She could walk under the trees, with the chickens and goats and dogs that live around her mobile home. I was looking at small sailboats and theyre not cheap, he tells me. 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. Most people are going to forgive you. . The FBI (Leslie Jones, Jon Daly) made easy work of the case, however, and everyone involved was eventually arrested and imprisoned. When Ghantt was on the plane home from Mexico with the FBI, he admitted to the agents that while Campbell had been integral to why hed done it and that he did indeed have a crush on her it was never his true motivation. 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. "I thought he was goofing around.". Just head on out. And so, he did. Name. What that says is, We will never forgive you for what youve done.. I think if you remember some of her early photographic opportunities, shall we put it that way, she was sort of laughing, not seeming to take it seriously.. Puedes cambiar tus opciones en cualquier momento desde tus controles de privacidad. "I felt that if I didn't do something, I was going to snap," David said. Campbell, a mother of two, was in the process of divorcing her. Time passed, and Campbell eventually quit her job at Loomis Fargo. One day, Campbell was speaking to an old friend named Steve Chambers. Anybody who gets caught up in the system is getting chewed up by it, the now-retired Gronquist told the Observer. There used to be a consulate in Cancun. "He was speechless," said Sandra Floyd. The Columbia airport had no available flights. "For the first year, they're all over you. 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.. Throughout the multi-year-long case and subsequent trials, journalists often referred to Ghantt and the others as trailer trash and hillbillies. . The plan was to maintain a low profile and wait for things to cool off, allowing Ghantt to return to the states and collect his cut. 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. She could visit friends. 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. Kristen Wiig plays Kelly, who really wasn't that into David, but convinced him to take a fortune from Loomis Fargo in the fall of '97. In the meantime, the FBI was closing in looking to bust a total of 21 suspected accomplices. Then another. The use of this site is restricted to authorized personnel only. People dont seem to understand human nature. Steve Chambers has told agents the missing cash was stolen from a shed in Lincoln County. Theyre meant to be trailer-park trash, but they come off as character experiments on a bad night at the Groundlings. Sun, sand and beaches are all part of why Jacksonville is a popular destination. David quickly realized he was the intended victim. They set the date, Oct. 4, a Saturday when David knew he could be alone in the building after his shift. While the agents initiated their investigation, the Chambers spent money as quickly as they could. And when everybody else voted to kill me, she voted with them, he explains. Haz clic en Gestionar ajustes para obtener ms informacin y gestionar tus opciones. By using this website, you accept the terms of our Visitor Agreement and Privacy Policy, and understand your options regarding Ad Choices. Like David, Kelly was frustrated with her marriage. Well she was a pretty happy-go-lucky person, he said. "But I had to know.". She was like, Well, at least you had guts, he says. You might as well take it all, Ghantt tells me. The platform is designed to engage citizens and government leaders in a discussion about what needs improvement across the country. Kelly would only discover later that leading up to the heist, Steve had been writing bad checks, $17,000 worth, for which he would later be convicted. Hes very articulate. As it turned out, Ghantt was zipping up his scuba suit in Mexico. Nah, it was always about the money, he told the agents. Was the temptation too much? At the end of October, Kelly was sentenced to 5 years 10 months in prison. He pocketed the money and told Chambers and Campbell to send him his cut in Mexico. 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. I mean, it was dark, Ghantt explains. I hit the local library the thing that we used to do before Google, Ghantt says with a small laugh. This material may not be published, broadcast, rewritten or redistributed. Why had he ever believed he'd get it? 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. There was a third person with them, too, a man named Eric Grant. Now, I kind of know something is fishy., Alone in Mexico with limited cash, Ghantt thought about turning himself in. 2023 Cox Media Group. You may email him here, follow him on Twitter, or listen to his weekly TV podcast, Podjiba. "Things I always wanted to do, but never had the time or the money," he said. At the sight of all that money, Scott and Eric had the same thought: They'd made the worst mistake of their lives. [SIGN UP: Action News Jax Daily Headlines Newsletter]. He worked fueling airplanes, driving a forklift, and in 1994 he got a job as a vault superintendent at Loomis. He told her he wanted more of "his" cash. Clerk of Court Frank Johns of Charlotte. But after she left, she reached back out to Ghantt and brought up what they'd talked about that day in the break room. On Oct. 5, the Loomis heist celebrates its 25th birthday. "A lot of people out there had it worse than me, but . Agents raided safe deposit boxes, where they recovered more than $11 million. I was burned out and just didn't know it. Things started to go south the night of the robbery. 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. A woman by the name of Kelly Campbell had worked there in 1996, and she and Ghantt had become friends in that time. David thought about it. They picked me, he says with a rueful tone. The last time he called me, he said, Hey Ghantt, I just saw a big Loomis Fargo truck. From Mexico, David usually spoke with Kelly on the phone once a week, paying with calling cards. If you didnt live in the Charlotte area 25 years ago, you might not believe it. He flew in an ultra-light plane. Kelly had recently left a job driving an armored-car for Loomis, Fargo & Co. "He's the one who brought it up first," said Kelly, a year after her arrest. David, the international fugitive, lived it up, too--for a while. The case had gotten national publicity and was the subject of numerous articles, documentaries and even a movie. Besides her prison sentence, Campbell must undergo mental health and drug treatment and spend two years in a supervised release program. A former FBI agent who helped crack the case sat down with Channel 9 Reporter Glenn Counts to talk about the clues that led to solving the crime, and how the group got caught. When we worked together [for Loomis], we'd joke about it. That was pretty awesome., It felt like a dream vacation until he started running out of money. 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. "She just called me up on the phone and said, 'Hey, let's meet one day after work.' There was a little voice in my head that said, 'Don't do it. For example, Steve Chambers and his wife were living in a trailer and upgraded to what would today be a multi-million-dollar mansion at Cramer Mountain. Theres no management around. Since then, there have been numerous articles, books, documentaries and even a movie about this gang -- the gang that couldnt shoot straight. "That would be living on the run, and I didn't want my kids to live that way. Until, that is, he decided to hell with it he was going to pull-off the second largest heist in U.S. history. We got to the end of the day, and he was acting like he wanted to linger. Steve tried keys on a side door. Steve told her to send David to Atlanta on a bus and drive back to the trailer. Kelly's company. His mobile home was nicely furnished, on eight acres with a stream in the back. He rewarded Robert with $3,000 and vowed never to meet McKinney alone. He placed stacks of currency on a cart and wheeled it to the van about 15 feet away, inside the building. Steve now needed a hit man. Im on the phone with Kelly [Campbell], and Im like, Hey, I really was expecting a package to arrive. Together, they drove in a convoy to an industrial warehouse eight miles away, where Eric Payne, a fourth accomplice was. They sweated, though the night was cool. But after a year, they'll cut it down to two agents. You've violated that trust. ALSO READ: Suspect from south Charlotte bank robbery found, CMPD says. This meant a bump in pay, up to $8.15 an hour. 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. Michele tells me you're in a financial bind. Dustin is the founder and co-owner of Pajiba. He told Steve he hadn't been able to find David. Steve led the planning. Stay informed daily on the latest news and advice on COVID-19 from the editors at U.S. News & World Report. All but one of the 24 defendants pleaded guilty, and the one who didnt take the deal was convicted. All I needed was a change of pace.". Kelly had no problem fanning the flames of their old flirtation. Jeffrey Guller, who at 81 is by far the oldest of the Loomis defendants, still owes almost $1.1 million on his original court debt of $1.14 million and will remain on the governments books for another four years. On March 1, David Ghantt left his hotel to do some laundry. Steve Chambers and his wife (Mary Elizabeth Ellis) were a little more difficult to connect to the heist. We got this guy named Bruno. This was in the 1990s the Columbia Airport back then was closed at around 9:30, 10 oclock. "We had David Ghantt and Kelly Campbell tied together, and we had Steven Chambers and Eric Payne with unexplained wealth, but we didn't have a tie between them," Agent John Wydra said. Ghantt was working a late shift, and just after 6:30 p.m., his coworkers were packing up and heading for home. 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. Kelly drove her pickup to a lot across the street from the Loomis building, on Suttle Avenue in Charlotte. Scott was so nervous, he said, that he couldn't help. Fourteen defendants were ordered to make restitution payments to Loomis Fargo totaling almost $19 million. . At first, David Ghantt said, "I didn't take her seriously. Some of that money is just gone. "He said, 'Yeah, right,' and turned his head. Kelly, using David's cell phone, kept beeping him. 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