Biography
Karl Lesse, also known as Charles or Carl Lesse, was a German-born sailor and IWW delegate. He was arrested in February 1919 and released on bail, then rearrested in Arcata, California, in November 1919. Convicted under the state criminal syndicalism law, he received a one-to-fourteen-year sentence and entered San Quentin in January 1920. The cited biography places his release and deportation in 1922 but gives inconsistent March and May dates. In Germany he joined the syndicalist FAUD and then the Communist Party, later working for the Communist International in Europe and Shanghai. Source: Kenyon Zimmer, Red Scare Deportees, Karl Lesse, citing INS file 54616/17 and related records.
1920s custody review: Karl (Charles) Lesse was arrested in February 1919 and released on bail, then rearrested in Arcata in November 1919 under the California criminal syndicalism law. These arrests are recorded separately. The previously listed 1925 release conflicts with the cited biography, which places both prison discharge and deportation in 1922. That source gives incompatible March and May endpoints, so release is recorded only at year precision; no exact release or deportation day is asserted.
