Michelle Chambers paid off only $27,000. And I said, Hey, man, I got this. 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. David, the international fugitive, lived it up, too--for a while. In the first days after the arrests, agents recovered or accounted for all but about $2 million of the stolen money. He placed stacks of currency on a cart and wheeled it to the van about 15 feet away, inside the building. The money was heavy. Ghantt was never in Chamberss presence until he actually handed off the money to him. 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. Campbell, a mother of two, was in the process of divorcing her. At one point, the hoodlum shows up and Ghantt is wearing a Jerome Bettis Pittsburgh Steelers jersey; the hoodlums favorite team is the Steelers, and he caves and tells Ghantt that McKinney wants him dead. What made her do it? There used to be a consulate in Cancun. The FBI was also surveilling Kelly Campbell and followed her to a pay phone that she used to place calls to Mexico. He went deep-sea fishing. We need to set up some way for me to get my money. She said, We got it all worked out. Because surprise! They entered their dogs in fights and watched them die. Exciting. David thought about it. Not many people can say they stole $17 million from their employer and had Zach Galifianakis play them in a movie. 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. Kelly was no criminal. Records show the government has garnished his Social Security checks. 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. Michelle, meanwhile, purchased new breasts for herself, along with a $43,000 diamond ring and a new convertible BMW Z3. 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. So it was weird when during the middle of the week, there were these very clean-cut, very Midwestern looking, obviously American guys in the town. In real life: False. Not a documentary. The name she gave the pup is apropos. He'd even bragged that he'd killed people. Her case closes in 2025. 27 febrero, 2023 . But former Kings Mountain resident David Scott Ghantt can. In the dark, Scott inserted one key into the back door slot. His assignment was to deliver the cash to David and keep him happy until they could find a way to kill him, McKinney said. I was just going to get the money into the van. First, they loaded the cash into blue 55-gallon barrels, and then they moved the barrels into a rental van. Your California Privacy Rights/Privacy Policy. For reasons that remain obscure, Robert spilled the beans to David. Agents began picking up signs that David definitely had help: The abandoned Loomis van with $3.3 million in small bills still inside, and phone records showing that somebody beeped him while he stole the money, using David's own cell phone. Eric watched. [Kelly] told me, 'Just think about it.' Yes, happy. . ". Though David had said earlier he thought there was $15 million in the vault, the sight of that much cash held them spellbound. What made her abandon an ordinary existence to commit this spectacular, doomed crime? I hear her typing. What purpose does that serve other than to denigrate that person into abject poverty?. When McKinney arrived in North Carolina, the plan had changed. "He said, 'Yeah, right,' and turned his head. She could spend time with her children and parents. "Love" has four. For his part, Ghantt was now officially on his way to Mexico, his future stretched out before him. Down in Jacksonville, a Loomis Fargo employee took $18 million from an armored van he was driving. What that says is, We will never forgive you for what youve done.. Campbell left her job in the summer of 1997, but she would later use Ghantt's feelings for her to her own advantage to get him to agree to carry out the multi-million-dollar heist. Hes well thought-out. The pager entry was 1-4-3. There it was, "The Heist." Then another. 2500 City West Blvd., Suite 2300 Houston, TX 77042. 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. Husband and wife Steven and Michelle Chambers, whose conspicuous consumption of a luxury home, a BMW convertible, breast implants and a $600 wooden Indian, among other purchases, helped the FBI solve the crime, were assessed $3.81 million and $4.8 million, respectively. real kelly campbell loomis fargo heist seeing a woodpecker after someone dies lectomano que significa. 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. The number of people involved had ballooned after Steve started asking friends and family to help him launder the stolen cash. These days, the 52-year-old husband and father lives in Jacksonville, Florida, where he works at a heavy equipment rental agency. The robbery of some $17 million quickly became one of the wildest bank heists of the last quarter century. David, now 30, says he's sorry he abandoned his wife--who he says still loves him--and his family. In a word, "Teamwork. In real life: False. Steve, who had sworn Kelly, Eric and Scott to secrecy the night of the theft, named them all to the FBI. Explain? "That would be living on the run, and I didn't want my kids to live that way. Still, she wasn't happy. Now two NC men face prison. 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. It's one of the biggest jokes at the place. Besides her prison sentence, Campbell must undergo mental health and drug treatment and spend two years in a supervised release program. CLICK HERE FOR PHOTOS FROM 1998 and ACTORS IN MOVIE. His new life in Mexico had begun. Here's what Floyd recalls: After two games of pool, Steve told him, "You know, we do a lot of gambling. He told her he wanted more of "his" cash. Come for the Chumbawamba, and stay for the return of the Mack. As with many recent historic events, this one had been caught on videotape, a fact that a few dozen Charlotte FBI agents would learn in a hastily organized Sunday morning meeting. Thats where they feel comfortable., This piece of information would become critical to his getaway plan. Loomis has received $978,983.79, according to Sally Butcher, an assistant clerk in the federal courts of the Western District of North Carolina who specializes in criminal debt. Then he was driving in the darkness with a van full of cash. That was the most painful truth to come to. 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. I didn't think I had the guts. About 5:45 a.m., he got into his pickup and began the 45-minute drive to work in Charlotte. He partied, met women, drank, skied and hung out at the beach. In the meantime, the FBI was closing in looking to bust a total of 21 suspected accomplices. Now, I kind of know something is fishy., Alone in Mexico with limited cash, Ghantt thought about turning himself in. He didnt even really question me. Jim Gronquist, Campbells defense attorney during the Loomis case, says the financial penalties levied against his client and her co-defendants are grossly excessive and unjust, particularly since most of the stolen Loomis money was actually recovered. 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. and "I'm rich!". ", "Even then . When he said, 'I'll give you $20,000 to hold a million,' I said, 'Sure.' . That October, the Chamberses' bank accounts ballooned. She declined to take a lie-detector test. I did a little research into crime statistics and the local cops. 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. Mine did. 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. Hidden in it was a 3 1/2-carat diamond ring that cost $43,000. 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. You can garnish wages. Kelly Campbell, 29, a former company employee, entered guilty pleas earlier to bank larceny, money laundering and conspiracy to commit murder charges. Scott was so nervous, he said, that he couldn't help. If they could just sit on the money until then, he said, they'd be fine. Posted on . Scott Grant and Steve pulled up next to her in a Mazda. Hed be in contact. Steve bought a truck, a Rolex and a motorboat. 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. Criminals dont usually get high-paying jobs after leaving prison. 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. On Oct. 5, the Loomis heist celebrates its 25th birthday. I don't blame him.". "But, I hate to admit it, it doesn't faze me one bit. 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. But what did that mean? 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. He frequently entertained there, buying steaks for his guests. Kelly was lying. My love for my family is by far the most important thing in my life. He says the Loomis case shows how the criminal justice system and the courts treat lower-income people differently. I knew that the news wouldnt break until later that morning. 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.
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