In "Law and Order," convicted serial arsonist Jeffrey "Matches" Boyle would have served at least half of his 6-year prison sentence.

Instead, he served only a year and 9 months, after pleading guilty to setting eight fires, including one of a house in the suburbs and a Catholic school on the North Side. And now he's out.

Before his arrest -- which was front-page news back in 2005 -- Boyle wasn't just your average serial arsonist. He was a special serial arsonist:

Chicago Fire Department Lt. Jeffrey Boyle.

He also was political, receiving a worse than mediocre score on the lieutenant's exam, yet magically jumped over 200 candidates with higher scores to get a "meritorious" promotion at City Hall.

The "Matches" part came later. His little brother has a nickname too. Surely my loyal readers haven't forgotten the legendary John "Quarters" Boyle, a leader in the Coalition for Better Government, a political patronage army of tough guys and felons on the city payroll getting out the vote for Mayor Richard Daley and Gov. Rod "The Unreformer" Blagojevich.

"Quarters" Boyle is a twice-convicted felon who stole millions in quarters from the state tollway, came out of prison and got a city job, and was protected by the mayor when I started writing about him, until "Quarters" got caught taking more than $200,000 in bribes in the scandal-plagued Hired Truck program. "Quarters" went to federal prison on the bribe charge and kept his mouth shut. How do they reward such silent loyalty?

"Matches" Boyle reportedly set the fires because he was drinking a lot and was distraught over his love life, his gambling and his brother's legal problems. I don't know how torching things makes your love life better, but I'm not a judge.

"Arson is a terrible crime," said Cook County Judge Dennis Porter, in one of the lectures "Matches" Boyle received during his March 2006 sentencing. "And there is a considerable amount of punishment in the court's sentence."

Porter handed down a 6-year term out of a possible 7 years -- a sentence that matched an earlier and more disappointing term. Because "Matches" Boyle tried to set fire to a home in Park Ridge -- the home of a family he was arguing with -- he had faced a more severe sentence in the courtroom of Cook County Judge Garritt Howard, a sentence up to 15 years.

On Thursday, I spoke to the now-retired prosecutor, Richard Lovell, who asked for the 15-year sentence.

"Here is a guy, Boyle, who is supposed to be out protecting people, a fire lieutenant. He's setting fire to a school building. ... And to a home with a family -- people were in the house but the fire didn't take. I asked for 15 years. That's the argument I made."

But Howard sentenced "Matches" Boyle to a paltry 6 years.

How did "Matches" Boyle get out so early?

"Your guess is as good as mine," said Lovell, who spent 40 years in law enforcement, first as a cop, then a prosecutor.

Rather than guess, we called the Illinois Department of Corrections. Officials said that Jeffrey Boyle's sentence was reduced because he was a model prisoner who took classes to improve himself. His lawyer -- James Tunick, who probably deserves much credit for good lawyering -- outlined the reduction.

"He received one day off for every day served. And there were nine months taken off for the successful completion of a drug program, and he's still involved with the program," Tunick said. "This reduction has nothing to do with any influence, patronage, whatsoever. His brother had nothing to do with this situation."

Perhaps.

By brother he means "Quarters," a fascinating fellow with fascinating connections, like the one reaching into Chinatown, playland of Outfit bookie and juice loan collector Nick "The Stick" LoCoco.

Like "Matches" and "Quarters," LoCoco also lived a charmed life, working for the city, getting shot in the head by a fellow city worker angry about being leaned on for money, surviving, not pressing charges, your usual stuff. Then Nick and "Quarters" got indicted in the Hired Truck scam.

Nick, a bookie and avid horseman, decided to go for a horseback ride on a bridle trail in Will County. It was Sunday afternoon, during the NFL season, a busy time for bookies. But in November 2004, Nick decided he had to go for that horse ride, football or no football. Something happened, an accident, he hit his head and later died.

Before he died, "Quarters" visited him in the hospital. "Matches" and "Quarters" and the Stick family reportedly owned property together, and now that "Matches" is out, he'll likely seek help from his friends.

Officials say there's nothing remarkable about all this. Lawyers and judges will point to reductions and classes and credits. The way they explain their math, 6 years equals less than 2. But it sure feels strange that an admitted serial arsonist, a fire lieutenant with clout, is sentenced to 6 years and serves only a year and 9 months.

It's not Hollywood's "Law and Order." It's "Law and Order: The Chicago Way."

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jskass@tribune.com