Biography
Gabriel Probes was arrested in August 1918 with co-defendants Jacob Abrams, Mollie Steimer, Samuel Lipman, Hyman Lachowsky, Jacob Schwartz and Hyman Rosansky for distributing leaflets in New York critical of U.S. military intervention against the Russian Revolution. They were charged with violating the Espionage Act of 1917, as amended May 16, 1918, in what became the landmark Abrams v. United States case. Contemporary Laisvė reporting identifies him as Gabriel Prober and states that he was acquitted and released, unlike the five defendants who were convicted. He did not receive a federal prison sentence in this prosecution.
Laisvė’s October 29, 1918 issue reports the Abrams-group verdict under a New York October 24 dateline. It individually states that Gabriel Prober was found not guilty and released, and that the other defendants testified he had not participated in preparing the leaflets. This identifies the same co-defendant already recorded as Gabriel Probes. The report contradicts the generic federal-prison sentence and unsupported postconviction Atlanta assignment. The existing October release month is retained without converting relative wording into a precise day.
