Guards with machine guns man rusty metal towers. And she launched drunken tirades at Tony after baseball games, no matter how well the all-star shortstop performed. ), The narcotics charge, however, still stands despite little evidence linking Galeota to the drugs. 2023 NYP Holdings, Inc. All Rights Reserved, Texas man busted in death of DJ galpal found stuffed in suitcase in Colombia, Inside the luxe lives of El Chapo's sons including jailbird Ovidio Guzmn Lpez, Arizona officials say Mexican cartels control US border: 'Ticking time bomb', Passengers on Aeromexico flight crouch in fear as plane caught in cartel crossfire: video. Again, the charges were dropped. Tony was a tough, muscular little shit back then. I hoped to walk away from the deal with $10 million.. It's not quite Shawshank Redemption, but when Tony Galeota walked out of a Panama City jail cell May 23, it was still a small serving of justice. Tarzan, got his first job in America as an enforcer for the Gambino crime family. When he heard that his old partner in crime from Porky's had moved to Panama, he flew in to meet with Galeota. "Then they'd tell me: 'They are as good as dead.'". By now, she knows of his many infidelities, including that he lived and slept with some of the girls at the Doll House. The two were married in 1994 at a wedding full of mobsters. The heavy-set Italian even signed a release. If he didnt give them the information, he was afraid that he would have gotten killed, and he was probably right., In the meantime, Yester may have been too in love with his eight-figure haul to really care and there was ultimately no retribution against his family. Panama's judicial system is outdated and overburdened, she says. 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. At the entrance to La Joya, ant hills and wasp nests surround a wooden sign. But when he opens a new club in Panama City, the competition isn't happy and frames him for drug dealing. and help keep the future of New Times, Use of this website constitutes acceptance of our, From Porky's to Panamanian Prison: Web Extra. Wrongly imprisoned. Its a lot of f- -king paper. McDonald expects those will be dismissed as well, but not for months. More detailed reports on the crimes weren't available. Instead, they eat rice for lunch and dinner, drink dirty river water, and use a hole in the ground for a toilet. La Joya is flush with contraband, from cell phones and cigarettes to marijuana and handguns all of it brought in with the complicity of corrupt guards. Galeota believes that his arrest has little to do with a renewed commitment to the law in Panama. It was coke or pimping or messing with the wrong people.. Greed got the better of him. Log In or Sign Up Tonia Galeota See Photos Antonio Galeota See Photos Tony Galeota See Photos Toni Galea See Photos Toni Colletto See Photos Toni Torres Galea Tony Galeota has a wife named Kristy Galeota, with whom he lives. Director Tiller Russell tells DailyMail.com that hed heard rumblings and rumors about the insane deal, but it was about seven years ago when he first got a concrete lead about Tarzan and his cronies. With little oversight, military leaders acted as if they were independent of the government. The trio convened in Russia, and snapshots of them aboard the football-field-size sub, posing with the captain, hamming it up with one another, were shown to cartel members to make clear that the submarine sale closed with all parties naked in a bathhouse was for real. A tattoo of an Italian Mafioso emerges from an extra-large sleeveless T-shirt. Bonnie also shoplifted booze to sustain her hard drinking habit. It wasn't until he ordered some Italian food and a cold Guinness that he finally felt like he was free. "That clean, business-friendly, postcard-Panama bullshit is just a faade," Galeota says. Galeota's imprisonment abroad marks the end of one of Miami's most outrageous eras, when Russian and Colombian cartels stocked strip clubs with cheap prostitutes and cheaper cocaine. In retrospect, when you tell the stories aloud, its like, Thats insane and you, Tiller, are an insane person for having done that. Its funny; I was just like, this is too good of a story to let go. It is not known when he was born or his current age. But in South Florida, he was once a strip club king. one of the kids shouted as he pulled a handkerchief over his face and wildly swung a revolver. Galeota is one of several Americans locked up here. This business has been very good to me.". You could not mislead him in any way or you could tell that the consequences could be serious, but I loved him. Now the stranger-than-fiction story is brought to life in new documentary Operation Odessa, a film thats closer to a roller-coaster ride than anything else and premieres on Showtime March 31. The two ran Porky's for another decade after Fainberg's deportation. More than anything, Galeota is grateful that his family kept faith in him. Moreover, trafficking prostitutes and drugs and involvement in organized crime are some serious charges.". Join the New Times community and help support It wasn't until he ordered some Italian food and a cold Guinness that he finally felt like he was free. It's not quite Shawshank Redemption, but when Tony Galeota walked out of a Panama City jail cell May 23, it was still a small serving of justice. The gig introduced him to a lifelong vice. On June 19, 2011, Tony and his oldest son, 15-year-old Anthony Jr., had just sat down to eat wings in the Doll House office around 11 p.m. when the gold-painted doors burst open. Filthy and crowded cell block of La Joya Prison, Panama. Apparently knowing all too well how things would shake out, Yester decided to screw his partners and take off for Amsterdam with the first $10 million. "They murdered a guy in here a couple of days ago," Tony Galeota says. Seidle was never charged with a crime. South Florida's independent I said, Thank you, Cali cartel. 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. Instead of celebrating, he walked through the scuzzy neighbourhood until he found a shabby motel. 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. By
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. Like a real-life godfather, Galeota weathered it all. ", Instead, he found another, tighter-knit family: the mob. This looks great. . In January 2017, Almeida got federally charged by the Drug Enforcement Administration with conspiracy to possess narcotics with intent to distribute. Create a free family tree for yourself or for Tony Galeota and we'll search for valuable new information for you. Bonnie also shoplifted booze to sustain her hard drinking habit. October 4, 2012 Upon seeing 10 thugs rush the vehicle and hijack it with the unsuspecting passenger in back, Yester realized that the remaining cash would not be forthcoming. 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. Become a member to support the independent voice of South Florida Log in or sign up for Facebook to connect with friends, family and people you know. But Tony had darker secrets. Running an underworld operation in Cocaine Cowboys-era Miami wasn't an easy gig. "I lived it up in Miami," he says. It was a Foxtrot-class submarine, or Project 641 as the Soviets called it. Were out there to cause an effect in the drug industry and I believe we made a little dent on it.. "The investigation was so poorly handled and rushed," says Otero, the journalist. Galeota was crammed into a sweltering holding cell with 150 others. Its Colombian dancers were in Panama on six-month tourist visas, weren't licensed as prostitutes, and weren't getting required weekly health checkups. She is cute and curvy with dark hair and a button nose. 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. When Seidle died in 2008, Porky's political protection followed the 82-year-old to the grave. "There was no transportation, no cops, no nothing," he says. But his mind was on another kind of riches. Access is free so discover Tony Galeota's story today. 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. The year before, his father helped him land a job as a wedding DJ. When he left to open a bona fide brothel in Panama, Galeota thought the country's lax prostitution laws would make him rich. Tony Gogetta. Join Facebook to connect with Anthony Galeota and others you may know. "No one can tell us how long he will be in there," she says. "Many times, I worried about him getting killed. Miami's underworld may still be seedy, but it has outsourced much of its shadiness to nearby Third-World countries such as Panama. 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. Kristy was able to pay a lawyer $500 to get her son released, but there was no bond for Galeota's drug offense. Galeota is one of several Americans locked up here. "My wife is never going to completely trust me. As Fainberg and a wealthy Cuban-American named Juan Almeida sat in the Federal Detention Center downtown, and newspapers across the country splashed the sensational story of the drug submarine scheme, Galeota focused on staying out of court. Indeed, Havana Club has already reopened. For a while, Panama's pay-to-play culture suited Galeota just fine. A year later, it was $115,000 per month.". These interdiction's were part of Operation Martillo, an international operation to fight illegal trafficking. "It is with tremendous heartfelt sadness to announce the passing of Michael James. Half an hour later, Galeota was guarding the door when a car rolled up with the window down. "He never forced us to do anything. If only there were a place where prostitution was legal, he thought, a city full of beautiful women like Miami, but no rules. When he discovered he was about to be subpoenaed, he withdrew $2,500 from the bank and boarded a two-week Caribbean cruise. The Coast Guard said each one of the kilos is worth $33,000. When he left to open a bona fide brothel in Panama, Galeota thought the country's lax prostitution laws would make him rich. Furious and Busted Rick Cedar steals radios to support his family. Of the $10 million, he said, I cannot f- -king believe it how fast I spend it..
When one inmate killed another, the dead man's gang on the outside murdered the inmate's entire family, Galeota says. She's forgiven me, for the most part. Log In. Almeida was a specialist in obtaining black-market goods for status-crazed drug dealers. Tony Galeto. Two days later, he was transferred to La Joya a hellish cinder-block complex an hour outside of Panama City. See Photos. 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. Even then, however, he couldn't sleep. Once they spotted the plane, they changed course which is suspicious for us, said Boatswains Mate 1st Class, Joshua McElhaney with the Coast Guard. I have to tell you, all my enemies are dead, and Im happy, he says in the documentary. With dark hair and pale, wide-set eyes, teenage Tony resembled a stocky Frank Sinatra. I got a piece of the action of every blowjob that my friends got," Galeota says. But Galeota's plan would soon go catastrophically wrong. "When you go to prison, it's like dying, but you get to see your own funeral," Galeota says. "Keep your fucking hands off the girl!" In hand-painted white lettering, it reads, "Dear visitors. Filmography (by Job) Trailers and Videos. 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.". "Now I'm living in hell.". Tony Galeota's age is expected to be 52. "My father wasn't in the mob, but his friends were," Tony says. Facilitating it. He was very serious and said he would look into it. We were approximately 24-hours on board before we got to a hidden compartment, said Castro.There was a hidden compartment and once we opened it we found all the contraband.. Over the years, Galeota saw nearly a dozen shootings at Porky's, some of them fatal. Galeota has seen several murders. We've received your submission. The domestic bliss lasted only a couple of weeks. He was 31. ", McDonald has succeeded, however, in chipping away at the case, persuading a judge three weeks ago to drop the trafficking charge on a technicality. "Miami is a place where I would love to live," he pronounced, "and where I would love to die." Controlling it. ), Right about the time my last film was coming out, he emailed me and said, I did a jailbreak from Panama, traveled to Costa Rica, on to Cuba and then got repatriated to Moscow Im ready to do the movie, Russell says. "It is with tremendous heartfelt sadness to announce the passing of Michael James Gal Galeota's sheer size and mob connections are the only things keeping him from getting shivved in the dark. Find your friends on Facebook. He was 31. Bonnie also shoplifted booze to sustain her hard drinking habit. ", Coast Guard Offloads More Than $93 Million In Cocaine, Miami Beach. But the hassle had taken its toll on him. He headed right to his beloved Miami, Florida. In the meantime, he's spending time with his wife and kids. Photo courtesy of Josh Weiss Surrounded by Colombian strippers, Galeota gives a toast during a party at the Doll House. "The worst part of being in here is being in here for nothing. A narc I know called me with a tip and he said, This is the craziest true-crime caper Ive ever come across in my life. We break down the best movies and series to watch in November in theaters and streaming. The Porky's party nearly came to a sudden end in early 1997. He needed some help," he recalls. For two decades, Galeota managed Porky's, a Hialeah dive notorious for drugs, prostitution, and violence, where he was part pimp, part bouncer, and completely untouchable. Kristy and his sons hid in a shabby, poorly protected office. Make a one-time donation today for as little as $1. Instead, he says competitors pulled government strings to screw him. Almeida, back in Moscow, trying to work out yet another deal and not realizing that this one had already soured, managed to temporarily elude arrest. But in South Florida, he was once a strip club king. "He had that guido effect on me," she says. Russian immigrant Ludwig Fainberg, a.k.a. "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. 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 "She would use shoe polish to change our driver's licenses so we could go to clubs and drink when we were 15. GALEOTA, Joseph A., Sr. Joseph A. Galeota Sr., 86, of Ashford CT, died on Wednesday (January 26, 2011) at Windham Hospital from congestive heart failure. S10 E10 - Miami Mobster Take Down Tony Galeota is framed for drug trafficking in Panama City. The smugglers boat was destroyed because it was a hazard to navigation. ", http://www.miaminewtimes.com/2012-10-04/news/tony-galeota-from-running-porky-s-miami-s-most-notorious-strip-joint-to-rotting-in-a-panamanian-jail/full/. And that's why drug traffickers are in the business - take something that starts off with a value of $5,000 and when you're done selling it at the retail level the value has skyrocketed. Become a member to support the independent voice of South Florida His father, Arnold, was a strait-laced sales manager but a distant and disapproving dad. 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. More at IMDbPro Contact Info: View agent, publicist, legal on IMDbPro. While Galeota avoided testifying, Fainberg faced 30 counts including racketeering and conspiracy to traffic cocaine and heroin. A judge eventually dropped the human trafficking charge, but Galeota still rotted in his sordid cell alongside insects the size of small dogs. We have a lot of laughs about it now," he says. On Friday, May 17, Galeota got word that the judge had also dismissed the drug charge because of lack of evidence. With dark hair and pale, wide-set eyes, teenage Tony resembled a stocky Frank Sinatra. 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. source of local news and culture, Michael E. Miller Tony Kaleta. He was talking to Fainberg about a murder he'd witnessed in Porky's parking lot. Panama became Galeota's personal paradise. Although he admits that "running around whoring and casinoing wasn't worth it," he can't promise to be faithful to the woman who has stood beside him. During the Doll House raid, they found marked bills in the register and several grams of pot on a promoter. Then they pushed play on a cassette deck. But he was too shell-shocked to take up his attorney's offer for a ride to a nice hotel. He might have sold them the submarine, taken the money and walked away with the money.. 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. Galeota was hit with felony drug and prostitution charges. On Friday, May 17, Galeota got word that the judge had also dismissed the drug charge because of lack of evidence. His mother, Bonnie Gellilti, was "a bit of a criminal," Tony remembers. Rats, roaches, and beetles the size of Chihuahuas crawl over inmates at night. He was soon promoted from DJing weddings to robbing delivery trucks for the Paccione clan (which federal court records tie to the infamous Gambino crime family). "She would use shoe polish to change our driver's licenses so we could go to clubs and drink when we were 15. He was a loan shark: generously offering money but punishing those who didn't pay back. And, above all, selling it. Tarzan and one of his partners, 'Fat Tony' Galeota, had opened a strip club in Panama similar to a previous enterprise in Miami called Porky's - but they landed behind bars in Central America.. Russell did as he was told and flew to the appointed city in Africa; as soon as he walked into his hotel room, the phone rang and he was instructed to be downstairs in five minutes, where Tony whisked him off in a Porsche Cayenne and they spent several surreal days together; Tony showed the director his Russian fighter jet, which had $5million in the cockpit as the fugitives getaway plan, and told his part of the story. With Fainberg locked up, Porky's was Galeota's plaything. They were concerned that Tarzan and his arriviste colleagues in crime would merge with Cuban mobsters who already used brutal, bloody force to rule Miamis underworld and create a sort of supergroup of criminality. "Now I'm living in hell.". Anthony Jr. was taken to a juvenile detention center that wasn't much better. A tattoo of an Italian Mafioso emerges from an extra-large sleeveless T-shirt. As far as he was concerned, he owned the military base. But the story of how the documentary got made is nearly as crazy as the caper plot itself. Galeota yelled. "I brought in music and women," Galeota says. Like a concert pianist, Tony Galeota has spent his life honing a single skill since he was a teenager. The American says he's giving up the strip club and brothel businesses. S10 E10 Miami Mobster Take Down. Rising swiftly through the ranks, John buries his conscience to become a notorious Mafia hitman. I know its gonna be a strange question. Ludwig Fainberg a Russian-speaking Ukrainian nicknamed "Tarzan" for his flowing locks had opened it a few months earlier but ran it like a private club for Eastern Europeans. Facebook gives people the power. Unfortunately, Galeota's defense isn't as simple as quoting strippers, says his lawyer, Guillermina McDonald. But it was abundantly clear that the key figure in the deal was Yester and his story would be particularly illuminating though the CIA, DEA and FBI had been after him, without success, for more than two decades. When his younger brother was molested, he beat the suspected perpetrator to a pulp. The gig introduced him to a lifelong vice. Through the air plane window, Tony Galeota could see the city's colonial churches glow like polished gold. Tony Galeota lived in 1954, at address, Massachusetts.
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