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298:, but were seldom used. For the most part, Elise ran the station. Typical of stations of the time, it had a variety format. The most popular program was "Aunt Vivian," where Mrs. Olmstead as "Aunt Vivian" read bedtime stories for children, beginning at 7:15 at night. This led to a popular legend that Elise inserted coded language into her stories as signals for her husband's bootlegging network. Elise was broadcasting from her home as usual on November 17, 1924, when the home was raided by government agents and KFQX was put off the air.
206:, he began smuggling alcohol from Canada while still on the force. Following his arrest for that crime, he lost his job in law enforcement and turned to illegally importing and distributing alcohol as a full-time and highly profitable occupation. Eventually, wiretaps of his phones provided sufficient evidence for his arrest and prosecution, despite an appeal that reached the Supreme Court regarding the legality of the wiretap.
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practitioner and a carpenter, later working with prison inmates in the Puget Sound area on an anti-alcoholism agenda. He was a vibrant and active community member for his remaining years, teaching Sunday school and visiting prisoners in the King County Jail every Monday morning. Olmstead and his wife
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reporting: "He got the usual time off for good behavior, but aside from this, he served his full term plus thirty days for the $ 8,000 fine assessed against him." He moved back to
Seattle to be with his wife and daughter, where he worked as an insecticides salesman and fumigator. On 25 December 1935,
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When
Washington State prohibited the manufacturing and selling of alcohol in 1916, the police force began raiding bootleg operations. Olmstead, noting the potential for profit, began his own bootlegging operation while still a policeman. On March 22, 1920, Olmstead was identified driving around a
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on May 16, 1907, he rose rapidly through the ranks and was promoted to sergeant on April 5, 1910; his brothers Frank and Ralph were also on the
Seattle force. Seattle police chief Joe Warren (1858–1934) was so impressed with Sgt Olmstead's intelligence and professionalism, he appointed him Acting
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He ran his illegal operation like a business and before long he became one of the largest employers in Puget Sound. Known on the West Coast as "the Good
Bootlegger", Olmstead did not engage in the practice of diluting his contraband with toxic industrial grade chemicals in order to increase his
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and fined $ 8,000; Finch receiving a sentence of two years and a fine of $ 500. Other defendants' sentences ranged from 15 months to three years, with fines; defendants who cooperated and testified for the government, received one-year sentences. Olmstead appealed his case, arguing that the
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trafficking. Olmstead did not engage in these activities, and many did not regard him as a "true criminal" as a result. Despite the risks involved in rum-running, Olmstead did not allow his employees to carry firearms, telling his men he would rather lose a shipment of liquor than a life.
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returned a two-count indictment against Roy
Olmstead and 89 other defendants on January 19, 1925, with the trial ending on February 20, 1926, with the conviction of 21 defendants including Roy Olmstead and his attorney, Jerry Finch. Olmstead was sentenced to four years with
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After the raid the station was leased to Birt Fisher, who changed the call letters to KTCL. After
Olmstead's liquor trial ended, he sold the station to Vincent Kraft who changed the call sign to KXA and moved the frequency from 570 to 770.
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In August 1924, after his divorce from his first wife
Caliste Viola Cottle came through, Olmstead married Elise Caroline Parché (aka Campbell), a Londoner who had worked for British Intelligence during
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profits, selling only bonded liquor imported from Canada. To most other bootleggers, smuggling alcohol was but one facet of their criminal organization, and many were involved in
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agents raiding a rum-running operation. He was fired from the force and paid a fine of $ 500, but now could devote his full attention to his smuggling operations.
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separated in 1940, citing personal and religious differences, and they divorced in 1943. Roy
Olmstead died April 30, 1966, at the age of 79.
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344:, constituted a violation of his constitutional rights to privacy and against self-incrimination. However, in February 1928 the
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384:. Besides restoring his constitutional rights, the pardon remitted $ 100,000 the IRS claimed he owed in unpaid liquor taxes.
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In early
October 1924, Roy and Elise Olmstead started radio station KFQX, with the assistance of inventor
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186:(September 18, 1886 – April 30, 1966) was one of the most successful and best-known
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List of people pardoned or granted clemency by the president of the United States
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Lieutenant in 1917, with the promotion being made permanent on
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Puget Sounds: A Nostalgic Review of Radio and TV in the Great Northwest
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incriminating wiretapping evidence, which had been obtained without a
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Correctional Institute, and was released on May 12, 1931, with the
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689:, BlogCritics.com, October 4, 2011. Last accessed January 6, 2012.
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Prohibition; Episode 2: A Nation of Scofflaws; Good Bootlegger
551:"Olmstead, Roy (1886–1966) — King of King County Bootleggers"
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Olmstead, Roy (1886–1966) -- King of King County Bootleggers
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Marriage Certificate dated 3 Apr 1909, Seattle King, WA, USA
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Olmstead, Roy (1886-1966--King of King County Bootleggers
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579:. New York, NY: Scribner Book Company. pp. 284–286.
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Largely on the basis of evidence obtained through police
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Prohibition’s Roy Olmstead: The Man Who No Longer Exists
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Prohibition’s Roy Olmstead: The Man Who No Longer Exists
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of his telephone, Olmstead was arrested and tried for
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Olmstead spent his four-year prison sentence at the
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Born in 1886 to farmers John and Sarah Olmstead, in
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847:People from Furnas County, Nebraska
387:While in prison, Olmstead became a
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822:Seattle Police Department officers
788:, biography on the website of the
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35:Roy Olmstead with wife Elise, 1925
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817:Prohibition in the United States
733:. Portland, OR: Inkwater Press.
380:granted him a full presidential
752:. Superior Publishing Company.
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233:Moran Brothers Co. shipyard
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748:Richardson, David (1980).
369:Seattle Post-Intelligencer
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231:, in 1904. Working in the
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351:Olmstead v. United States
314:Olmstead v. United States
307:Olmstead v. United States
237:Seattle Police Department
204:Seattle Police Department
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328:National Prohibition Act
148:National Prohibition Act
194:region during American
244:Bootlegging operations
647:Richardson, p. 33–37.
378:Franklin D. Roosevelt
358:Prison and later life
221:Beaver City, Nebraska
55:Beaver City, Nebraska
837:American bootleggers
665:Richardson, p. 134.
235:before joining the
108:Served term, later
16:American bootlegger
784:2020-07-16 at the
685:2011-10-09 at the
656:Richardson, p. 40.
638:Richardson, p. 95.
620:Metcalfe, p. 69-70
492:2020-07-16 at the
251:Prohibition Bureau
51:September 18, 1886
803:, BlogCritics.com
740:978-1-59299-252-2
586:978-0-7432-7702-0
445:978-1-60883-430-3
389:Christian Science
249:roadblock set by
192:Pacific Northwest
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462:. Retrieved
458:the original
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330:. A Federal
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259:prostitution
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184:Roy Olmstead
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67:(1966-04-30)
23:Roy Olmstead
832:1966 deaths
827:1886 births
795:Prohibition
792:miniseries
503:Prohibition
500:miniseries
320:wiretapping
296:Smith Tower
280:World War I
267:gun-running
198:. A former
196:Prohibition
188:bootleggers
170:$ 8000 fine
126:Bootleggers
124:King County
84:Nationality
811:Categories
557:January 5,
464:2017-09-11
408:References
337:hard labor
332:grand jury
324:conspiracy
292:Al Hubbard
286:KFQX radio
229:Washington
215:Early life
200:lieutenant
166:hard labor
152:conspiracy
120:Allegiance
99:bootlegger
77:Washington
47:1886-09-18
454:738476083
375:President
271:narcotics
210:Biography
782:Archived
683:Archived
575:(2010).
490:Archived
396:See also
263:gambling
164:4 years
150:and for
110:Pardoned
88:American
342:warrant
225:Seattle
202:in the
190:in the
158:Penalty
73:Seattle
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737:
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382:pardon
269:, and
413:Notes
754:ISBN
735:ISBN
581:ISBN
559:2012
450:OCLC
440:ISBN
62:Died
41:Born
790:PBS
498:PBS
436:PBS
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Text is available under the Creative Commons Attribution-ShareAlike License. Additional terms may apply.
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