Patrick S Halley

Luxury Lockup Patrick S Halley

The TRUE STORY of a shady character who runs for Sheriff in Boston, and the incumbent sheriff has a heart attack and dies on election night, making the crook the sheriff. What could possibly go wrong? Everything! And it did. Making Johnny Dowd the Sheriff of Suffolk County was like giving the keys to Fort Knox to John Dillinger. Before long, prisoners were running the jail. The door between the female and male sections of the jail was opened, paying inmates could enjoy conjugal visits in their cells, and the jail was open to visitors 24/7. Johnny Dowd turned the jail's infirmary into a casino, with table games, dice, and a 24 hour a day high stakes poker game. Prisoners were allowed to take cabs to play golf at a nearby course. Not satisfied, Johnny opened a high end restaurant and nightclub in the jail and invited the public to stop by after the legitimate bars closed for the night. With things running to his satisfaction, Johnny hit upon the idea of renting jail cells to criminals on the lam from Chicago and New York. Who would ever think to look for a fugitive in a jail? And the accommodations were first class! Chicago mobster Easy Eddie O'Hare rented a cell to hide out from Al Capone's gunmen. New York mobsters rented some cells and then opened a laundry in downtown Boston, using the jail's washing machines, soap and water. Alas, all good things must come to an end, and Johnny Dowd was indicted. He fled, leading to a two year manhunt worthy of the Keystone Kops. This is the true story of how crooked sheriff turned Boston's City Jail into a luxury hotel for criminals. Irony prevails, as the structure is now preserved as one of Boston's finest luxury hotels for the rest of us, proving Johnny Dowd was a man ahead of his times.