-seven, had dirty-blond hair, and had worked with him for about a year at Loomis Fargo, until she left for another job in 1996. As beads of sweat formed under his red hair, he loaded up another cart and repeated the process. David was thin six-foot-one, one hundred sixty-five pounds and heaving the stacks onto the cart, pushing the cart toward the vault door, and then emptying its contents into the van was exhausting. Spunk. The property has changed hands several times since then. Who all wanted a Rambo movie which explored his time training as a green beret and his time serving in Vietnam as a prequel to first blood WATCH Antebellum 2020 FULL MOVIE. Criminals dont usually get high-paying jobs after leaving prison. Steve was a serious guy? If the American Dream involved being better off as adults than your parents were, David was experiencing a version of the American Nightmare. Low 46F. Many of the lesser players in the conspiracy have been the most effective in paying their debts. It is mandatory to procure user consent prior to running these cookies on your website. Jeff Diamant was a reporter for the Charlotte Observer when the heist took place. 'Can I Keep the Velvet Elvis?': The Great Hillbilly Heist of 1997 The Loomis Fargo heist: 25 years later 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, former FBI agent John Wydra said. He knew it would mean leaving Tammy. He shut the empty vault and set its timer so the vault could not be opened for two or three days. The plan was still on, but David remained steamed. David knew this was important from having followed the recent news about a Florida man who had brazenly committed the biggest heist from an armored-car company in United States history, a loner named Philip Noel Johnson, who also had worked for Loomis. These weren't the hardest of criminals, and though there was logic to not knowing each other's names, they had derived some of their methods from Hollywood depictions of crime. Friends of Campbell had also begun spending large amounts of cash. [DOWNLOAD: Free Action News Jax app for alerts as news breaks]. She had attitude. They hadn't slept together or even fooled around much, but he was ready to commit. Tuesday marked 25 years since a group of buddies pulled off the third-largest money grab in U.S. history -- the Loomis Fargo heist. Four-wheeling. A more immediate need was securing help to move the stolen money to safety the night of the crime. WOMAN GETS TIME IN LOOMIS HEIST - Greensboro News and Record Growing up, David's family went to Disney World, sent him to religious school, and shopped at places he couldn't afford as a self-supporting adult. After marrying Tammy in 1992, he worked fueling airplanes at the airport in Hilton Head, South Carolina. That way, outsiders couldn't see money being loaded. They kept several furnishings from the previous owners, including avelvet Elvis. Libraries without that edition should consider purchasing this entertaining and lightly edited version, which reads like a fast-paced novel. David's share would be sent to Mexico, where he planned to hide and where he expected Kelly to join him. Money. Another time, the day after a Christmas in the late 1980s, David and some friends planted all the discarded Christmas trees from the area in one neighbor's front yard. In all, they recovered $6.6 million. These (Loomis) guys, not so much.. 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. As an adult, he preferred Shakespeare, Tom Clancy, and any book he could find about the Federal Bureau of Investigation. It wasn't how much you stole that mattered most; it was that you had stolen in the first place. All of the primary players got fined millions of dollars --for example, Kelly Campbell was hit with more than $4 million, an amount that she will never come close to paying. Meanwhile, Ghantt's gang spent wildly and paid their family members and friends to hide money. When did you conclude Yeah, Im actually going to do this? Counts asked. On the evening ofOctober 4, 1997, the Loomis Fargo & Co branch in Charlotte, North Carolina was in the process of being plundered. ", Johnson said, "Yeah, that's it. Since Ghantt was the supervisor, he sent his co-worker home first. Steve had hired a bodyguard named Mike McKinney. true story that has captivated American audiences on the news and now on the big screen in the major motion picture, Masterminds. The inspiration behind the major motion picture Masterminds starring Zach Galifianakis, Owen Wilson, Kristen Wiig, and Jason Sudeikis! So we were able to figure out with all the denominations, it would require about 20 safe deposit boxes to store it all.. Afterward, she and David would talk just occasionally on the phone. And Kelly thought he was funny. "I don't have time to mess with you. David was supposed to be showing him the ropes of the job, which included cash pickups and deliveries. Only a nickel on every dollar have been collected so far. NASCAR. Kelly Campbell, who one day visited a Toyota dealership to purchase a minivan with twenty-dollar bills. Heist! 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). she asked. Agents raided safe deposit boxes, where they recovered more than $11 million. None of the suspects had been in any serious trouble before this. The old man me would never survive that, Id have a heart attack.. Chambers had broached the possibility of a robbery to Campbell earlier in the summer. The real story behind the second largest bank heist in history, which "Don't double-cross us," the woman on the phone told David Ghantt. 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. Enabling JavaScript in your browser will allow you to experience all the features of our site. While Ghantt trusted Chambers enough to leave his cut behind, Chambers had other plans. That movie, Masterminds, was filmed in 2014. Before the robber left Loomis Fargo, he made a trip to the managers office to remove two surveillance tapes in order to conceal his identity. *FREE* shipping on qualifying offers. She sounded incredulous. Enforcement of this policy is at the All but one took plea deals, including Ghantt, who was sentenced to seven years in prison. How did they get away with stealing more than $17 million? Steve Chambers would keep the rest. They also purchased expensive cars, jewelry and a breast enhancement or two. So they went to Mexico and arrested Ghantt in order to protect him. Anybody who gets caught up in the system is getting chewed up by it, the now-retired Gronquist told the Observer. David Ghantt (Zach Galifianakis), an employee of Loomis Fargo, robbed his own vault, left the $17.3 million in cash with his co-conspirators, Kelly Campbell (Kristen Wiig) and Steve Chambers (Owen Wilson) and fled the country to Mexico. It has a certain feel, a smell and weight to it. By now, you probably know the names -- David Ghantt, Steve Chambers and his wife Michelle, and Kelly Campbell. And they could barely afford the minimum payments, given the power bills, phone bills, car insurance bills, and home payments they had to meet. just generally being a jerk. There are many robberies registered in the history of America, but the Loomis Fargo Robbery is known to be the second largest robbery in the United States. 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. Ghantt was the vault manager and was surrounded daily by millions of dollars worth of temptation. I was relieved emotionally because I knew there was a good chance my luck might run out, Ghantt said. He stayed at it until the vault was empty. Once they were in custody, the overwhelming task of clearing out possessions possibly purchased with the stolen money began. them. However, Chambers had no intention of following those rules, believing the FBI would never connect him to Ghantt. He was on a budget for clothes, even for work boots; he had recently needed to check seven stores before finding a pair in his price range. So that was kind of like this once-in-a-lifetime thing, Wydra said. A customs inspector, asking routine questions of bus passengers, focused her attention on him when his answers reminded her of Tommy Flanagan, the pathological-liar character played by Jon Lovitz on Saturday Night Live. 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. You cannot fine low-income people millions of dollars. In Reservoir Dogs, released just five years earlier, the pawns in a robbery knew each other only by assigned colors: Mr. Action News Jax facebook feed(Opens a new window), Action News Jax twitter feed(Opens a new window), Action News Jax youtube feed(Opens a new window), JSO K9 escapes kennel, bites three people in Jacksonville neighborhood, To know Nancy was to love Nancy: St. Johns County woman killed in suspected DUI crash, JSO says missing child alert results in deadly drowning, Senator proposes bill giving state emergency jurisdiction over custody of kids with trans parents, Florida woman accused of killing terminally ill husband released from jail. It, too, has changed hands several times. In addition to their extravagant spending, Michelle Chambers made the mistake of loudly asking a bank teller how much cash she could deposit in her account without it being reported to the feds, and then said, its not drug money.. David would simply empty the vault and deliver the money to the others. He added that money can be a motivator for anyone. The same applies to trolling, the use of multiple aliases, or It was released in 2016 and Wydra was invited to the premiere. Hed never really been in trouble, he wasnt a career criminal, said retired FBI agent John Wydra. The supervisor liked him and gave him the job. He was a hard worker, smart enough, and had graduated from high school. Next month, Payne will back in the Charlotte federal courthouse, this time to be sentenced from weapons and methamphetamine trafficking charges. Down in Jacksonville, a Loomis Fargo employee took $18 million from an armored van he was driving. The woman on the phone was Kelly Jane Campbell, and David had a mad crush on her. I actually loved reading through this post. Federal law stops government collection efforts 20 years after a defendant leaves prison. You should definitely start your own blog, I highly recommend it. Worlds Biggest Heists London Hatton Garden 200m Diamond Robbery, Easter 2015. He realized his life wouldn't improve unless he did something drastic. "What would it take to make you do it?". People dont seem to understand human nature. The FBI was inadvertently aided by the gang members extravagant spending. But that only tells part of the story. Ghantt was sentenced to seven and a half years in prison. Clerk of Court Frank Johns of Charlotte. In preparation for what lay ahead, David had backed an unmarked company Ford Econoline van near the vault entrance and opened the van's back door. David's vision for all of this actually derived more from books than from movies. Holding her hands behind her back, Michele Chambers was sentenced Tuesday to seven years and eight months in prison for her role in the $17 million heist from Loomis, Fargo & Co. She was also. 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. Youre supposed to get less time for cooperating, a lesser penalty, and instead, you see what she got hit with. Gronquist said. Kelly called, using David's own cell phone, to ask where he was already, because she and the others were waiting outside for him. But being the vault supervisor at Loomis Fargo had one perk -- exposure to tons of cash. Updated: 11:31 AM EDT October 4, 2022 CHARLOTTE, N.C. Tuesday is the 25th anniversary of the infamous Loomis Fargo heist in Charlotte, where a bank worker, with the help of two accomplices,. The plan to. From there, the money was moved from the armored car to private vehicles. Now one of the most wanted men in America with the FBI hot on his heels, Ghantt must figure out how to get his money, get away from a hit man, and get even. What that says is, We will never forgive you for what youve done.. Steve's a serious guy.". How Did A Model Employee Manage To Steal More Than $17 Million - Yahoo! Paying the money back has taken a lot longer, and time is running out for the U.S. government to collect. When you have money, you just have different problems: The Loomis Fargo heist, 25 years later. The FBI became more suspicious after they interviewed Campbell for the third time. But you cant get blood from a stone, Johns said. A woman by the name of Kelly Campbell had worked there in 1996, and she and Ghantt had become friends in that time. I dont know if Steve would have done it himself, but he definitely was capable of buying someone to do it for him and I think that was going to happen if we didnt step in and arrest Ghantt, Wydra said. RELATED: When you have money, you just have different problems: The Loomis Fargo heist, 25 years later, How I held it together is beyond me, Ghantt said.

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