Gold Door Knobs Seal Bootlegger’s Fate: Butch Crowley Busted for Tax Evasion

In the small town of Joliet, Illinois, a lavish life of luxury came crashing down for Laurence J. Crowley, a.k.a. Butch, the son of the town’s official dog catcher. Butch’s extravagant lifestyle was fueled by his lucrative bootlegging operation, which supplied some of Chicago’s biggest sources of real beer. However, it was his taste for the finer things in life that ultimately led to his downfall.

Butch’s penchant for impressing the town’s elite culminated in the purchase of a $70,000 house, which was a staggering sum for the small town at the time. To give his new mansion an air of opulence, Butch opted for solid gold door knobs, a decision that would prove to be his undoing. When the Volstead Act was signed in 1919, Butch’s bootlegging operation thrived, and he soon found himself surrounded by the finer things in life, including a luxurious limousine.

However, Butch’s newfound wealth was not as legitimate as it seemed. When he failed to pay his income taxes, he caught the attention of authorities, who began to investigate his lavish lifestyle. The gold door knobs, which were meant to be a symbol of his success, now served as a red flag, signaling to investigators that something was amiss.

As the investigation unfolded, Butch’s world began to crumble. His garage, which served as a front for his bootlegging operation, was raided, and he was eventually arrested and charged with tax evasion. The once-impoverished son of the dog catcher had lost everything, including his freedom.

The case served as a reminder that the allure of wealth and power can be a double-edged sword. While Butch’s gold door knobs may have impressed his neighbors, they ultimately led to his downfall. The story of Butch Crowley is a cautionary tale of the dangers of greed and the importance of paying one’s taxes.