Biography
Antonio Suares — known as Tony — was a member of the International Brotherhood of Electrical Workers (IBEW) and a co-defendant of UE organizer Alex Markley in the case arising from the 1975 UE strike at the Worthington Compressor plant in Holyoke, Massachusetts. According to the federal appellate record, Suares assembled and delivered three homemade "destructive devices" to an undercover ATF agent (Thomas O'Reilly) for $75 on December 8, 1975; the government alleged the devices were meant for use against trucks of Martin Brothers Trucking Company, which had been crossing the union's picket lines. Suares maintained his innocence, and the UE and labor supporters characterized the case as ATF entrapment — saying the agent had agitated for violence and that the men refused.
He was convicted in the U.S. District Court for the District of Massachusetts of three counts of possessing and three counts of transferring unregistered destructive devices under the National Firearms Act (26 U.S.C. §§ 5861(d) and 5861(e)) — a related conspiracy count was dismissed after trial — and sentenced to one year in prison. The First Circuit affirmed the convictions on December 16, 1977 (United States v. Suares, 567 F.2d 523, No. 77-1210). The two men received broad labor support.
