Kelly was lying. But it was the rural, Southern backgrounds of many of the key players, along with the many botched twists and bungled turns, that led the media to dub it the hillbilly heist.. Actor Owen Wilson plays him in the movie, which includes the real names of all the major players. To protect themselves, David and Steve didn't meet or talk. 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. About 5:30 the next morning, McKinney knocked on David's door and dropped $8,500 on the bed. "I" has one letter. He and his wife, Tammy, lived in a mobile home in Kings Mountain, N.C. Money was always tight. The number of people involved had ballooned after Steve started asking friends and family to help him launder the stolen cash. Or does it sit in an offshore account, waiting for a prison sentence to end? They soon realized David had stolen more money than would fit in their 55-gallon barrels. The best states in the U.S. come from coast to coast. Her only brush with the law had been a DUI arrest. Scott was so nervous, he said, that he couldn't help. 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. Kelly says she underestimated the value of her life before the heist. I learned something that was valuable at the time: Most criminals never leave a 250, maybe 300-mile circle from their home base. Not many people can say they stole $17 million from their employer and had Zach Galifianakis play them in a movie. It wasn't known whether anyone would receive it. and "I'm rich!". Agents noticed it two months later when it flowed to them through official channels, along with hundreds of similar reports involving other people. By the time the month concluded, the couple had purchased a 7,000-square-foot stone mansion in a gated country club community. Loomis Fargo Defendants Owe as Much as They Stole in 1997 Question: How much of 'Masterminds' is true? On Feb. 27, agents listened in on a call from David to Kelly and learned David's location in Mexico. First, in January, he tried to get someone to take some millions down to Mexico. But you cant get blood from a stone, Johns said. The Chambers, however, didnt fit in with the other members of the gated community. The bizarre true story of the criminals behind the second-largest bank heist in American history. More agents waited outside to arrest them. CLICK HERE FOR PHOTOS FROM 1998 and ACTORS IN MOVIE. She declined to take a lie-detector test. He was an old friend from East Gaston High School, tough and sure of himself. Called Masterminds, the 2016 film stars Zach Galifianakis, Kristen Wiig and Owen Wilson. 2500 City West Blvd., Suite 2300 Houston, TX 77042. What made her abandon an ordinary existence to commit this spectacular, doomed crime? He'd stay up all night, boosted by coffee, waiting for the sunrise over the ocean. 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. He figured Tammy wouldn't go for it, and though his marriage had been troubled, he wasn't certain he wanted to leave her. 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. All the while, Ghantt prepared himself for the task at hand. On October 5, 1997, FBI agents gathered at the Loomis, Fargo & Co. warehouse in Charlotte, North Carolina, to watch a security videotape of a man loading stacks of cash into a pushcart and wheeling them from the vault. Given his position at the bank, hed be the one to pull off the robbery, and he intended to be ready. 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. There used to be a consulate in Cancun. Ghantt started at Loomis Fargo in 1994, and soon worked his way up from an armored car driver to a vault supervisor. "She said, 'What would it take to convince you to do it?' 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) A week later, another informant told the FBI that Eric Payne had quit his job at a printing company soon after the heist and was spending money he probably hadn't earned legally. David was sentenced to 7 1/2 years. They agreed that after the heist, David would immediately move to Mexico, alone, but Kelly would soon join him there, with her two children. Kelly drove her pickup to a lot across the street from the Loomis building, on Suttle Avenue in Charlotte. There was in fact a basically similar conversation involving Chambers and Campbell that took place during a barbecue the Campbells were hosting. 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. The Loomis case is another example where the amount of restitution ordered vs. what is actually paid are two dramatically different numbers. Careers | Loomis US This time, David told McKinney the truth. Butcher says the federal courts in the Western District of North Carolina have never handled a case quite like Loomis. They set the date, Oct. 4, a Saturday when David knew he could be alone in the building after his shift. David said he realized then, for the first time, he might not see the millions he thought he had coming to him. All rights reserved. So yeah, Im kind of proud of it.. David, the international fugitive, lived it up, too--for a while. real kelly campbell loomis fargo heist. Steve led the planning. Your California Privacy Rights/Privacy Policy. I didnt pick the heist team. 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. Campbell was released from federal custody in 2004 after serving five years, meaning her collection case will age out in December 2024. And I said, Hey, man, I got this. It didnt take the local police long to put the pieces together. Meanwhile, Steve was keeping a close eye on Kelly. The audacity of the act was breathtaking. Scary. His assignment was to deliver the cash to David and keep him happy until they could find a way to kill him, McKinney said. Find 145 people named Kelly Loomis along with free Facebook, Instagram, Twitter, and TikTok profiles on PeekYou - true people search. Question: Do you ever think you could have been killed? At the party, Steve invited Michele's stepfather, truck driver Dennis Floyd, to the basement to play pool. Then another. Why had he ever believed he'd get it? I did a little research into crime statistics and the local cops. They loaded the wine cellar with Pabst Blue Ribbon, and Steve hung a velvet portrait of Elvis Presley in the basement. At 6-1 and 220 pounds, Steve was stocky and imposing, a fast talker with a brown goatee. Now he offered to pay him to carry cash to David--Steve said he was a friend hiding out after a bad drug deal, McKinney recalled. One night in a small North Carolina town, a down-on-his-luck guard at Loomis Fargo manages to steal $17 millionliterally more than one ton of cash. "It wasn't me, it was Steve," she says she told him. I didn't think I had the guts. Until, that is, he decided to hell with it he was going to pull-off the second largest heist in U.S. history. And I think that makes it all the more funny, because it really offends my co-defendants. Question: Should people go see this movie? But in November, money ran low. Not until David was gone did Scott realize he didn't know which key to use. Or is the loot buried in somebody's yard? On his second trip, Steve gave McKinney David's hotel address. real kelly campbell loomis fargo heist - legal-innovation.com He hated the sweet smell of the green ink, and the $8.15-an-hour salary. TWO TO ENTER GUILTY PLEAS IN ARMORED-CAR ROBBERY - Greensboro News and ". So I was glad it was over. When October 1997 began, Steve and Michelle Chambers lived in a double-wide trailer. At first, I just blended in with the tourists and picked up a few translation books, Ghantt explains. She didn't plan to move to Mexico. David was living under the name Mike McKinney on a phony ID. Steve had already paid McKinney $50,000 for the use of his ID. how to match 8 hypercubes in bejeweled. When neighbors asked where they got their money, Steve said hed played in the NFL. Ghantt was working a late shift, and just after 6:30 p.m., his coworkers were packing up and heading for home. He appeared happily matched with his high-spirited wife, Michele, and the two children from her first marriage. 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. 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. Ghantt:Since I still owe the federal government money I can't get paid. 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. Nah, it was always about the money, he told the agents. October 1997 Loomis Fargo robbery - Wikipedia To say nothing of their art purchases like the aforementioned velvet Elvis portrait and a painting of a bulldog dressed as General George S. Patton. Some family members hid money in bank deposit boxes, other friends were asked to mule cash to the Cayman Islands. "He was speechless," said Sandra Floyd. In the meantime, the FBI was closing in looking to bust a total of 21 suspected accomplices. Now worried about both the FBI and McKinney, he spent even more time alone in his room. From going fishing to riding horses on the beach the whole nine yards. The next week, they heard Steve plan to send Mike McKinney to Mexico to kill David Ghantt. Thats one of my personality flaws. The phone rang: Kelly had a problem. 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. Mine did. Few who were living in the area at the time can forget the "Velvet Elvis" painting Chambers had hanging in his mansion or the tales of cosmetic surgery, BMW convertibles and other signs of excess. Because surprise! Some of that money is just gone. . I mentioned it to Kelly. The authorities didn't know yet how much was missing from the armored-car company, but Steve did. Still, she wasn't happy. "I missed my family. In the following months, Steve persisted, even floating the notion of placing phony hand grenades on a Loomis truck to scare away the drivers, Kelly said. 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. Ghantt:I don't think he ever really meant to harm me. I knew I was going to be the prime suspect. Kelly was no criminal. With the help of Aldo, a Mexican waiter he had befriended, David found a beach apartment in Cancun. 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. "I work construction. In real life: False. Meanwhile, back in North Carolina, Ghantts wife woke up to find her husband missing. real kelly campbell loomis fargo heist. You can reach Kevin Ellis at 704-869-1823 or Twitter.com/TheGazetteKevin. He told her he wanted more of "his" cash. David didn't even know Steve's name. When he said, 'I'll give you $20,000 to hold a million,' I said, 'Sure.' Ghantt worked at Loomis Fargos regional office vault in Charlotte. Note: No quotes were altered, although in some cases additional quotes were added to the questions as Ghantt expanded on his thoughts. 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. In real life: True. Thomas Grant, who served three years in prison for bank larceny, paid off restitution of $70,000; brother Eric Grant paid all of his $26,000; as did David Craig, $40,000; and Dennis and Sandra Floyd; $27,000. But agents weren't ready to arrest Kelly and Steve. Michele told her mother she and Steve had been saving gambling winnings for the down payment. LeVaughn Kelly Campbell (born July 23, 1980 in Atlanta, Georgia) is a former football wide receiver. and "I love money!" They ditched the Loomis van, then drove the cash-heavy Budget van to Steve's mobile home in Lincoln County, where his wife, Michele, waited with a calculator and rubber bands. Loomis, Fargo offered a $500,000 reward for his arrest and conviction.

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