Biography
Peter De Bernardi, an Industrial Workers of the World member from Mountain View, California, was convicted in the Sacramento mass IWW trial and sentenced to ten years. He served at Leavenworth Penitentiary from August 1918 until December 1923. Prison officials repeatedly placed him in isolation for resisting forced labor and other disciplinary charges, eventually handcuffing him to his cell. Federal agents continued to monitor him after his release and reported that employers dismissed him after learning of his wartime sedition conviction.
Plahn’s contemporary account identifies Pete De Bernardi among Sacramento IWW prisoners still held in permanent isolation at Leavenworth. The printed name variant and matching Sacramento/Leavenworth context support this attribution; the account supplies no new discharge date or complete custody total.
