Biography
William Sentner was a United Electrical Workers organizer arrested in Rock Island, Illinois on September 17, 1952 during union negotiations. His bail was reduced to $15,000 on September 30 and promptly posted. A jury convicted him in the Seattle Smith Act case on May 28, 1954, and the court imposed five years on June 4. Sentner remained free during the appeal. The Ninth Circuit reversed the conviction on April 4, 1958, and the Justice Department dismissed the prosecution that October.
White identifies the CIO regional director as convicted in connection with the Maytag sit-down strike, with the Iowa Supreme Court overturning the conviction in1941. This is historical context distinct from his later Smith Act case; the passage does not establish an additional custody interval.
