Galeota is one of several Americans locked up here. October 4, 2012 He turned himself in a few days later, but the lounge's owner decided to close the cursed club. It was a Foxtrot-class submarine, or Project 641 as the Soviets called it. "Thank God I'm out," he tells New Times in his first interview since his release. Controlling it. MIAMI BEACH (CBSMiami) The Coast Guard offloaded about $93 million of cocaine Thursday afternoon on Miami Beach. Fainberg allegedly told undercover cops he had sent coke to Russia in a shipment of frozen shrimp and had bought six $1 million Russian military helicopters for the South Americans. When his younger brother was molested, he beat the suspected perpetrator to a pulp. View Tony Galeota's 1940 US census record to find family members, occupation details & more. Biography. 16:56 GMT 13 Mar 2018 Instead, Galeota admits he's done bad things, such as running Miami's most infamous strip club, Porky's, for years before moving to Panama and opening a brothel. More than anything, Galeota is grateful that his family kept faith in him. See Photos. "But she's never going to forget. But when Galeota was arrested June 19, 2011, and charged with trafficking drugs and women, he was just as innocent as Stephen King's saintly inmate. "He had that guido effect on me," she says. "She would use shoe polish to change our driver's licenses so we could go to clubs and drink when we were 15. Instead, he's trapped in a labyrinthine legal system, alone and unable to speak Spanish. See also: "From Porky's to Panamanian Prison: Web Extra.". In the distance, La Cordillera de San Blas cuts through the Panamanian jungle like a serrated knife. I never got a straight answer [about why he was in jail there], says Russell. But killings are common in Panama's worst prison, where the smell of raw sewage wafts over the yard, metal shackles hang from mouldy staircases, and overcrowded cells house nearly 3,500 of the Western Hemisphere's vilest murderers, rapists, and drug traffickers. He and Fainberg were on their way to riches thanks to powerful friends and legalized prostitution. People named Tony Galeta. Years later, Tarzan again found himself behind bars, this time in Panama; in fact, he was serving time in 2011 when Russell first approached him for the documentary. And so it was extraordinary, where sort of person after person was this larger-than-life character, from Fat Tony the bartender to Tony Yester the spy-turned-dope-dealer-turned-fugitive. Instead, he's trapped in a labyrinthine legal system, alone and unable to speak Spanish. Now the locals want to get rid of guys like Galeota too, as his case has drawn national attention to corruption and human rights abuses. "Many times, I worried about him getting killed. During a visit last month, a New Times reporter witnessed one police official receive a $20 bill in a barely disguised handshake. Michael Galeota, who starred on the Disney Channel's "The Jersey" died Sunday, according to Variety. But his mind was on another kind of riches. But he insists that, for once, he has done nothing wrong. The FBI swooped in January 21, surrounding the club and arresting Fainberg. Luckier still, a powerful Colombian inmate named Mauricio Ramrez recognized Galeota from his restaurant. But the Doll House and Moulin Rouge remain closed. Marshals deported Ludwig Fainberg from Miami. Police again surrounded Porky's in the early hours of May 9, 2009. Locked Up Abroad 151M subscribers Miami mobster Tony Galeota is a strip-club supremo. Miami mobster Tony Galeota is locked up in Panama after being framed for drug dealing and human trafficking. "The worst part of being in here is being in here for nothing. Everybody wanted to make money. Sheila Flynn For Dailymail.com By the mid-'90s, Galeota had turned Porky's into a one-stop shop for strippers, sex, and serious drugs. People named Tony Galeota Find your friends on Facebook Log in or sign up for Facebook to connect with friends, family and people you know. Sixteen months later, the two men have yet to appear in court. Shea fatally blasted bouncer Richard Jimenez in the face and then opened fire on the dancers, shooting one in the chest and another in the head. "This country is corrupt. Advertisement. Galeota says the police had already gotten what they wanted: Porky's demise. "Their connections were bigger than ours," he says. We have a lot of laughs about it now," he says. And like the Italian-American crooner, he loved women a little too much. Facilitating it. As for Yester taking a flier with the cartel money, Tarzan says he would have done the same himself if he could have and expresses no hard feelings. "I lived it up in Miami," he says. "Like me, he was a black sheep who could do nothing right.". Almeida was a specialist in obtaining black-market goods for status-crazed drug dealers. and help keep the future of New Times, Use of this website constitutes acceptance of our, running Miami's most infamous strip club, Porky's, Tony Galeota: From Running Porky's, Miami's Most Notorious Strip Joint, to Rotting in a Panamanian Jail, Sex and Drugs in the Champagne Room: The Truth About Porky's and Other Miami Strip Clubs. A man deeply embedded with Escobar's Medelln cartel, Tony had a notorious reputation as "a really bad guy"he was once caught with 41 passports, and featured on his own 1999 episode of America's. He is currently being held in Italy. Galeota jumped at the deal. she scoffs. While out of sight, he phoned his guy and lied about being in a particular taxi cab. He might have sold them the submarine, taken the money and walked away with the money.. As chronicled in the new Showtime documentary Operation Odessa, the trio of cutthroat outlaws collaborated in 1996 to procure the ultimate weapon for Colombias money-minting Cali cocaine cartel: a military submarine. When traffickers balked at the price, Yester reminded them that it could hold 40 tons of cocaine and would pay for itself quickly. When he left to open a bona fide brothel in Panama, Galeota thought the country's lax prostitution laws would make him rich. Even though Yester may have suspected that the cartel was after him, he couldnt help but try to get his hands on the remaining $25 million. Both Juan and Tarzan shared with Russell how they had graduated from buying helicopters, motorcycles and cars for the cartel from Russia to pursuing a submarine for the drugrunners. I had kind of, little by little, put the word out to everybody among the cops, all the law enforcement side as well as among the crooks and said, Gotta meet Tony, gotta meet Tony, gotta meet Tony knowing that he was the only guy who really knew what happened. And so with like five days prep I jumped on a plane, went to Miami, started courting the cops and the feds and the US attorneys and all the good guys, the law enforcement side of it their participation was instrumental in it, because theyre the ones that have all the evidentiary record and all the surveillance video and the photos and the wiretaps and all that stuff, most of which is the sort of visual skeleton to the film. "Miami is a place where I would love to live," he pronounced, "and where I would love to die." Galeota also found himself in the back of an unmarked FBI car. One man stabbed someone over a $10 debt. Tarzan, got his first job in America as an enforcer for the Gambino crime family. Panama became Galeota's personal paradise. But Tony had darker secrets. The last one locked the door. The gig introduced him to a lifelong vice. "He never forced us to do anything. "I wouldn't leave a dog in that prison, let alone my husband.". So the translator said she couldn't take a shower, didn't show up, and the case was delayed. Michael Galeota, who starred on the Disney Channel's "The Jersey" died Sunday, according to Variety. The Coast Guard said each one of the kilos is worth $33,000. Two agents told him that they'd been tapping his phone for months. The offload is a result of two successful drug interdictions in the Caribbean since August 23. Prostitution is legal in Panama," he complains. A tattoo of an Italian Mafioso emerges from an extra-large sleeveless T-shirt. Three weeks after the Doll House raid, Kristy was working the bar at Bongos when three teenagers walked into the restaurant. Over the course of three months, undercover detectives made dozens of visits, tallying up a vivid snapshot of the club: "15 purchases of cocaine, four purchases of MDMA, one purchase of Xanax, one purchase of marijuana, 18 solicitations for prostitution, [and] 20 lewd acts.". In January 1997, after he dropped his daughter off at school, Tarzan was arrested and hit with a 30-count federal indictment. And, above all, selling it. When crews were launched to investigate, the suspected smugglers threw several packages into the water. He bought seven properties pretty much sight unseen.". Tony Galeta. independent local journalism in Miami. "My wife is never going to completely trust me. Prosecutors accused him of providing prostitutes for his Russian friends, trafficking drugs, selling stolen cigarettes and liquor, and setting up arms deals for Russian and Colombian cocaine smugglers. But he insists that, for once, he has done nothing wrong. It wasn't until he ordered some Italian food and a cold Guinness that he finally felt like he was free. "Keep your fucking hands off the girl!" Between an undercover agent, a tap on Tarzans cellphone and the wiring of Babushka, federal law enforcement agencies had enough information to shut down the sale. And twice they had given up. Join the New Times community and help support He decked out the Doll House with five upstairs rooms equipped with king-size beds, mirrors, lube, condoms, and showers, and brought in dozens of Colombian women, who could earn $120 split with the club for an hour of sex. S10 E10 Miami Mobster Take Down. Once they spotted the plane, they changed course which is suspicious for us, said Boatswains Mate 1st Class, Joshua McElhaney with the Coast Guard. In an instant, Galeota's meaty hand was around the customer's neck, shoving him outside. It was apparent they had what appeared to be narcotics and after we did the test they had bales on board of pure cocaine, said Boatswains Mate Omar Castro with the U.S. Coast Guard. Get started U.S. Yearbooks Name Index, 1890-1979. "That clean, business-friendly, postcard-Panama bullshit is just a faade," Galeota says. In the distance, La Cordillera de San Blas cuts through the Panamanian jungle like a serrated knife. And I'm not asking her to.". Like a real-life godfather, Galeota weathered it all. His attorney has warned him that prosecutors will likely appeal, so he plans to stay in Panama until his case is resolved. And then Russell got a text message out of the blue. Anywhere other than La Joya, this news would be shocking. He ogled the women standing on corners in their underwear and high heels. It was February 2011, and he was preparing to open the Doll House, his own strip club in Panama. Yester, a highly regarded affiliate of multiple cocaine cartels, opened European markets for Colombian narco-terrorist Pablo Escobar and went on the run in 1990 after being charged with cocaine trafficking. He was very serious and said he would look into it. In January 2017, Almeida got federally charged by the Drug Enforcement Administration with conspiracy to possess narcotics with intent to distribute. Days go by without water, and when it does arrive, it's turbid sludge from a nearby river. "I couldn't take all the people who wanted to come.". Rats, roaches, and beetles the size of Chihuahuas crawl over inmates at night. "We went there and we couldn't believe what we saw," says Josh Weiss, a former DJ at Porky's and one of Galeota's closest friends. Prostitutes were everywhere at the weddings, and when Tony asked another employee where they came from, the older kid took him to Manhattan's infamous West End. "This case has had a big impact here," says Jos Otero, a reporter for Panamanian newspaper La Prensa. "We were doing fantastic, but Tarzan got bored and started living the life," Galeota explains. His mother, Bonnie Gellilti, was "a bit of a. Kristy caught Tony cheating several times, she says. Making the documentary, he says: I found the story so compelling and so riveting that I was just relentlessly magnetized to it. "No one can tell us how long he will be in there," she says. He and Kristy struck up an unlikely romance. Awards. "My wife could have left me. But the men kept in touch as Russell pursued other projects, with Tarzan sending random messages such as Christmas greetings until he finally sent the email the filmmaker had been awaiting (although he couldnt have guessed the other crazy details in the communication. And she launched drunken tirades at Tony after baseball games, no matter how well the all-star shortstop performed. Theyre nice guys [the cartel members], and I didnt ask what they needed the submarine for, Tarzan tells The Post, speaking on a crackling phone connection from Russia. While Galeota avoided testifying, Fainberg faced 30 counts including racketeering and conspiracy to traffic cocaine and heroin. Between the restaurant and the Doll House, he was making enough to retire in five years. Dancers with names like Baby Doll, Tipsie, Trixie, and Crme offered to have sex with the cops for as little as $150, court records show. "Whenever there is an American businessman involved in crime here in Panama, it becomes an important case. While on routine patrol, a U.S. Customs and Border Protection plane spotted a suspicious speed boat. CAKEGATE 2023: Bad Bunny's Restaurant Accused of Gobbling Birthday Girl's Cake, Neighborhood Nazi Jon Minadeo Peddles Hate by the Minute, Gator Gets in on the Action at Tampa Bay Horse Race, Sen. Rubio's Permanent Daylight Savings Bill Sees Light of Day Once More, NFL Legend Ray Lewis Joins World Jai-Alai League Board of Directors, Affordable New "Micro-Units" Slated for Little River, Edgewater. "These guys were into just about everything," Assistant U.S. Attorney Diana Fernandez said at the time. This time, I'm innocent.". document.getElementById( "ak_js_1" ).setAttribute( "value", ( new Date() ).getTime() ); Thanks for contacting us. source of local news and culture, Michael E. Miller He faced nine years in prison, but because he provided evidence against Almeida, he served just three years before being deported to his adopted homeland of Israel. In hand-painted white lettering, it reads, "Dear visitors. Galeota examines a bruise from a prison fight in La Joya. Instead of celebrating, he walked through the scuzzy neighbourhood until he found a shabby motel. Galeota's enemies say that a life of sin has finally caught up with the flesh-peddler. His school friends didn't believe him, so a few days later he sneaked out, stole his mom's minivan, and drove around the neighborhood loading up with other teens. "I've done a lot of shady things in the States," he admits. Then she'd charge my friends $50 each," he says. The charismatic teenager sold the stolen suits or electronics at strip clubs or used-car lots. People named Tony Goleta. Tarzan and one of his partners, Fat Tony Galeota, had opened a strip club in Panama similar to a previous enterprise in Miami called Porkys but they landed behind bars in Central America. It continued at another local strip club, called Quarterbacks Playmates Lounge. Galeota's sheer size and mob connections are the only things keeping him from getting shivved in the dark. His Doll House dream began at Porky's. They are willing to assume the massive risk of getting caught and going to prison for decades, because if they make just one big score they're millionaires. The Doll House couldn't expand fast enough to meet the influx of sex tourists. Here, Galeota is just one of 500 prisoners crammed into a filthy cell block designed to hold 200 people. His mother, Bonnie Gellilti, was "a bit of a criminal," Tony remembers. Thats why you have to do this kind of story as non-fiction., The initial meeting with Tarzan, however, was hampered by the fact that the Russian mob got wind of Russells visit, he says, and they threatened Tarzans life inside the jail if he shared his full story. Prosecutors charged Galeota and Fainberg with not only drug dealing but also human trafficking. His nightmare began in June of 2011, when police raided his Panama City strip club and arrested him and his Ukrainian partner for trafficking women and selling drugs. And theyre like, F*** yeah, lets do it. A large Russian man called Tarzan sits in an armchair against the backdrop of a cracked and stained wall, a pack of cigarettes, lighter and an ash tray on a table to his left, and he shrugs as he talks about a deal he tried to broker more than 20 years ago. The 43-year-old is shaped like a mini refrigerator: short and squat, with a shaved head and wide-set emerald eyes. Log In or Sign Up Tony Galeota See Photos Anthony Galeota See Photos Tony Kalata See Photos Tony Galeote See Photos Tony Galea See Photos Tony Galeto See Photos Tony Gullette See Photos Tony Gulotta See Photos Sheila Flynn For Dailymail.com, Smashing the Sinaloa cartel: Major coup for DEA as agents seize $6MILLION cash, hundreds of pounds of narcotics and indict 75 across America for 'laundering drug money for El Chapo's gang', Is this proof that British aristocrat did NOT smuggle drugs into Africa? "It is with tremendous heartfelt sadness to announce the passing of Michael James Galeota," Jan. 10, reads a statement on a Go Fund Me page, created by Galeota's family to raise money for his burial. Through the air plane window, Tony Galeota could see the city's colonial churches glow like polished gold. They finally fled the country this past July, leaving Tony alone. Controlling it. But Galeota's plan would soon go catastrophically wrong. They tried to squeeze Fainberg to get Seidle. Back in South Florida, Kristy Galeota vacillates between outrage and empathy for her husband. "They would describe what they looked like," Galeota says. Join the New Times community and help support A sign on the latter reads, "District Attorney for Drugs: Do Not Enter." "Running a club in that neighborhood, win or lose, you've got to fight.". Two days later, he was transferred to La Joya a hellish cinder-block complex an hour outside of Panama City. Greed got the better of him. He was a big, big fish.". Inside La Joya, he had paid a guard to smuggle in a BlackBerry to talk to his wife, but strangers kept calling with threats to kill his kids unless he paid them. It is not known when he was born or his current age. Episode 5: Spain /Sold My Soul I definitely want his number and so I began chasing it from there and actually jumped on a plane, went down and smuggled myself into this Panamanian prison to meet with him.. Tony Galeota. Police repeatedly raided the club, yet Galeota escaped unscathed every time. I flew to a little island near St. Petersburg, met with a retired Russian admiral, and he took me to the navy base, says Tarzan. Tony Galletta. The drugs will be turned over to the DEA. Im gonna see them in f***ing hell when I arrive there., Russell says the fugitive is probably one of the most fascinating human beings Ive ever been in a room with., He adds: Theres five other films you couldve made about his life and life experiences, and yet he was charming and cultured and funny and also, then, on a dime deadly serious, not somebody that you trifle with. Explore More. "I've been in this business my whole life. Also read: Tony Galeota: From Running. Within weeks of its April 2011 opening, the club was raking in $6,000 on good nights. "I want to go legit when I get out, but if the economy is bad, I might go back to the industry," he says. June 4, 2013 It was a weeknight, and Porky's was washed in pale-pink neon light. He created a souped-up cigarette boat that went for $2 million and was presumably used to transport cocaine. Like a concert pianist, Tony Galeota has spent his life honing a single skill since he was a teenager. The 43-year-old is shaped like a mini refrigerator: short and squat, with a shaved head and wide-set emerald eyes. ", After bribing half the guards at La Joya, Galeota was taken to an immigration holding center in Panama City where he and four codefendants were kept for four more days. The Dolls House, Via Espaia Road, Panama City, Panam, "They murdered a guy in here a couple of days ago" Tony Galeota, Tony Galeota: From Running Porky's, Miami's Most Notorious Strip Joint, to Rotting in a Panamanian Jail. If anything, Galeota's life got even more out of control after Fainberg's arrest. Russian immigrant Ludwig Fainberg, a.k.a. People named Toni Galeota Find your friends on Facebook Log in or sign up for Facebook to connect with friends, family and people you know. The heavy-set Italian even signed a release. The eight crew members aboard the Hope II and the vessel were taken into custody and will be turned over to U.S. officials for further investigation. With Fainberg locked up, Porky's was Galeota's plaything. Follow this journalist on Twitter @MikeMillerMiami. "My wife could have left me. But then the country's corrupt system turned on them. But the hassle had taken its toll on him. Bonnie also shoplifted booze to sustain her hard drinking habit.
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