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Gillette worker not so sharp: Pleads guilty to stealing razor blades from South Boston factory
By adamg on Wed, 08/16/2017 - 9:58am
A worker at the Gillette plant in South Boston and two accomplices have pleaded guilty to federal charges that they stole shaving cartridges hot off the assembly line to sell on eBay, the US Attorney's office in Boston reports.
The World Shaving Headquarters worker, Joseph Evangelista, 63, of Lowell, pleaded guilty to one count of causing the interstate transportation of stolen property. His two accomplices, Robert A. Liberatore, 52, of Wakefield, and Mark S. Girardin, 44, of Randolph, each pleaded guilty to two counts of filing false tax returns.
According to the feds, in 2011, Evangelista handed over hundreds of Mach3 and Fusion ProGlide blades to Liberatore and Girardin, who would then package them for shipping in an apartment on Cambridge Street in Cambridge that they rented for that purpose. The sold a total of $209,000 worth of blades between February and August of that year, according to court documents.
Liberatore and Girardin also sold non-Gillette products online - but declared none of their sales on their federal taxes.
The three are scheduled for sentencing on Nov. 6.
Neighborhoods:
Free tagging:
| Attachment | Size |
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 Federal "information" in the case | 565.92 KB |
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Comments
Not as smooth as they thought
Not as smooth as they thought.
Their defense will be
that they didn't file taxes because their profits were razor-thin.
They Finally Caught Someone?
Based on the number of stolen razor blades that used to be available for sale sotto voce in South Boston and other areas of the city in the 80's and early 90's, you would think that security at Word Shaving Headquarters was done by the local "FBI authorized" crime organization.
Maybe it was.
$200k worth of blades?
So, like a 12-pack?
Got them in the nick of time
Guess they'll be trimming the budget and cutting them from the payroll. Got to get rid of anybody with rough edges & brush up on hiring practices.
As a community, we really need to
stop trading barb(asol)s over this.
Hillary Flammond: Nick? What
Hillary Flammond: Nick? What does that mean?
Nick Rivers: Oh, nothing. My dad thought of it while he was shaving.
Big black market for shaving cartridges
There's a big black market for shaving cartridges because they're so damn expensive. I recall disreputable types coming up to me trying to sell me cartridges under their coats at DTX like they were stolen watches or gold chains. Buying cartridges in CVS or Walgreen's is a major ordeal. They're behind plastic drawer type devices that are difficult to open set off all kinds of noises when you do. Employees materialize from everywhere. Loudspeaker recordings go off exclaiming "assistance needed in shaving section". Lights flash. One is made to feel very conspicuous. I even had an employee in Walgreen's walk me to the checkout counter with the cartridges.
I tried Harry's. Really wanted to love them
Your description of buying razors in a drug store reminds me of a tv commercial--either for Harry's or "Dollar Shave Club." I have tried the former, as a less expensive alternative to Gillette / Schick. Eh. Jury is still out. Harry's isn't great but isn't horrible.
On a side note, when Gillette got acquired a few years back (by P&G?) I thought they were moving everything out of state. Glad to hear that isn't the case.
Cartridges
Yes they are overpriced, locked up in my CVS too. so I head to eBay for my gilllette blades. I don't know how they can be so expensive. Maybe R&D costs to create the first 8 blade cartridge.
Knockoffs
I considered Ebay for Gillette cartridges but I was concerned they would be knockoffs of inferior quality.
CVS private-label knockoff blades
Should I try them? They are considerably less expensive than Gillette but fit in a Mach 3 handle.