Biography
Albert Lannon was an Irish-American longshoreman, organizer for the National Maritime Union, and a member of the Communist Party USA national board. He was indicted in the Foley Square Second String in June 1951 and convicted alongside the rest of the second string in January 1953. He was sentenced to two years in federal prison.
Albert F. Lannon was a Communist Party waterfront leader and a founder of the National Maritime Union, convicted in the second-string New York Smith Act trial. After the Supreme Court declined review, he began serving his sentence on January 11, 1955.
The July 4, 1951 National Guardian individually named Albert Lannon among the New York Smith Act defendants who had been released on bail after their recent arrests. This pretrial release is distinct from any later sentence service; the report does not establish this person’s exact release day or a measured custody total. National Guardian, July 4, 1951, p. 5.
The released FBI file on Claudia Jones, New York file 100-81752, summarizes the federal Smith Act docket and identifies Albert Lannon as released on bail on August 3, 1951, during the 1951 bail proceedings. It separately records remand after the January 21, 1953 guilty verdict and actual release on appeal bail on February 13, 1953. These bail interruptions are distinct from the later prison term. Its April 21, 1952 counsel list identifies Frank Serri as defense counsel for Albert Lannon. Source: FBI, released Claudia Jones file, New York 100-81752, sections on bail and sureties, counsel and trial proceedings. The file supplies these individual procedural phases without establishing a new complete custody total.
