Biography
Pete Lesko was a coal striker prosecuted in Washington County, Pennsylvania, during the 1931 coal strike. He was convicted of inciting to riot and rioting. His sentence was five months of imprisonment and a $10 fine. He was serving the sentence in the Allegheny County Workhouse at Blawnox in November 1931. The International Labor Defense organized appeals and relief for the imprisoned strikers.
The November 24, 1931 report individually lists this National Miners Union strike prisoner at Allegheny County Workhouse, Blawnox. The roster establishes actual confinement during the mine-strike repression. It does not supply an individual statutory count, exact initial arrest, physical release or completed custody duration. Daily Worker, November 24, 1931, original PDF page 2. Source: https://www.marxists.org/history/usa/pubs/dailyworker/1931/v08-n282-NY-nov-24-1931-DW-LOC.pdf#page=2
The November 20 Washington County dispatch independently names this defendant in its list of coal-strike sentences. It gives Babish, Lesko and Susak five months and a $10 fine; John, Mike and Steve Vargo six months in the Blawnox workhouse; and, in the Bulger Block case, Zilich three months, Diehl thirty-five days with a $1 fine and costs, and Betti sixty days with a $1 fine and costs. The sentences are imposed terms, not verified actual durations. No admission or discharge is calculated from them. The report also describes ILD appeals and workers’ protests. Existing individually stored terms are retained.
