Ghantt took $50,000 for himself and fled to Cozumel, Mexico. Nah, it was always about the money, he told the agents. He flew in an ultra-light plane. Kelly had resisted this suggestion before the heist: She and David were friends. All of the defendants are out of prison -- the longest sentence was 11 years. He'd stay up all night, boosted by coffee, waiting for the sunrise over the ocean. Loomis, then known as Loomis Fargo, experienced two inside jobs in 1997, for $17.3 million and $18.8 million. There it was, "The Heist." Most people are going to forgive you. I couldn't understand why I hadn't been more successful," David said. Now worried about both the FBI and McKinney, he spent even more time alone in his room. She could visit friends. Some of that money is just gone. A third tape he didn't know about kept recording. But if you did, youll never forget it. Kelly, using David's cell phone, kept beeping him. Exhibit A was that Steve had no steady job but plenty of cash. Twenty people were convicted of roles big and small in the massive 1997 armored-car warehouse heist in west Charlotte. In early November, Steve lured the real Mike McKinney, an ex-Marine, to North Carolina from his Illinois home. About 10 frantic minutes later, Scott found the right key. Ghantt had fled to Mexico with $50,000 in cash, leaving the rest of the money with Steve Chambers. . I flew from Atlanta to New Orleans. But what did that mean? He told her he wanted more of "his" cash. Depression had led to smoking a lot of marijuana and taking Prozac, a combination she figures affected her judgment. The Columbia airport had no available flights. real kelly campbell loomis fargo heist real kelly campbell loomis fargo heist (No Ratings Yet) . His new life in Mexico had begun. So he got in a cab and went to a mall. In the meantime, the FBI was closing in looking to bust a total of 21 suspected accomplices. She was a wife and mother with two children. She was like, Well, at least you had guts, he says. There was, however, one problem with his plan. This is the person I counted as my friend. He had since served time in prison for the crime and told our sister station WSOC-TV Channel 9s Glenn Counts he learned a valuable lesson while behind bars. Her case closes in 2025. She could spend time with her children and parents. "As soon as you start, you realize there's no going back," David recalled. In the wee hours of the morning, Chambers and the Erics drove back to the town of Vale, North Carolina, and holed up in a double-wide trailer while counting their cash. The FBI continues to search for a missing $2 million from the theft. . (John D. Simmons/The Charlotte Observer via AP) The Associated Press, BY MICHAEL GORDON, The Charlotte Observer. You can seize property. After a couple of weeks, Ghantt and the rest of the heist team were ready to strike. I thought, Okay, if I get out of that bubble because the cops depend on that, even the feds my chances to get away go way up.. 145 Matches for Kelly Loomis. "Think of how many women would have stood by. While the agents initiated their investigation, the Chambers spent money as quickly as they could. 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. The FBI heard about the plot and agents knew they could no longer wait. Eric watched. "We kept going, '1-4-3, 1-4-3,' " recalled Vic O'Korn, assistant special agent in charge of Charlotte's FBI office. David, now 30, says he's sorry he abandoned his wife--who he says still loves him--and his family. In early December, Steve and Michele invited relatives to their daughter's sixth birthday party. Money'll turn your head, I don't care who you are. The agents tapped the phone, and it didnt take long to locate Ghantt after that. When he finished, the van was filled with $17 million. "She said, 'What would it take to convince you to do it?' When he said, 'I'll give you $20,000 to hold a million,' I said, 'Sure.' He and co-worker Kelly Campbell, 27, had developed a close relationship and were spending time together outside of work. Zach always plays that bumbling kind of lunatic, but hes not, Ghantt says. Scott didn't want to, but then he remembered the hundred-grand payday. Hes going to start bringing you money. Alright. I just had to call you., Today, Ghantt cant look back on the whole ordeal without some degree of pride. Theres some things I want to do., Ghantt planned on traveling from Mexico to the Cayman Islands, bypassing customs along the way. "He was in tears. He quickly found out when you have money, you just have different problems, Wydra said. Well she was a pretty happy-go-lucky person, he said. So much so that one suspicious neighbor called the FBI. However, the FBI knew immediately who robbed the vault (Ghant was seen on video camera), and it didnt take long for the FBI to loop in Kelly Campbell. She tried to apologize for the murder plot. David kissed his sleeping wife on the cheek on the morning of Oct. 4. The picture, which is directed by Jared Hess and written by Chris Bowman, Hubbel Palmer, and Emily Spivey, stars Zach Galifianakis, Owen Wilson, Kristen Wiig, Kate McKinnon, Leslie Jones, and Jason Sudeikis . Some days, the robbery seems like a memory from a different life, a choice made by a different man. I really enjoyed the little scuba diving trip. Then, I started loading the van., Money, when bound in bulk and stacked in canvas bags, is heavier than you might expect. That movie, Masterminds, was filmed in 2014. Ghantt was working a late shift, and just after 6:30 p.m., his coworkers were packing up and heading for home. Or is the loot buried in somebody's yard? Or purchase a subscription for unlimited access to real news you can count on. 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. 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. Given his position at the bank, hed be the one to pull off the robbery, and he intended to be ready. His assignment was to deliver the cash to David and keep him happy until they could find a way to kill him, McKinney said. Directed by Jared Hess and written by Chris Bowman, Hubbel Palmer and Emily Spivey, the film stars Zach Galifianakis, Owen Wilson, Kristen Wiig, Kate McKinnon, Leslie Jones and Jason Sudeikis.. And then I could hear her laughing. She could walk under the trees, with the chickens and goats and dogs that live around her mobile home. Loomis (formerly Loomis, Fargo & Co.) is a cash handling company. The Loomis case is another example where the amount of restitution ordered vs. what is actually paid are two dramatically different numbers. He pocketed the money and told Chambers and Campbell to send him his cut in Mexico. Of course the most famous thing inside the home was a velvet Elvis portrait. ALSO READ: Leader of $3M check theft, bank fraud scheme in Charlotte area sentenced to prison, The hillbilly outfit did more that just drop a few breadcrumbs. He kept looking over his shoulder. Her marriage--at which she was making another ambivalent effort after multiple separations--and even the jobs she'd been able to get with a diploma couldn't come close to providing the kind of life she dreamed about, the life she felt she deserved: a house in the country, a swimming pool, and enough cash so she didn't need to rely on men. Its attracted workers like Ghantt. He told Steve he hadn't been able to find David. This is where it starts to unravel, Ghantt tells me with a wry laugh. CHARLOTTE, N.C. (AP) During one overnight shift, a bumbling conspiracy of thieves just west of Charlotte stole more than $17 million from Loomis Fargo. But you cant get blood from a stone, Johns said. Chambers and Campbell were waiting for him in the Loomis Fargo parking lot, both in separate vehicles. Its kind of like that. Time passed, and Campbell eventually quit her job at Loomis Fargo. Twenty-five years ago, a small group of rural North Carolinian amateur bank robbers pulled off the second-largest heist in American history. What it does is put a ball and chain on that person for the rest of their lives, they are walking around and they are basically an indentured servant, Gronquist said. [SIGN UP: Action News Jax Daily Headlines Newsletter]. I said, Probably, the best time would be on the weekend; theres fewer people there. He realized that if they met the minimum monthly payments, the bill would take 30 years to pay. The Loomis defendants face no additional legal jeopardy for not paying off their debts. Theres less security. That first day in prison was scary, Ghantt said. All the while, Ghantt prepared himself for the task at hand. By late November, McKinney made a third trip to Mexico, saying he'd help David move to Mexico City. They didn't know it, but they were leaving $3.3 million behind. He had an endearing smile, a beautiful wife and two children. He drove to the edge of the Loomis compound, which was surrounded by a chain-link fence. 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. Ghantt had struck up a relationship with a fellow Loomis Fargo employee, Kelly Campbell; they continued to maintain contact even after Campbell left the company. Besides her prison sentence, Campbell must undergo mental health and drug treatment and spend two years in a supervised release program. But he tried to keep his face averted, so David wouldn't be able to ID him. An officer rang the doorbell. Soon thereafter, he met Kelly Campbell, a co-worker at Loomis Fargo. According to Butcher, Campbells last official payment came in June 2021 when the government appears to have seized a tax refund of $81.24. . Informacin sobre tu dispositivo y conexin a Internet, como tu direccin IP, Actividad de navegacin y bsqueda al utilizar sitios web y aplicaciones de Yahoo. ". "He was speechless," said Sandra Floyd. . There used to be a consulate in Cancun. FBI video shows the agency searching that home and finding drawers full of cash. 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