Enroute to Mexico during Prohibition, loner John Smith decides to rest at town of Jericho, Texas. He discovers that two rival bootleg gangs, one Italian, the other Irish, are seriously at odds with each other. So much so, that all of the residents have left, and the Sheriff has given up doing his job. Sensing an opportunity to make money, Smith decides to hire himself out to both factions -- and play each side against the other. Will Smith's clever scheme work? Or will the ensuing violence he causes take his life instead?