During Seattle's Prohibition years in the 1920s, Roy Olmstead became one of the largest and most successful bootleggers in King County. Learning how the trade operated from involvement in raids and arrests while serving as a Seattle Police Lieutenant, Olmstead noted the lack of organization of many bootleggers and began his own operation. After an arrest and dismissal from the Seattle Police Force, he was able to devote all his time to his operations. They eventually grew to include many vessels, trucks, warehouses, and employees importing liquor from Canada. Along with his second wife, Elise, Olmstead established the American Radio Telephone Company which they operated from their home in Seattle's Mount Baker neighborhood. It was suspected that the children's bedtime hour was used to relay coded messages to the various rumrunners employed.

Suspicious of the activities, federal agents employed surveillance techniques and wiretapping to arrest Olmstead, his wife, and nine other men in 1924. After an initial Federal Grand Jury indictment in 1925, the 1926 trial proceedings were the largest in the country's history of liquor violations starting out with 47 defendants. Olmstead's wife Elise was acquitted in the trial, however, Olmstead was convicted and sentenced to four years in prison and fined $8,000. He appealed in a 1928 landmark case on the grounds that wiretapping was unconstitutional based on the 4th and 5th Amendments. After losing his appeal, Olmstead served his time at McNeil Island Penitentiary and was released May 11, 1931. This photograph of Olmstead leaving the prison launch was taken on the day of his release when he arrived at Steilacoom landing.

Having converted to the Christian Science faith in prison, and now believing that alcohol was destructive, Olmstead spent his remaining years counseling and teaching from the Bible, providing rehabilitative services to Puget Sound inmates, and operating a ministry from the Times Square Building until his death in 1966.

Handwritten on image: Olmstead Roy.
Date photograph was filed at the Seattle Post-Intelligencer (date of photograph and file date may differ by a month or more): August 6, 1931.

Caption information source: HistoryLink.org.