Worker takes home 100 computers over ten-year period, pleads guilty

airship

#1 – 11:46 AM October 2, 2008

When I worked in a tractor factory, some guy figured out a way to smuggle out batteries (think 'car batteries', only they're more heavy duty). So he did - one a day, every day. He retired and died a couple of years later.

When he died, his widow called the factory to find out what she should do with all the batteries. So they sent a truck to pick them up. He had hundreds of batteries just stacked up in their basement.

karmacomedian

#2 – 11:48 AM October 2, 2008

wow! I grew up with that guys younger brother. weird.

Anonymous Anonymous

#3 – 12:09 PM October 2, 2008

That's Washington, as in District of Columbia. Not the state...

Dillenger69

#4 – 12:10 PM October 2, 2008

Hopefully they won't try to prosecute everyone who reappropriates government resources for civilian use. 90% of our military would be in jail.

Kurt

#5 – 12:34 PM October 2, 2008

As noted on /., that's about $6/item. Most likely, he was taking home the old and broken equipment they were throwing out.

loganbouchard

#6 – 12:34 PM October 2, 2008

of course he didn't sell them, he needed them for his LAN parties.

mmbb

#7 – 1:14 PM October 2, 2008

Airship, I guess he never listened to the rest of that song by Johnny Cash, "One Piece at a Time."

karmacomedian

#8 – 2:58 PM October 2, 2008

Kurt, that's the story I get from my friend... all old equipment that was going in the trash.

Marky

#9 – 3:19 PM October 2, 2008

Looking around my house, I've got a bunch of stuff from work. The policy has always been "if it's in the dumpster, take it."

Never got any computers, by the time they move from desktop, to cold storage, then cleaned out to trash most are too old to use. My boss had me call around to some schools to see if they wanted the old 286's we were finally dumping, just got some laughs.

I missed the best score. Our antenna field was redesigned, and all the waveguide was dumped. Over 1000 pounds of copper in the dumpster, one guy I work with had it loaded in his truck in ten minutes.

themindfantastic

#10 – 5:49 PM October 2, 2008

Sheesh steal the stuff and craigslist it with a throwaway phone/email, I mean not every thief can be like the bank robber with the craigslist ad but use SOME brains?

OM

#11 – 8:45 AM October 3, 2008

...Wonder if he had all those systems up and running seti@home? :-)

Halloween Jack

#12 – 2:49 PM October 3, 2008

Sounds more like he was an obsessive/compulsive type. It does remind me, though, of the annual hell that was the computer equipment inventory at a state university library that I used to work for. There was stuff dating back to the eighties that was still on the official inventory, and it was all valued at the original purchase cost--some of it was junk that was now worth far less than the cost of the staff time to process it--but getting rid of it meant even more paperwork, so we had to go through the ritual of assuring the state that, yes, we still had that videodisc player.

MikeyP

#13 – 2:20 PM October 4, 2008

C'mon gimme a break dudes. Vic Pagagno isn't just some innocent mental who was taking old computers and proggies destined for the trash home for his oddball collections. No doubt, he had the computers up and running and was using them for some illicit operations. You guys think just because he didn't sell them he wasn't doing anything wrong? What a crock dudes. Vic had about 7 names he used on various auction sites and was always buying coupons and gift certificates galore, for waaaay over their value (i.e a coupon for a free bottle of Tide detergent, max value 6.99, Vic would pay 20 bucks for). I betcha he was into making computer copies of the coupons and certificates and probably mass produced them by the 100s then used them himself and sold them on the different sites or craiglist. Vic used different puters to cover his tracks. So he'll get a slap on the wrist, probably get probation cause they'll think poor dude is just a whacko, then ole Vic will be out gettin' under-the-table rich with his wide variety of coupon/certificate schemes and who the heck knows what other ops he has going on. Vic ain't no weirdo nutjob but a pretty slick shady if ya ask me.

MikeyP

#14 – 2:41 PM October 4, 2008

Yeah for he who asked I do know Vic Papagno and yeah I misspelled his name as Pagagno...big whoop. Gosh darn none of youse ever make a typo before?

Anonymous Anonymous

#15 – 12:37 PM July 27, 2009

I grew up with Victor and knew him well in high school - this is not an idiot - I'm sure he was using old equipment for benefit, as Mikey P says above.

He has one of the best math minds I've ever known. He wouldn't have taken this stuff just to hoard it.