 He was arrested early in 1908 and as a juvenile, aged 16, was sentenced to confinement in a young offenders' institute, and subsequently exiled to Siberia, where he spent about four years educating himself.After his release, he settled in the Urals and resumed his political activities.After the February Revolution he became a member of the Lysva Soviet, and of the Local Committee of the RSDLP (Bolshevik), and in April, a member of the Ural Regional Party Committee.