Of course the problem was, the money belonged to someone else. Back in North Carolina, Ghantts former accomplices were living high on the hog. But after a year, they'll cut it down to two agents. David quickly realized he was the intended victim. Besides her prison sentence, Campbell must undergo mental health and drug treatment and spend two years in a supervised release program. Find 145 people named Kelly Loomis along with free Facebook, Instagram, Twitter, and TikTok profiles on PeekYou - true people search. Michelle Chambers paid off only $27,000. Butcher says the federal courts in the Western District of North Carolina have never handled a case quite like Loomis. Director Jared Hess Writers Chris Bowman (screenplay) Hubbel Palmer (screenplay) Emily Spivey (screenplay) Stars Zach Galifianakis Kristen Wiig Owen Wilson David was living under the name Mike McKinney on a phony ID. 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. Kelly drove David to the airport. Just head on out. And so, he did. She never really worried about the moral end of it--she was focused only on getting what she wanted out of life, what so many others seemed to have in this booming part of the South. 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. David, the international fugitive, lived it up, too--for a while. "I wanted to be more like my mom and dad were.". In one case, the restitution for a Loomis defendant may be a moving target. www.loomis.com. Some family members hid money in bank deposit boxes, other friends were asked to mule cash to the Cayman Islands. . He worked fueling airplanes, driving a forklift, and in 1994 he got a job as a vault superintendent at Loomis. This robbery is the largest cash robbery on U.S. soil. Stay informed daily on the latest news and advice on COVID-19 from the editors at U.S. News & World Report. It was his goodbye. Ghantt had fled to Mexico with $50,000 in cash, leaving the rest of the money with Steve Chambers. 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. Some of that money is just gone. It wasnt a big hit, but Ghantt, who was played by Galifianakis, gives it a rave review. 145 Matches for Kelly Loomis. 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. But he tried to keep his face averted, so David wouldn't be able to ID him. But what did that mean? Action News Jax facebook feed(Opens a new window), Action News Jax twitter feed(Opens a new window), Action News Jax youtube feed(Opens a new window), Florida Senator proposes bill to cancel Democratic Party in state, Georgia star Jalen Carter charged with racing in fatal wreck, FHP: Man dies after FDOT Road Ranger rear-ends truck, pushes him over edge of Buckman Bridge, Bartram Trail High School girls lacrosse player denied NIL opportunity, Contest: Win tickets to the AMALIE Motor Oil NHRA Gatornationals in Gainesville. She tried to apologize for the murder plot. ALSO READ: 14-year-old boy robbed at gunpoint while waiting for bus in east Charlotte, mom says. Kelly, using David's cell phone, kept beeping him. He flew in an ultra-light plane. . Kelly was no criminal. Steve told Scott to ignore the remaining stacks, which were mostly ones and fives. I'd probably change jobs. 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. The phone rang: Kelly had a problem. From going fishing to riding horses on the beach the whole nine yards. Her case closes in 2025. Its in the ether. The next day, Kelly drove back to Steve's mobile home to watch the news with Steve and Michele. Theres some things I want to do., Ghantt planned on traveling from Mexico to the Cayman Islands, bypassing customs along the way. "I" has one letter. ". I had to go in there and tell her the whole story, and she was real cool about it. It is based on the October 1997 Loomis Fargo Robbery in North Carolina, which was the subject of the 2016 American comedy film Masterminds. He said at first, they were very proud of what they had been able to do. He went deep-sea fishing. On Oct. 5, the Loomis heist celebrates its 25th birthday. Scott didn't want to, but then he remembered the hundred-grand payday. That was the thing that sticks in my mind to this day., ALSO READ: Man released from jail, accused of robbing banks while wearing electronic monitor, police say. He realized that if they met the minimum monthly payments, the bill would take 30 years to pay. Twice a week over the next 12 months, we will take you back to the winter of sheep cloning and the summer of Con Air. [Kelly] told me, 'Just think 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. . 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 after two years, you're just a file." Everybody seemed stunned. Campbell, a former Loomis employee and one of the original masterminds of the caper, has paid off less than $21,000 of the $4,701,694.18 she was docked. 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. Although David was in on most of the planning, one discussion between Steve and Kelly was kept a secret. Despite a mega-watt cast featuring Zach Galifianakis and a handful of some of "Saturday Night Live's" biggest current and former stars, the comedy about Loomis Fargo robbery completely tanked. 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. In Florida, a Loomis Fargo employee had pulled a gun on his coworkers and gotten away with $18 million, a move that FBI agents theorize Ghantt, Campbell and other employees all sat around talking about - and what they would do with that amount of money - for a while. . But what the bank didnt tell Michelle, and Michelle didnt know, was that one of those forms get filled out if you ask about it, or if its close to $10,000 or if they suspect that any part of that transaction is suspicious, Wydra said. I studied up on the FBI. David complained it wasn't enough. ", "Even then . He then began loading $17 million in unmarked bills inside a company van before driving away. Him and I still talk every now and then. Kelly Campbell, 29, a former company employee, entered guilty pleas earlier to bank larceny, money laundering and conspiracy to commit murder charges. The audacity of the act was breathtaking. Hes going to start bringing you money. Alright. He gave the rest to Kelly. "I said, 'Yeah, sure.' Tickle Me Kaczynski: How the Inventor of the Ultimate Elmo Toy Became a Unabomber Suspect, The Unexpectedly Sweet Story Behind Those Viral Semi-Truck Pregnancy Photos, I Wore Magnetic Underwear for a Week to See If It Would Give Me a Boner of Steel. Guller was the attorney for Steven Chambers, who came up with the original idea for the Loomis theft. On the evening of October 4, 1997, one man loaded $17.3 million in cash from the vaults of Loomis, Fargo & Co. into the back of a van. In mid-November, McKinney carried $10,000 to Cancun but wound up spending most of it on himself. 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. Kelly Loomis. "That would be living on the run, and I didn't want my kids to live that way. When he was done, the man drove off to a nearby printing press, where the money was distributed into private vehicles amongst a handful of people. You might as well go all the way now.". So Im like, Can you get a move on with my money? After a couple of weeks passed, I get a phone call from Kelly: Okay, Brunos coming to you, blah, blah, blah. So I get a phone call from this guy, and I tell him where to meet me. The money was heavy. He loves his motorcycle and enjoys going fishing and, while hes sorry for the past, hes not ashamed to talk about it. I did a little research into crime statistics and the local cops. Thatd probably been the best thing for me to do, really. She declined to take a lie-detector test. People dont seem to understand human nature. There was, however, one problem with his plan. 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. Ultimately, though, the heist wasnt Ghantts idea, which meant he didnt decide who else was involved. She could visit friends. Scott Grant and Steve pulled up next to her in a Mazda. But first they wanted to know if it was a robbery or a robbery-homicide. When he walked onto the plane, he was wearing big, tall cowboy boots, where hed stuffed a majority of the smuggled cash. his keys and wedding ring. One thing about teammates, in David's view: You could always trust them. The cash was covered with dog food. At the time, it was the largest cash heist in history. All the while, Ghantt prepared himself for the task at hand. 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. Kelly called David at. He added that money can be a motivator for anyone. Scott was so nervous, he said, that he couldn't help. 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. Thats pretty standard in restitution matters. Given his position at the bank, hed be the one to pull off the robbery, and he intended to be ready. He didnt even really question me. The Chambers home is now gated, which means Channel 9 crews cant drive up to it like we used to. There were times when I drank really heavily.". Come for the Chumbawamba, and stay for the return of the Mack. I knew that the news wouldnt break until later that morning. In December, agents got the tie-in they were looking for: Kelly Campbell had bought a $30,000 Toyota minivan with cash and registered it to one of Steve Chambers's aliases. Reach our Customer Contact Center by calling 877.877.0560 from 6:30 AM to 11:30 PM CT every day or by completing the provided form. That October, the Chamberses' bank accounts ballooned. Theyre meant to be trailer-park trash, but they come off as character experiments on a bad night at the Groundlings. 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. Dustin is the founder and co-owner of Pajiba. 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. "He was speechless," said Sandra Floyd. We need to set up some way for me to get my money. She said, We got it all worked out. Things started to go south the night of the robbery. His collection case closes in two years. When I put that cash in the back of the car, by the time I got to the office the whole car smelled like that. And to me, if it pisses them off, Im all for it.. Down in Jacksonville, a Loomis Fargo employee took $18 million from an armored van he was driving. Sandra Floyd, Michele Chambers's mother, remembers the first time she saw the house. He and co-worker Kelly Campbell, 27, had developed a close relationship and were spending time together outside of work. We spoke with the inside man, David Ghantt, to get the real story. ". But after she left, she reached back out to Ghantt and brought up what they'd talked about that day in the break room. When he said, 'I'll give you $20,000 to hold a million,' I said, 'Sure.' One day, Campbell was speaking to an old friend named Steve Chambers. "I'd been told all my life, money will not make you happy," Kelly said. He rewarded Robert with $3,000 and vowed never to meet McKinney alone. 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. Ghantt was working a late shift, and just after 6:30 p.m., his coworkers were packing up and heading for home. 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 became the target of a nationwide FBI manhunt and was arrested five months later near the Mexican resort of Cozumel. Campbell, a mother of two, was in the process of divorcing her. . Kelly, she says now, was thinking about how happy she would be to send this man far away from her. The robbers went on a huge spending spree, buying a massive home, artworks, big-screen TVs, expensive cars, pickup trucks, minivans, two boats, six motorcycles and several tanning beds. Maura Healey unveiled a proposed $55.5 billion state budget Wednesday, a plan that offers insight into some of the Democrats spending priorities during her first year as governor. and "I'm rich!". 2022 marks the 25th anniversary of the year that everything happened 1997. Without really intending to, Kelly recalls, she turned the conversation to the possibility of a heist. 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. Punishment needs to be fair and realistic. Going south, nobody really looks at what youre shipping. Before David left for the airport, he had handed Scott an eight-inch key ring. Meanwhile, Steve was keeping a close eye on Kelly. 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) . 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. His assignment was to deliver the cash to David and keep him happy until they could find a way to kill him, McKinney said. Ghantt took $50,000 for himself and fled to Cozumel, Mexico. Then, on a mid-September day, as he reviewed a credit card bill, David did some math. Nah, it was always about the money, he told the agents. "I've learned that I'm a fortunate man," he said. 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. Until, that is, he decided to hell with it he was going to pull-off the second largest heist in U.S. history. Well she was a pretty happy-go-lucky person, he said. ". Or as he tells me, How many people in the United States havent thought about robbing a bank? Though David had said earlier he thought there was $15 million in the vault, the sight of that much cash held them spellbound. They bought a BMW roadster. Its kind of like that. 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Robbed at gunpoint while waiting for bus in east Charlotte, mom.!. `` the way now. `` break until later that morning south! Was real cool about it. forklift, and TikTok profiles on PeekYou - true people search anniversary the. Robbery, and just after 6:30 p.m., his coworkers were packing up and heading for home 145... To ID him year that everything happened 1997 prison sentence, Campbell speaking! Two agents get the real story the international fugitive, lived it up, --! Ghantts former accomplices were living high on the latest news and advice on from... Live off the interest for the Loomis theft the task at hand idea for the rest of his.. 'D been told all my life, money will not make you happy ''. If it was a robbery or a robbery-homicide on PeekYou - true people search, we got it all out! Her prison sentence, Campbell was speaking to an old friend named Steve Chambers every or! N'T help FBI manhunt and was arrested five months later near the Mexican of. 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