Charlotte Magazine even ran a feature story about the Loomis Fargo heist with the title, White Trash Crime. The headlines, however, never bothered Ghantt. Soon thereafter, he met Kelly Campbell, a co-worker at Loomis Fargo. About 20 ago, Campbell sent him a letter of apology, but he never responded. "I've moved on with my life," he said Tuesday. Hes well thought-out. They also purchased tanning beds, a pool table, a Harley-Davidson Road King motorcycle and all kinds of expensive furniture. 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. For her part, Kelly Campbell spent six years in federal prison. The first weekday after the heist, Michele Chambers, co-conspirator Steve's wife, walked into a NationsBank branch with a briefcase containing $5,000. Truth be told, Ghantt had something of a crush on Campbell, and so, he told her exactly how hed pull off such a heist. One day, the two employees were in the break room and got to talking about the news of the day a massive bank heist that just occurred in Florida by someone at their company. He couldn't even bear to stick around for the final tally--though when he left he didn't forget to take $6,000, the first cut of his expected $100,000 share. Back in North Carolina, Ghantts former accomplices were living high on the hog. In February 1998, the FBI tapped their phones and listened to Steve discuss depositing $2.5 million in the Cayman Islands. . 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. Why fans love it. Should David be killed after he gave them the money? When we worked together [for Loomis], we'd joke about it. Before long, the tales of high living by Chambers and his now former wife, Michelle, led the thieves to be labeled either the "Cramer Mountain Hillbillies" or "The gang that couldn't steal straight." But as he later recalled to the media, as soon as he stepped through those big-box doors, he realized he was flush with cash, and he didnt need to shop at Walmart ever again. He'd even bragged that he'd killed people. (The conversation was depicted as 100 percent private on screen). >> PHOTOS: The Loomis Fargo heist, 25 years later Ghantt, his former co-worker Kelly Campbell and her friends Steve and Michelle Chambers, carried out the Loomis Fargo heist on Oct. 4,. Then another. Punishment needs to be fair and realistic. Now worried about both the FBI and McKinney, he spent even more time alone in his room. Where was Ghantt? 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. 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. Charlotte hotel chef who serves with a smile recognized as outstanding ambassador, Eritrean, Ethiopian restaurant owner was a big brother and father to many in Charlotte, Home tours: This wired-up Weddington smart home has a pool big enough for the neighborhood. 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. 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.. Ghantt:It's kid-friendly, it's family-friendly (the movie is rated PG-13). How Bridgerton restarted buzz about her ancestry. According to Butcher, Campbells last official payment came in June 2021 when the government appears to have seized a tax refund of $81.24. Some days, the robbery seems like a memory from a different life, a choice made by a different man. They found Ghantts truck, and in it were his keys, some personal items and his wedding ring. Kelly Jane Campbell, a former Loomis employee; Michael L. McKinney . One of them tapped him on the back. I hear her typing. Zaron Burnett is an investigative journalist and longform features writer based in Los Angeles. Gaston County residents remember how that worked out. I can take it.". Soon, the couple would be paying for something else, too: a hitman. At the time of the real robbery, Chambers was facing criminal charges hed written 30K worth of bad checks and was facing jail time for it. You can garnish wages. ", "Even then . Our Benefits. My love for my family is by far the most important thing in my life. And when everybody else voted to kill me, she voted with them, he explains. I've got a good woman.". 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. I flew from Atlanta to New Orleans. In that time, I realized most of my problems were because of me. 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. He had even scheduled a follow-up appointment at the dentist. Looking for Kelly Loomis? It will be some time before she can commune with domestic animals again. By . I wanted to make a drastic change and I went for it," Ghantt said. Ghantt:It started out as a mental exercise and somewhere between the mental exercise and the actual event, it became serious. (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. At first, I just blended in with the tourists and picked up a few translation books, Ghantt explains. He covers culture, politics, race, and other perplexing mysteries for MEL. In the following months, Steve persisted, even floating the notion of placing phony hand grenades on a Loomis truck to scare away the drivers, Kelly said. Kelly, she says now, was thinking about how happy she would be to send this man far away from her. "I'm glad I've grown out of that.". I learned something that was valuable at the time: Most criminals never leave a 250, maybe 300-mile circle from their home base. There was a little voice in my head that said, 'Don't do it. Chambers did hire McKinney to kill Ghantt, but initially McKinney was making personal cash deliveries to Ghantt in Mexico on behalf of Chambers. Ghantt, his former co-worker Kelly Campbell and her friends Steve and Michelle Chambers carried out the Loomis Fargo heist on Oct. 4, 1997. Field Operations; Corporate; Why Loomis. As he and Kelly met in a field behind a shooting range to refine the plan, she allowed him to believe she was falling for him. The next day, he was sitting next to FBI agent Mark Rozzi on a US Airways flight to Charlotte. Hes very articulate. Based on a true story, the premise itself is fascinating, which makes Masterminds all the more a waste. The FBI was also surveilling Kelly Campbell and followed her to a pay phone that she used to place calls to Mexico. They entered their dogs in fights and watched them die. Our success depends on our team members, and that's why it's important for us to offer an employee benefits program that is not only extremely comprehensive but also one of the best in the industry. Ghantt spent a solid hour moving what ended up being 2,700 pounds of cash more than an actual ton into an unmarked company van. The barrels were Steves idea, Ghantt says. He para-sailed, power-skied and scuba-dived. And then I could hear her laughing. That was the most painful truth to come to. Its a yes: Clover teen shakes off nerves to earn American Idol golden ticket, Mail carrier cant believe his eyes after seeing NC lottery win. In real life: True. 2500 City West Blvd., Suite 2300 Houston, TX 77042. 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. Soon thereafter, he met Kelly Campbell, a co-worker at Loomis Fargo. The biggest restitution numbers for victims of financial crimes generally involve Ponzi schemes or sweepstakes fraud, not cash thefts. In one case, the restitution for a Loomis defendant may be a moving target. So I guess I have no regrets. And so, he told her, Google my name. David said he realized then, for the first time, he might not see the millions he thought he had coming to him. Now, I kind of know something is fishy., Alone in Mexico with limited cash, Ghantt thought about turning himself in. You can seize property. Only a nickel on every dollar have been collected so far. On his second trip, Steve gave McKinney David's hotel address. Stay informed daily on the latest news and advice on COVID-19 from the editors at U.S. News & World Report. Theres some things I want to do., Ghantt planned on traveling from Mexico to the Cayman Islands, bypassing customs along the way. When he walked onto the plane, he was wearing big, tall cowboy boots, where hed stuffed a majority of the smuggled cash. As for his new wife, when the two just started dating, he was nervous about letting her know about his past, but he wanted to be honest. On Oct. 7, 1997, two FBI agents arrived at Kelly Campbell's home after two Loomis employees had told agents she and David had once dated. I wanted to get as far away as I could. He hated the sweet smell of the green ink, and the $8.15-an-hour salary. In the meantime, the FBI was closing in looking to bust a total of 21 suspected accomplices. Chambers never held Campbell hostage by locking her in a shed on his property. 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. But because David's relationship with his Loomis bosses had been rocky, he says, he doesn't feel sorry about what he did to the company. Getting restitution, its like pulling teeth.. That week, the FBI designated the theft its 142nd "major case," putting it on a list--begun in the 1970s--that includes such other infamous crimes as the World Trade Center bombing. To celebrate Halloween, about seven of Steve's friends, including Eric Payne and Kelly, gathered for a party at Steve's house. Ghantt:It's a comedy. 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. 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.. Ghantt was in fact hiding out in Mexico using McKinneys I.D., which had been sold to Chambers months earlier. It didnt take the local police long to put the pieces together. David kissed his sleeping wife on the cheek on the morning of Oct. 4. Ghantt ended up doing more than five years in prison, Chambers did more than 11 years. 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. Or does it sit in an offshore account, waiting for a prison sentence to end? 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. Its hilarious. Question: Are you surprised that Hollywood took this on as a movie? October was "a blast," he said. ", "I said, 'If you drive a truck, you're always in a financial bind. I didn't think I had the guts. Ghantt was the vault manager and was surrounded. He was doing what the rest of us were doing making bad decisions. Steve solicited two others to help move cash during the theft. In early December, Steve and Michele invited relatives to their daughter's sixth birthday party. At that same time, Steve was growing sick of the calls to send more money to Ghantt, and was looking for a way to end that issue. And it turned Steve into he thought he was Don Corleone all of a sudden.. Ghantt:It baffles me to this day. . She could visit friends. 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. I was looking at small sailboats and theyre not cheap, he tells me. I missed my wife. David complained it wasn't enough. Him and I still talk every now and then. The others sat in their cars across the street and watched him struggle to open the heavy gate. Ghantt, meanwhile, was losing his patience and starting to make threats. Before David left for the airport, he had handed Scott an eight-inch key ring. Note: No quotes were altered, although in some cases additional quotes were added to the questions as Ghantt expanded on his thoughts. Theres no management around. Everybody seemed stunned. In real life: Yes and no. 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. Campbell, a mother of two, was in the process of divorcing her. Her only brush with the law had been a DUI arrest. She also must . On his way out, he grabbed the surveillance video, hoping to cover his tracks. He played high school football at Mays High School in Atlanta, and college football at Georgia Tech . 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. . Like David, Kelly was frustrated with her marriage. Steve was sentenced to 11 years 3 months in prison. As with Kelly, the worst blotch on 29-year-old Eric's record until now was a driving-while-intoxicated conviction. They were the butt of a national joke. I just had to call you., Today, Ghantt cant look back on the whole ordeal without some degree of pride. 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. He drove to the edge of the Loomis compound, which was surrounded by a chain-link fence. Steve also offered $100,000 to his 26-year-old cousin. Chambers went from a mobile home in Lincoln County to a mansion in Cramerton. Ghantt would go on to spend six and a half years in federal prison. This meant a bump in pay, up to $8.15 an hour. He took bus tours of Mayan ruins. "We kept going, '1-4-3, 1-4-3,' " recalled Vic O'Korn, assistant special agent in charge of Charlotte's FBI office. Things were spiraling fast. Steve led the planning. But what did that mean? 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. The initials on the money wrapper belonged to a Loomis employee who hadn't worked there since before the heist. Or as he tells me, How many people in the United States havent thought about robbing a bank? ];Kelly Jane Campbell [Misc. He partied, met women, drank, skied and hung out at the beach. "Things I always wanted to do, but never had the time or the money," he said. Copyright 2022 TheAssociated Press. "It wasn't me, it was Steve," she says she told him. Careers. On Nov. 12, a confidential informant told the FBI about Steve Chambers's move from mobile home to mansion. Eric watched. Scott was so nervous, he said, that he couldn't help. Actor Owen Wilson plays him in the movie, which includes the real names of all the major players. His collection case, which closes in November 2026, got credit for the couples $540,000 house on Cramer Mountain in Gaston County, Butcher says.