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He appeared happily matched with his high-spirited wife, Michele, and the two children from her first marriage. Ghantt was the vault manager and was surrounded. Not many people can say they stole $17 million from their employer and had Zach Galifianakis play them in a movie. Almost 19 years after Ghantt and a group of friends from Gaston County pulled off one of the largest cash heists in U.S. history, the movie "Masterminds" will play up the caper for laughs. Thats nearly $11 million less than former Kings Mountain resident David Ghantt (played by Galifianakis in the film) helped steal from the vault where he worked in Charlotte back in October 1997. Alert: Obviously, spoilers abound. Even still, he was 27, married and struggling to provide for his family. 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. 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. We got this guy named Bruno. . I'd probably change jobs. He couldn't talk.". She came from a blue-collar background, a high school dropout who had grown tired of working in a mill and gotten an equivalency diploma. The barrels were Steves idea, Ghantt says. 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. "Steve said, 'I think we ought to do it that night, when he drops off the van,' " Kelly recalled. David didn't even know Steve's name. Actor Owen Wilson plays him in the movie, which includes the real names of all the major players. 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.. I've got a good woman.". The phone rang: Kelly had a problem. And robbing a truck was dangerous. On Monday, October 6th, the FBI agents who were investigating the robbery located the Loomis Fargo van abandoned in the woods. 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. Anybody who gets caught up in the system is getting chewed up by it, the now-retired Gronquist told the Observer. Chambers, who still lives in Gaston County and operates a gym, declined to comment. Ghantt simply got ready for work one morning knowing it would be his last day on the job. Here's what Floyd recalls: After two games of pool, Steve told him, "You know, we do a lot of gambling. Question: How much of 'Masterminds' is true? He covers culture, politics, race, and other perplexing mysteries for MEL. Was Queen Charlotte Black? "That would be living on the run, and I didn't want my kids to live that way. Now two NC men face prison. It will be some time before she can commune with domestic animals again. They were the butt of a national joke. The platform is designed to engage citizens and government leaders in a discussion about what needs improvement across the country. But former Kings Mountain resident David Scott Ghantt can. It wouldn't work, Kelly told him. 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. When we worked together [for Loomis], we'd joke about it. Almost 19 years after Ghantt and a group of friends from Gaston County pulled off one of the largest cash heists in U.S. history, the movie "Masterminds" will play up the caper for laughs. Once in a lifetime, Murdaugh verdict sends a Lowcountry message: No one is above the law | Opinion, Charlotte Waffle House found with live roach, unclean equipment during health inspection. He was an old friend from East Gaston High School, tough and sure of himself. At first, I just blended in with the tourists and picked up a few translation books, Ghantt explains. Scott Grant said he hesitated, but agreed if no guns would be involved. The last time he called me, he said, Hey Ghantt, I just saw a big Loomis Fargo truck. To celebrate Halloween, about seven of Steve's friends, including Eric Payne and Kelly, gathered for a party at Steve's house. By the time the month concluded, the couple had purchased a 7,000-square-foot stone mansion in a gated country club community. What that says is, We will never forgive you for what youve done.. In one case, the restitution for a Loomis defendant may be a moving target. how to match 8 hypercubes in bejeweled. Or that hed gotten lucky gambling. "Things I always wanted to do, but never had the time or the money," he said. They cursed. Things were spiraling fast. Meanwhile, back in North Carolina, Ghantts wife woke up to find her husband missing. kellis@gastongazette.com 0:04 0:57 On Oct. 4, 1997, former Kings Mountain resident David Scott Ghantt finished his shift as a vault supervisor for Loomis Fargo in Charlotte. The robbery was committed by Loomis vault supervisor David Scott Ghantt, his married girlfriend Kelly Campbell (a former Loomis co-worker), Steven Eugene Chambers (a one-time FBI informant), his wife Michelle Chambers, Michael Gobbies, and four other co-conspirators. Real-time updates and all local stories you want right in the palm of your hand. Kelly was lying. It's one of the biggest jokes at the place. 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 had a four-hour layover there, and then from New Orleans to Cancun.. "He was speechless," said Sandra Floyd. 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. In the dark, Scott inserted one key into the back door slot. The authorities didn't know yet how much was missing from the armored-car company, but Steve did. Ghantt was working a late shift, and just after 6:30 p.m., his coworkers were packing up and heading for home. I told them, Take it, box it up, and youll be able to ship it to me in Mexico. Back in the 1990s, you couldve probably boxed up a hot pink elephant and shipped it to Mexico; no one wouldve ever noticed. And going to see the Mayan ruins. Before long, the FBI had wiretaps on the ringleader, Steve Chambers, and then they waited for the right time to make their arrests. Thats where they feel comfortable., This piece of information would become critical to his getaway plan. Meanwhile, Michele Chambers was laughing and saying, repeatedly, "Look at all this money!" real kelly campbell loomis fargo heist. She could visit friends. "I work construction. I loved it. Depression had led to smoking a lot of marijuana and taking Prozac, a combination she figures affected her judgment. But it wasnt. I didn't think I had the guts. But the idea of all that money pulled at her. 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. Ghantt ultimately agreed to the plan, largely, due to a mountain of credit-card debt and in hopes of changing his life for the better. Ghantt knew Chambers as Steve, but didnt find out that his last name was Chambers until the arrests were made. The FBI now knew Chambers had Loomis cash. I mean, it was dark, Ghantt explains. Her only brush with the law had been a DUI arrest. 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. . Criminals dont usually get high-paying jobs after leaving prison. Its kind of like that. That October, the Chamberses' bank accounts ballooned. And I knew that by that time, Id be in Cancun no matter what. 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. And then I could hear her laughing. Kelly, using David's cell phone, kept beeping him. Ghantt and one other employee were the last to leave. This is the person I counted as my friend. He didnt even really question me. I said, Listen, You all need to get your shit together, or Im just going to walk over here to the government building and tell them who the fuck I am. That lit a little fire under her ass, for a bit.. I threw you out, and then threw the parachute after you. There was, however, one problem with his plan. Twenty people were convicted of roles big and small in the massive 1997 armored-car warehouse heist in west Charlotte. And with Loomis, were looking at only one case. In real life: True. The plan called for David to leave the vault door ajar, then maneuver a few minutes alone at the end of his shift, long enough to loot the cash, then pass it to Kelly and Steve. In real life: Yes and no. Ghantt: My cut was supposed to be about $5 million, but that's not what I ended up with. He frequently entertained there, buying steaks for his guests. From going fishing to riding horses on the beach the whole nine yards. Now, I kind of know something is fishy., Alone in Mexico with limited cash, Ghantt thought about turning himself in. ', "He asked me if I'd mind holding some money for him. In that time, I realized most of my problems were because of me. He grabbed the tapes from two VCRs that connected to 16 security cameras. . And so, he told her, Google my name. Kelly drove her pickup to a lot across the street from the Loomis building, on Suttle Avenue in Charlotte. Will Vin Sant Leave You Jacked or Scammed? Although David was in on most of the planning, one discussion between Steve and Kelly was kept a secret. You can seize property. Loomis Fargo Defendants Owe as Much as They Stole in 1997, 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. We got to the end of the day, and he was acting like he wanted to linger. Steve told me to tell [David] whatever was necessary to keep him happy.". Kelly Campbell, 29, a former company employee, entered guilty pleas earlier to bank larceny, money laundering and conspiracy to commit murder charges. CHARLOTTE, N.C. (AP) During one overnight shift, a bumbling conspiracy of thieves just west of Charlotte stole more than $17 million from Loomis Fargo. I think I always knew that, but lost my way for a while.". David said he realized then, for the first time, he might not see the millions he thought he had coming to him. Why did this Charlotte engineer leave her job? She was a wife and mother with two children. Ghantt was already married when he took part in the heist, to a woman named Tammy who author Diamant described as very nice. It is true, however, that she had no idea about the plot and that he fled to Mexico without telling her. Ghantt:We're both North Carolina boys so we had a lot to talk about from the very beginning. Military + Veterans. Loomis, Fargo offered a $500,000 reward after the theft. Thats one of my personality flaws. He played high school football at Mays High School in Atlanta, and college football at Georgia Tech . Kelly said she had reason to believe Steve might be able to pull off a heist. He told her he wanted more of "his" cash. So yeah, Im kind of proud of it.. When McKinney arrived in North Carolina, the plan had changed. "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. His mobile home was nicely furnished, on eight acres with a stream in the back. Come for the Chumbawamba, and stay for the return of the Mack. This time, David told McKinney the truth. First, in January, he tried to get someone to take some millions down to Mexico. The biggest restitution numbers for victims of financial crimes generally involve Ponzi schemes or sweepstakes fraud, not cash thefts. Scott Grant and Steve pulled up next to her in a Mazda. It affects everybody different. ", "I wouldn't do it. . 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. So I guess I have no regrets. Each week, Michele deposited thousands of dollars in cash. The name she gave the pup is apropos. Question: You were a consultant? 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. Copyright 2022 TheAssociated Press. 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. I said, It comes down to picking the right day, and the right time of the month, and all that good stuff. I even told her, It wouldnt be all that difficult. His collection case, which closes in November 2026, got credit for the couples $540,000 house on Cramer Mountain in Gaston County, Butcher says. (John D. Simmons/The Charlotte Observer via AP), Police: Officer Who Shot Black Man Retired 'In Bad Standing', 3 Kansas City Officers Who Were Shot Released From Hospital, 1 Killed When Business Jet Encounters Severe Turbulence. If I hadn't done what I did the, the life I have now with my wife and child, I wouldn't have. "We're not the type that questions everything people tell us," Floyd said. Now that Kelly believes she has found Jesus, she has become more analytical about her past. Kelly Jane Campbell, a former Loomis employee; Michael L. McKinney . Health savings account and flexible spending account. Sandra Floyd, Michele Chambers's mother, remembers the first time she saw the house. ". David had grabbed $50,000 cash, but could figure out only how to carry $25,000 with him on the plane. Except the person he offered $150,000 to mule $2.5 million down to Ghantt in Mexico turned him down and instead went to the FBI. Her marriage--at which she was making another ambivalent effort after multiple separations--and even the jobs she'd been able to get with a diploma couldn't come close to providing the kind of life she dreamed about, the life she felt she deserved: a house in the country, a swimming pool, and enough cash so she didn't need to rely on men. Yes, happy. It didnt take the local police long to put the pieces together. Truth be told, Ghantt had something of a crush on Campbell, and so, he told her exactly how hed pull off such a heist. That day, FBI agents also would arrest Scott Grant and Eric Payne, who had spent his share of the money on a motorcycle and breast implants for his wife and two sisters. Together, they drove in a convoy to an industrial warehouse eight miles away, where Eric Payne, a fourth accomplice was. Hidden in it was a 3 1/2-carat diamond ring that cost $43,000. 2022 marks the 25th anniversary of the year that everything happened 1997. I had to go in there and tell her the whole story, and she was real cool about it. So much so that one suspicious neighbor called the FBI. Steve Chambers has told agents the missing cash was stolen from a shed in Lincoln County. Why had he ever believed he'd get it? It was one of those things everyone (at Loomis Fargo) joked about, but in time, it became serious. Eric watched. Because lets be brutally honest: Theyre not wrong, okay? The Loomis Fargo Bank Robbery was the $17.3 million cash robbery of the Charlotte, North Carolina, regional office vault of Loomis Fargo & Company on the evening of October 4, 1997, by armored car driver and vault supervisor David Scott Ghantt. 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.. They obviously werent trying to get it right they were putting together what they believe is a better story, said Diamant. Going south, nobody really looks at what youre shipping. He had just returned to his home in Jacksonville, Fla., when he agreed to talk about the heist, his life now and what went wrong when a group of friends who thought they could get away with stealing $17 million cash. We spoke to the FBI agents who investigated the case who say the real-life. The FBI, in fact, obtained the evidence they needed to bring down the major players, including Chambers, after catching them talking about the murder plot on the telephone via wiretap. Why do we feel its so necessary to treat people like this, to say, OK, well just ruin the rest of your life because you made a bad decision., Punishment should not last a lifetime. Kelly Campbell, 29, a former company employee, entered guilty pleas earlier to bank larceny, money laundering and conspiracy to commit murder charges. "I've moved on with my life," he said Tuesday. Steve also offered $100,000 to his 26-year-old cousin. David Ghantt, who pulled off the Loomis, Fargo & Co. vault robbery in 1997 and was sentenced to seven years in prison for the crime, served as a consultant for the film (in theaters Friday). 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.