Theres less security. All I needed was a change of pace.". At the time, it was the largest cash heist in history. Agents noticed it two months later when it flowed to them through official channels, along with hundreds of similar reports involving other people. Zach always plays that bumbling kind of lunatic, but hes not, Ghantt says. He went deep-sea fishing. Ghantt:It baffles me to this day. She will never get beyond the debt. And youre like, Come on parachute. At the end of October, Kelly was sentenced to 5 years 10 months in prison. He hated the sweet smell of the green ink, and the $8.15-an-hour salary. Paying the money back has taken a lot longer, and time is running out for the U.S. government to collect. They stocked a wine cellar. Posted on . Why fans love it. He was an old friend from East Gaston High School, tough and sure of himself. The top-ranked pie in North Carolina doesnt look like pie at all. Ghantt, meanwhile, was losing his patience and starting to make threats. At 6-1 and 220 pounds, Steve was stocky and imposing, a fast talker with a brown goatee. In that time, I realized most of my problems were because of me. ', "He asked me if I'd mind holding some money for him. Find 145 people named Kelly Loomis along with free Facebook, Instagram, Twitter, and TikTok profiles on PeekYou - true people search. Thatd probably been the best thing for me to do, really. She was like, Well, at least you had guts, he says. He told him McKinney was in Mexico to kill somebody. 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. 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. On the radio, the "John Boy and Billy" show played the song "Take the Money and Run. Ghantt went on to explain that he rarely even looks at his debt statement to the government, but believes the IRS says he still owes them $3.8 million. Given his position at the bank, hed be the one to pull off the robbery, and he intended to be ready. Loomis officials--forced to break into their own vault because David had taken the keys with him--calculated that he had stolen $17,044,000, making the second biggest heist in U.S. history, following the $18.8 million theft of an armored car by another Loomis Fargo employee just six months earlier. "She said, 'What would it take to convince you to do it?' Now worried about both the FBI and McKinney, he spent even more time alone in his room. A couple weeks pass, and I call again, Hey, Id like to get some more money. 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. "Steve said, 'I think we ought to do it that night, when he drops off the van,' " Kelly recalled. . Heres what happened on Sunday nights episode. Mine did. 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. Ghantt:It's kid-friendly, it's family-friendly (the movie is rated PG-13). . Without really intending to, Kelly recalls, she turned the conversation to the possibility of a heist. At the end of one session, they wound up kissing outside the pickup. Some amateur thieves might turn to movies and TV shows for lessons on criminal behavior. The van door opened. Burks was also ordered to serve 15 years in prison, limiting his ability to balance his books. Ghantt, his former co-worker Kelly Campbell and her friends Steve and Michelle Chambers carried out the Loomis Fargo heist on Oct. 4, 1997. He'd stay up all night, boosted by coffee, waiting for the sunrise over the ocean. But few could have guessed how spectacularly the heist would go wrong after the criminals initially got away with it. "We're not the type that questions everything people tell us," Floyd said. "I was unhappy with my life. In February 1998, the FBI tapped their phones and listened to Steve discuss depositing $2.5 million in the Cayman Islands. Not until David was gone did Scott realize he didn't know which key to use. LeVaughn Kelly Campbell (born July 23, 1980 in Atlanta, Georgia) is a former football wide receiver. It was unclear whether anyone will get that money, authorities said. Question: Are you surprised that Hollywood took this on as a movie? "A lot of people out there had it worse than me, but . But former Kings Mountain resident David Scott Ghantt can. "I" has one letter. I was burned out and just didn't know it. October was "a blast," he said. The whole town I was staying in was 98.9 percent Mexican, except for when the cruise ships were in, Ghantt recalls. Him and I still talk every now and then. Butcher says the federal courts in the Western District of North Carolina have never handled a case quite like Loomis. But what did that mean? About 10 frantic minutes later, Scott found the right key. Get to me. Its that kind of excitement.. Nah, it was always about the money, he told the agents. The FBI now knew Chambers had Loomis cash. Basically, he needed a score to make his problems go away. In real life: False. The Unexpectedly Sweet Story Behind Those Viral Semi-Truck Pregnancy Photos. 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. He hated his job, with its 12-hour shifts. But first they wanted to know if it was a robbery or a robbery-homicide. Looking for Kelly Loomis? She laughed for like 45 minutes. 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. 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. Eric watched. The Chambers, however, didnt fit in with the other members of the gated community. Ghantt was scheduled to work a shift at the armored car company Oct. 4. You can seize property. I hit the local library the thing that we used to do before Google, Ghantt says with a small laugh. 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. David said he realized then, for the first time, he might not see the millions he thought he had coming to him. We spoke with the inside man, David Ghantt, to get the real story. Ghantt:I hate to say it, but I had six years of sitting in a box to think about my life. When he landed in Cancun, his first stop was Walmart. In real life: False. They cursed. And robbing a truck was dangerous. So he convinced a local hoodlum in Mexico to try to kill Ghantt. See all of the stories here. In real life: True. This real-life crime is the core of "Untitled Armored Car Project," which stars Zach Galifianakis, Owen Wilson and Kristen Wiig. Ghantt started at Loomis Fargo in 1994, and soon worked his way up from an armored car driver to a vault supervisor. And though she had been made night shift supervisor at Allied Security, she still felt she would never make the money she needed. They decorated their 6,000-square-foot stucco house with antiques, paintings and statues, including a six-foot wooden Indian that Michele had bought for $600. Going south, nobody really looks at what youre shipping. 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.. Theres some things I want to do., Ghantt planned on traveling from Mexico to the Cayman Islands, bypassing customs along the way. David had grabbed $50,000 cash, but could figure out only how to carry $25,000 with him on the plane. "He was speechless," said Sandra Floyd. He said every year he files his taxes and the IRS takes all of his tax return. Steven Chambers [Misc. "I said, 'That's all they gave me,' " McKinney recalled. Health savings account and flexible spending account. Federal prosecutors would ultimately charge 21 defendants in the case, including the Floyds, who were charged with (and pleaded guilty to) money laundering. Heres your money. Then he turns around and leaves., The problem was, it was nowhere near the amount Ghantt had expected: Im looking at it, and theres maybe $8,000. This meant a bump in pay, up to $8.15 an hour. Yes, Carrie Underwood adopted a dog in Charlotte. Three weeks later, the couple purchased, in cash, a $635,000 stone mansion. . What concerned her was the chance of getting caught. Next month, Payne will back in the Charlotte federal courthouse, this time to be sentenced from weapons and methamphetamine trafficking charges. 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. real kelly campbell loomis fargo heist. I knew I was going to be the prime suspect. The barrels were Steves idea, Ghantt says. I think I always knew that, but lost my way for a while.". Clerk of Court Frank Johns of Charlotte. 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. For reasons that remain obscure, Robert spilled the beans to David. He goes, My name is Bruno. He had an endearing smile, a beautiful wife and two children. Inside the Mazda, Steve told Scott Grant to get out and help David. I don't blame him.". Only a nickel on every dollar have been collected so far. On Nov. 12, a confidential informant told the FBI about Steve Chambers's move from mobile home to mansion. You might as well go all the way now.". Because lets be brutally honest: Theyre not wrong, okay? And so, he told her, Google my name. Our Benefits. This story was originally published October 3, 2016, 9:12 PM. The Loomis defendants face no additional legal jeopardy for not paying off their debts. Explain? If you want to go ahead and go, I got it. Ghantt:I've always known that story had potential to be a comedy or a drama. He and his wife, Tammy, lived in a mobile home in Kings Mountain, N.C. Money was always tight. Loomis employees drive the very core of our business. One day, Campbell was speaking to an old friend named Steve Chambers. Its hilarious. There used to be a consulate in Cancun. . There it was, "The Heist." . Or that hed gotten lucky gambling. About the same time, Kelly and McKinney received phone calls from agents who told them to open their doors. But it didnt really hit me until later., On March 2nd, when the FBI agents walked up to Ghantt in Playa del Carmen and told him he was under arrest, Ghantt was relieved. Sweat soaked David's uniform. Kelly had resisted this suggestion before the heist: She and David were friends. In hindsight, it doesnt surprise me a bit, Ghantt says, a bitter laugh catching in his throat. "You" has three. Question: Do you ever think you could have been killed? They agreed that after the heist, David would immediately move to Mexico, alone, but Kelly would soon join him there, with her two children. In real life: False. Michelle Chambers paid off only $27,000. And with Loomis, were looking at only one 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. Tickle Me Kaczynski: How the Inventor of the Ultimate Elmo Toy Became a Unabomber Suspect, A Highly Questionable Cultural History of Richard Geres Ass Gerbil. The initials on the money wrapper belonged to a Loomis employee who hadn't worked there since before the heist. What that says is, We will never forgive you for what youve done.. 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. Question: Are you happy that Wilkesboro-nativeZach Galifianakis plays you in the movie? Careers. ". 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. Meanwhile, outside Reynolds & Reynolds, Steve, Scott and Eric needed to move 2,748 pounds of cash, quickly, from the Loomis van into the Budget van. It's about the 1997 Loomis Fargo robbery also known as the "hillbillly heist" the second largest cash robbery in the history of the United States.