Biography
John Volpe was a father and member of the Davenport Catholic Worker in Iowa. Published Plowshares chronologies (Laffin/Kings Bay Plowshares 7; ickevald.net) describe him as a former employee of the Rock Island Arsenal.
Silo Plowshares custody dates verified
Contemporary UPI reporting identifies John Albert Volpe of Davenport among the March 28, 1986 arrests and reports that all five activists were released on bond that evening. A separate initial-detention record preserves that stay. The previous March 27 arrest date was incorrect. Original March 28 UPI report.
The original Insurgent report, printed page 20, states that the five began serving their sentences September 15, 1986 and specifically identifies Volpe, his family and seven-year sentence. This is sentence admission, not arrest-day custody. The roster on page 31 identifies his register number, 03791-045. Contemporary sentence-admission report; Contemporary identifying roster.
The public federal inmate locator, searched by that exact number on October 12, 2026, returns JOHN A VOLPE, register 03791-045, and not in BOP custody as of April 17, 1987. This corrects the previous April 14 endpoint; the locator does not establish the end of probation or custody in another system. No portrait has been assigned from photographs of the former Massachusetts governor or other namesakes. Official federal locator: search 03791-045.
Historical Silo Plowshares transfer, not a new custody interval
The December 1986 Silo Plowshares update reports that the three men had been moved to different prisons, and its directory individually places John Volpe at Marion, Illinois. This is a contemporary placement/transfer record in the existing Silo Plowshares imprisonment, not a separate new arrest or admission. It supplies no exact initial confinement or physical-release day. The printed seven- or eight-year nominal term is not an actual completed duration.
The Nuclear Resister No.43, December 12, 1986: Original PDF page 7 (printed page 6); Original PDF page 4 (printed page 3).
Contemporary 1986 custody evidence
The contemporary report dates John Volpe’s Silo Plowshares sentencing August 22, 1986 and distinguishes actual prison entry September 15 from the earlier March 28 action and intervening freedom. It specifies his imposed term as seven years, unlike the other four defendants’ eight years. The existing separately recorded arrest-day detention and later federal-custody endpoint are unchanged; seven years imposed is not seven years actually served.
The Nuclear Resister No. 41, September 18, 1986, original PDF page 2 (printed 1).
Individually documented 1985–1986 custody chronology
John Volpe was convicted on January 8, 1986 on charges arising from the October 21, 1985 Shut Down the Arsenal action at Rock Island Arsenal. The original expressly says he served a ten-day sentence upon conviction. These are ten actual completed days, not just an imposed term. No precise physical release day is printed or back-calculated. This is distinct from his March 1986 Silo Plowshares arrest, initial same-evening bail release, and later federal sentence already recorded.
The Nuclear Resister No. 37, January 20, 1986, original PDF pages [8].
