Dave Barrett is thrown into a chain-gang prison and singled out for special mistreatment after his search for a missing prisoner threatens the warden's corrupt regime. Joining forces with a black prisoner, Simon, Barrett lays plans to escape.

When a ship carrying six murdered men drifts into a harbor, the daughter of one of the victims asks Dave to find the killer.

Barrett goes after a double-crossing gangster who is being pursued by the hoods he has victimized. Knowing that the mobsters he cheated are gunning for him, the criminal sets up his innocent brother to receive the bullets meant for him.