The audacity of the act was breathtaking. Agents raided safe deposit boxes, where they recovered more than $11 million. However, the FBI knew immediately who robbed the vault (Ghant was seen on video camera), and it didnt take long for the FBI to loop in Kelly Campbell. I was burned out and just didn't know it. 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. Back then, it was one of the hotspots for hiding money. Ghantt planned to live off the interest for the rest of his life. Ghantt was the vault manager and was surrounded daily by millions of dollars worth of temptation. ALSO READ: 14-year-old boy robbed at gunpoint while waiting for bus in east Charlotte, mom says. On his second trip, Steve gave McKinney David's hotel address. The FBI was also surveilling Kelly Campbell and followed her to a pay phone that she used to place calls to Mexico. It was the first Saturday in October. Some of that money is just gone. 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. David trusted her. Name. If they could just sit on the money until then, he said, they'd be fine. The FBI (Leslie Jones, Jon Daly) made easy work of the case, however, and everyone involved was eventually arrested and imprisoned. And with Loomis, were looking at only one case. Its like, me and you sat down, I have access to pie, you like pie, all I want is my share of the pie. Kristen Wiig plays Kelly, who really wasn't that into David, but convinced him to take a fortune from Loomis Fargo in the fall of '97. . It is based on the October 1997 Loomis Fargo Robbery in North Carolina, which was the subject of the 2016 American comedy film Masterminds. And I said, Hey, man, I got this. He says the Loomis case shows how the criminal justice system and the courts treat lower-income people differently. But being the vault supervisor at Loomis Fargo had one perk -- exposure to tons of cash. I said, Probably, the best time would be on the weekend; theres fewer people there. And that's OK with Ghantt, who's just a few weeks shy of his 47th birthday, out of federal prison for more than a decade, married with a 9-year-old daughter . His wife, Tammy, was as shocked as Loomis officials. and "I love money!" He had stolen $17 million from Loomis Fargo. He grabbed the tapes from two VCRs that connected to 16 security cameras. I think if you remember some of her early photographic opportunities, shall we put it that way, she was sort of laughing, not seeming to take it seriously.. Scary. David was sentenced to 7 1/2 years. Getting restitution, its like pulling teeth.. What it does is put a ball and chain on that person for the rest of their lives, they are walking around and they are basically an indentured servant, Gronquist said. ALSO READ: Leader of $3M check theft, bank fraud scheme in Charlotte area sentenced to prison, The hillbilly outfit did more that just drop a few breadcrumbs. I was relieved emotionally because I knew there was a good chance my luck might run out, Ghantt said. Steven Chambers and David Ghantt (back) arrested 12) Loomis Fargo heist- The aftermath . Well she was a pretty happy-go-lucky person, he said. In mid-November, McKinney carried $10,000 to Cancun but wound up spending most of it on himself. Ghantt and one other employee were the last to leave. Agents noticed it two months later when it flowed to them through official channels, along with hundreds of similar reports involving other people. David, the international fugitive, lived it up, too--for a while. ". Depression had led to smoking a lot of marijuana and taking Prozac, a combination she figures affected her judgment. It was an ear-biting, Pierce Brosnan-loving, comet-obsessed world, and were here to relive every minute of it. Things went from bad to worse when, in November, Michelle strolled into a bank with a briefcase filled with 200 grand and asked the manager, How much can I deposit without the bank reporting the transaction? When she showed the bank manager that she really had the money to invest, the cash was still bound in Loomis Fargo wrappers. You see, there's a reason Loomis Fargo used armored cars to move large amounts of cash. The platform is designed to engage citizens and government leaders in a discussion about what needs improvement across the country. Anybody who gets caught up in the system is getting chewed up by it, the now-retired Gronquist told the Observer. Punishment needs to be fair and realistic. "A lot of people out there had it worse than me, but . This station is part of Cox Media Group Television. ". "I missed my family. Michele told her mother she and Steve had been saving gambling winnings for the down payment. None of the suspects had been in any serious trouble before this. 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. ALSO READ: Suspect from south Charlotte bank robbery found, CMPD says. I mean, it was dark, Ghantt explains. He wouldn't give me the opportunity to say anything else. As it turned out, Ghantt was zipping up his scuba suit in Mexico. This machine is the property of Loomis. Were others involved? The next day Chambers, Campbell and few other conspirators were arrested as well. An officer rang the doorbell. I ride motorcycles and fish -- normal guy, Ghantt told Counts. FBI video shows the agency searching that home and finding drawers full of cash. The government does not run debtors prisons, says U.S. It was late in 1996. All of the co-defendants were arrested the next day, about six months after the heist. 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. 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. The pager entry was 1-4-3. The others sat in their cars across the street and watched him struggle to open the heavy gate. Since then, there have been numerous articles, books, documentaries and even a movie about this gang -- the gang that couldnt shoot straight. Ghantt said he believes in redemption, and that his mistake 25 years ago brought him all the things that are important in his life today. At the time, it was the largest cash heist in history. By late November, McKinney made a third trip to Mexico, saying he'd help David move to Mexico City. About 10 frantic minutes later, Scott found the right key. It wasnt a big hit, but Ghantt, who was played by Galifianakis, gives it a rave review. To that end, Campbell brought in her childhood friend Steve Chambers, who was characterized in the local press as a small-time drug dealer and a local fence for stolen goods, to lead the team. Steve Chambers has told agents the missing cash was stolen from a shed in Lincoln County. So I was glad it was over. The next week, they heard Steve plan to send Mike McKinney to Mexico to kill David Ghantt. 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. About 5:45 a.m., he got into his pickup and began the 45-minute drive to work in Charlotte. 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. Search by Name Search . 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. He goes, My name is Bruno. She also assured the teller her cash wasn't drug money. . His name was Corey. He gave the rest to Kelly. Theres no management around. 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. Sandra Floyd, Michele Chambers's mother, remembers the first time she saw the house. For his part, Ghantt was now officially on his way to Mexico, his future stretched out before him. . It just happened to fall on my desk.. Kelly told the FBI she had done drugs with David but denied knowing about the theft. And I knew that by that time, Id be in Cancun no matter what. [DOWNLOAD: Free Action News Jax app for alerts as news breaks]. I did a little research into crime statistics and the local cops. ". She laughed for like 45 minutes. It was released in 2016 and Wydra was invited to the premiere. Im on the phone with Kelly [Campbell], and Im like, Hey, I really was expecting a package to arrive. He didn't want to abandon his parents. 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. Scott didn't want to, but then he remembered the hundred-grand payday. I hit the local library the thing that we used to do before Google, Ghantt says with a small laugh. "He was in tears. David was living under the name Mike McKinney on a phony ID. Well they were in some sense celebrities, Gronquist said. He'd stay up all night, boosted by coffee, waiting for the sunrise over the ocean. Though David had said earlier he thought there was $15 million in the vault, the sight of that much cash held them spellbound. Should David be killed after he gave them the money? Three weeks later, the couple purchased, in cash, a $635,000 stone mansion. ", "I wouldn't do it. ". "Steve said, 'I think we ought to do it that night, when he drops off the van,' " Kelly recalled. At 6-1 and 220 pounds, Steve was stocky and imposing, a fast talker with a brown goatee. I just had to call you., Today, Ghantt cant look back on the whole ordeal without some degree of pride. "For the first year, they're all over you. "I'd been told all my life, money will not make you happy," Kelly said. They hatched the idea half-jokingly, over a game of Uno, never dreaming they were about to make Bonnie and Clyde look like bottom feeders. Chambers and Campbell were waiting for him in the Loomis Fargo parking lot, both in separate vehicles. And then I realized that a lot of people knew who I was and they had followed the case.. He figured Tammy wouldn't go for it, and though his marriage had been troubled, he wasn't certain he wanted to leave her. "Every time my conscience would start bothering me," Kelly recalled, "I'd smoke another joint and forget about it.". 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. In one case, the restitution for a Loomis defendant may be a moving target. All but one of the 24 defendants pleaded guilty, and the one who didnt take the deal was convicted. Kelly had resisted this suggestion before the heist: She and David were friends. David thought about it. It all went down in Charlotte, North Carolina, and the man at the center of that heist, David Scott Ghantt, now lives in Jacksonville. 2023 Cox Media Group. The last time he called me, he said, Hey Ghantt, I just saw a big Loomis Fargo truck. For instance, after stealing $17.3 million $11 million of which was in $20 bills the conspirators had to leave behind $3 million in cash because they couldnt fit all of it in their cars. 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. Once I start something, Im going to the end., As for how he felt in the moment, he says, Imagine me and you went on an airplane. Ghantt met up with the other members of the plot and offloaded the cash. Twenty-one people were charged and convicted in the robbery, one of the biggest heists in U.S. history. The cart held about $2 million, and the thief made multiple trips. . 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 Chambers and the two Erics were done loading the stolen millions into barrels, they abandoned the van in the woods. At 6 that morning, FBI supervisor Rick Shaffer led 12 agents and several Gaston County police officers up a winding road on Cramer Mountain to Steve's home. Theres no way to get it back, Butcher told The Charlotte Observer. Criminals dont usually get high-paying jobs after leaving prison. About 200 keys dangled from it. David told her he'd need help moving the money, getting a new ID and leaving the country. Twenty people were convicted of roles big and small in the massive 1997 armored-car warehouse heist in west Charlotte. . There are multiples of thousands of these things coming every year. After a Gulf War stint in the Army, David got married in 1992. At the end of October, Kelly was sentenced to 5 years 10 months in prison. We got to the end of the day, and he was acting like he wanted to linger. That sounds like a lot of money until its compared to the $18,930,201.26 the group was ordered to pay. Not every agent has a case like that, he said. 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. And robbing a truck was dangerous. From my standpoint, it was just a business deal, Ghantt said. One day, Campbell was speaking to an old friend named Steve Chambers. . Chambers, now 32, didn't grant an interview for this article, but last year, in response to written questions, he said the biggest lesson he learned was: "Family is more important and valuable than money. (John D. Simmons/The Charlotte Observer via AP) "I said, 'That's all they gave me,' " McKinney recalled. Kelly relayed his message to Steve. And when everybody else voted to kill me, she voted with them, he explains. He realized that if they met the minimum monthly payments, the bill would take 30 years to pay. Chambers promised to wire him money in Mexico until the investigation blew over and Ghantt could return to North Carolina. Her husband gave her a brown teddy bear. But agents weren't ready to arrest Kelly and Steve. So the pieces were falling into place for investigators. Its 90-minutes of mugging for the camera, but the only people who feel mugged are those that pay to see Masterminds. With the help of Aldo, a Mexican waiter he had befriended, David found a beach apartment in Cancun. "She said, 'What would it take to convince you to do it?' . But few could have guessed how spectacularly the heist would go wrong after the criminals initially got away with it. To celebrate Halloween, about seven of Steve's friends, including Eric Payne and Kelly, gathered for a party at Steve's house. Ghantt, meanwhile, was losing his patience and starting to make threats. Of course the problem was, the money belonged to someone else. Kelly would only discover later that leading up to the heist, Steve had been writing bad checks, $17,000 worth, for which he would later be convicted. The old man me would never survive that, Id have a heart attack.. "That would be living on the run, and I didn't want my kids to live that way. One thing about teammates, in David's view: You could always trust them. I loved it. David complained it wasn't enough. Exciting. Down in Jacksonville, a Loomis Fargo employee took $18 million from an armored van he was driving. Steve told Scott to ignore the remaining stacks, which were mostly ones and fives. They heard Michele brag about her $43,000 ring. More agents waited outside to arrest them. Instead of lobster, the man who stole $17 million survived on home-cooked pasta and grilled cheese sandwiches. While the agents initiated their investigation, the Chambers spent money as quickly as they could. Clerk of Court Frank Johns of Charlotte. He didnt even really question me. Steve bought a truck, a Rolex and a motorboat. She just called me up on the phone and said, Hey, lets meet one day after work. And then, we were talking and she says, How do you feel about robbing Loomis Fargo? Ghantt tells me. 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. 0 Comments Get local news delivered to your inbox! Fourteen defendants were ordered to make restitution payments to Loomis Fargo totaling almost $19 million. . Or purchase a subscription for unlimited access to real news you can count on. The figures can be astounding. By this time, agents knew where he was and had a general idea who the other players were, so they went to every bank in town to see if any of them rented a safe deposit box. Kelly was no criminal. Nah, it was always about the money, he told the agents. 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