Records show the government has garnished his Social Security checks. Military + Veterans. I knew it was just a matter of time. He was signed by the Minnesota Vikings as an undrafted free agent in 2002. Will Vin Sant Leave You Jacked or Scammed? Fact check: Is there much truth to the new 'Masterminds' movie 'Masterminds' Review: Loomis Fargo Robbery Where Are They Now? - Pajiba On Nov. 12, a confidential informant told the FBI about Steve Chambers's move from mobile home to mansion. The name she gave the pup is apropos. He flip-flopped on the heist idea three or four times. The others, though, went no farther than Cramer Mountain. And so, he told her, Google my name. Masterminds (2016 film) - Wikipedia One number is working in Campbells favor. She could walk under the trees, with the chickens and goats and dogs that live around her mobile home. "I was dumb," Ghantt said Wednesday, the eve before the movie hits screens nationwide. Figure in Loomis Heist Gets Prison | AP News Now worried about both the FBI and McKinney, he spent even more time alone in his room. How Bridgerton restarted buzz about her ancestry. 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. ", "I wouldn't do it. When October 1997 began, Steve and Michelle Chambers lived in a double-wide trailer. Chambers did hire McKinney to kill Ghantt, but initially McKinney was making personal cash deliveries to Ghantt in Mexico on behalf of Chambers. 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. Agents noticed it two months later when it flowed to them through official channels, along with hundreds of similar reports involving other people. More than half of the amount came from the seizure of a luxury home purchased by husband-and-wife defendants during their post-heist spending spree. "I wanted to be more like my mom and dad were.". He said every year he files his taxes and the IRS takes all of his tax return. "For the first year, they're all over you. That was pretty awesome., It felt like a dream vacation until he started running out of money. Meanwhile, Steve was keeping a close eye on Kelly. Thatd probably been the best thing for me to do, really. Inside were, along with other personal items, his keys and wedding ring. There, Scott and Eric paced the floor as Steve tried to calm them down. Besides her prison sentence . In real life: False. Your California Privacy Rights/Privacy Policy. Ghantt ended up doing more than five years in prison, Chambers did more than 11 years. 25th anniversary of the incredible Loomis Fargo bank heist | wcnc.com She tried to apologize for the murder plot. There used to be a consulate in Cancun. An officer rang the doorbell. Agents found out where Ghantt was living because Chambers had put out a hit on him, foolishly believing Ghantt was the only person the FBI had fingered for the crime. Kelly drove her pickup to a lot across the street from the Loomis building, on Suttle Avenue in Charlotte. Her only brush with the law had been a DUI arrest. Ghantt was working a late shift, and just after 6:30 p.m., his coworkers were packing up and heading for home. The best states in the U.S. come from coast to coast. So he convinced a local hoodlum in Mexico to try to kill Ghantt. There was a third person with them, too, a man named Eric Grant. David was living under the name Mike McKinney on a phony ID. Even still, he was 27, married and struggling to provide for his family. 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.. Question: You went to Mexico. Steve led the planning. Should David be killed after he gave them the money? They found Ghantts truck, and in it were his keys, some personal items and his wedding ring. He went deep-sea fishing. Speaking of his co-defendants, Ghantt says hes not currently in contact with any of them. Ghantt was scheduled to work a shift at the armored car company Oct. 4. Kelly Campbell, 29, a former company employee, entered guilty pleas earlier to bank larceny, money laundering and conspiracy to commit murder charges. Question: Any contact with Steve Chambers or any of the others involved with the heist? (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. Chambers went from a mobile home in Lincoln County to a mansion in Cramerton. Michelle, meanwhile, purchased new breasts for herself, along with a $43,000 diamond ring and a new convertible BMW Z3. 1997 Harley-Davidson Road King motorcycle for sale at auction of items bought after Loomis, Fargo armored car facility heist by Steven Chambers, wife Michele, Kelly Jane Campbell & David Scott Ghanntt (Photo by Will And Deni McIntyre/Getty Images) Not until David was gone did Scott realize he didn't know which key to use. Ghantt would go on to spend six and a half years in federal prison. Before long, the FBI had wiretaps on the ringleader, Steve Chambers, and then they waited for the right time to make their arrests. "It probably should bother me," he said. Or does it sit in an offshore account, waiting for a prison sentence to end? Ghantt:I've burned that bridge years ago. Steve had another conversation with Kelly about killing David. 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. You're an idiot.'". ", "I said, 'If you drive a truck, you're always in a financial bind. 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. Scott Grant said he hesitated, but agreed if no guns would be involved. And youre like, Come on parachute. Exciting. He had a favorite restaurant, Zandunga, which had a mariachi band each night and a view of the Caribbean. Steve, who had sworn Kelly, Eric and Scott to secrecy the night of the theft, named them all to the FBI. In hindsight, it doesnt surprise me a bit, Ghantt says, a bitter laugh catching in his throat. "But, I hate to admit it, it doesn't faze me one bit. The only person not to plead guilty in the case, former Gastonia attorney Jeff Guller, ended up doing eight years for money laundering. She didn't plan to move to Mexico. Its in the ether. Mine did. "He said, 'Yeah, right,' and turned his head. 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. A couple weeks pass, and I call again, Hey, Id like to get some more money. 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. All the while, Ghantt prepared himself for the task at hand. 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. And robbing a truck was dangerous. They were the butt of a national joke. He told her he wanted more of "his" cash. So I guess I have no regrets. If you want to go ahead and go, I got it. I flew from Atlanta to New Orleans. He comes to my door, and hes got a brown paper bag in his hand. . In that time, I realized most of my problems were because of me. Steve also offered $100,000 to his 26-year-old cousin. White-collar criminals are pretty good at hiding their money, she said. There are multiples of thousands of these things coming every year. "Steve said, 'I think we ought to do it that night, when he drops off the van,' " Kelly recalled. 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 real life: True. Thats one of my personality flaws. But you cant get blood from a stone, Johns said. "He showed me a lot of money," McKinney said. 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. 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. Hes well thought-out. Things were spiraling fast. real kelly campbell loomis fargo heist - phnxathletica.com Its kind of like that. If you go from a mobile home to a mansion, that's going to attract attention. 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. Thats pretty standard in restitution matters. Steve told me to tell [David] whatever was necessary to keep him happy.". ". The barrels were Steves idea, Ghantt says. He gave the rest to Kelly. David, now 30, says he's sorry he abandoned his wife--who he says still loves him--and his family. Or is the loot buried in somebody's yard? She was the group's only contact with David, and she was smoking marijuana "like other people smoke cigarettes," she said. First, they loaded the cash into blue 55-gallon barrels, and then they moved the barrels into a rental van. Visit us at Loomis.us. David Ghantt And The Loomis Fargo Heist: The Outrageous True Story Things started to go south the night of the robbery. They discussed it further, and Campbell asked him when they should do it. 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. Steve Chambers has told agents the missing cash was stolen from a shed in Lincoln County. Note: No quotes were altered, although in some cases additional quotes were added to the questions as Ghantt expanded on his thoughts. "It wasn't me, it was Steve," she says she told him. First, in January, he tried to get someone to take some millions down to Mexico. Or that it was an inheritance. That was the most painful truth to come to. 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. So yeah, Ghantt continues, I took a bus from there to Atlanta, and then I hopped a cab from the bus station to the airport in Atlanta., Back in North Carolina, his accomplices were working as fast as they could to hide the $17 million. He had even scheduled a follow-up appointment at the dentist. They bought a BMW roadster. It's one of the biggest jokes at the place. I can take it.". 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. He took bus tours of Mayan ruins. 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). Like David, Kelly was frustrated with her marriage. When McKinney realized Ghantt was wanted for the Loomis Fargo robbery, he backed off personally because he didnt want to be anywhere near a federal investigation. Criminals dont usually get high-paying jobs after leaving prison. Question: You were a consultant? "I said, 'Yeah, sure.' Now, I kind of know something is fishy., Alone in Mexico with limited cash, Ghantt thought about turning himself in. Steve now needed a hit man. The biggest restitution numbers for victims of financial crimes generally involve Ponzi schemes or sweepstakes fraud, not cash thefts. 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. . Ghantt:It baffles me to this day. Kelly says she underestimated the value of her life before the heist. Meanwhile, Michele Chambers was laughing and saying, repeatedly, "Look at all this money!" Instead of lobster, the man who stole $17 million survived on home-cooked pasta and grilled cheese sandwiches. "That would be living on the run, and I didn't want my kids to live that way. That sounds like a lot of money until its compared to the $18,930,201.26 the group was ordered to pay. 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 . Im a very deliberate person. If you were one of the much-smaller-than-expected group of people who caught Masterminds at the theater this weekend, and are looking for a fact-check of the events depicted on screen, here are some of the highlights of our chat with Diamant. They also left behind a life-changing fortune in small bills $3.3 million in fives and ones that they overlooked and the two videotapes that Ghantt had pulled from the security cameras at the bank. 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. At the Halloween party, though, Kelly gave in to Steve, and agreed it had to be done. In one case, the restitution for a Loomis defendant may be a moving target. How Did David Ghantt, Kelly Campbell, Steve Chambers Steal More Than On March 1, David Ghantt left his hotel to do some laundry. And it turned Steve into he thought he was Don Corleone all of a sudden.. In real life: True. This material may not be published, broadcast, rewritten or redistributed. Not many people can say they stole $17 million from their employer and had Zach Galifianakis play them in a movie. There had been no signs. But he tried to keep his face averted, so David wouldn't be able to ID him. Ghantt was missing and no one, not even his wife, knew where he was. I pay (restitution to) thousands of people, but its in drips and drabs.. He couldn't talk.". One day, Campbell was speaking to an old friend named Steve Chambers. Scott was so nervous, he said, that he couldn't help. David was sentenced to 7 1/2 years. The pager entry was 1-4-3. The real 'Masterminds' Question: Are you happy that Wilkesboro-nativeZach Galifianakis plays you in the movie? . The others sat in their cars across the street and watched him struggle to open the heavy gate. The money was heavy. By March, Steve Chambers decided he needed to do something more drastic about Ghantt, making plans to send a hitman to Mexico to silence him for good.
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