He was the one whod been speaking directly to the cartel; he was the only one who knew the real amount of money Cali were willing to pay; and he was the one who took the risk and disappeared with millions of the cartels drug money. local news and culture, Michael E. Miller Also read: Tony Galeota: From Running. Episode 5: Spain /Sold My Soul And like the Italian-American crooner, he loved women a little too much. Kristy and his sons hid in a shabby, poorly protected office. Kristy caught Tony cheating several times, she says. Its a great satisfaction after being two months deployed and everybodys tired but you come home with a case like this its very satisfying, said Castro. But he insists that, for once, he has done nothing wrong. We did outsmart the FBI, we did outsmart the DEA, we even did outsmart the court, Tarzan says in the film. "It is with tremendous heartfelt sadness to announce the passing of Michael James Gal The message was that the cocaine traffickers would kill Yesters family members. 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. But killings are common in Panama's worst prison, where the smell of raw sewage wafts over the yard, metal shackles hang from moldy staircases, and overcrowded cells house nearly 3,500 of the Western Hemisphere's vilest murderers, rapists, and drug traffickers. In the meantime, he's spending time with his wife and kids. Get the latest updates in news, food, music and culture, and receive special offers direct to your inbox. The drugs will be turned over to the DEA. See Photos. Between the restaurant and the Doll House, he was making enough to retire in five years. There is no rehabilitation here," he says. When his younger brother was molested, he beat the suspected perpetrator to a pulp. In this real life Goodfellas tale, New York teen John Alite gets a job at his local Deli, a hangout for 'wise guys'. Galeota saw an opportunity. A bartender characterized Porkys as the kind of place where you could get killed. Babushka was so notorious that FBI agents who described Tarzan as a matre d for criminals bugged the booths there. He sold the shop and in 2010 opened Bongos, a restaurant serving wings and beer. Tony Kaleta. A judge eventually dropped the human trafficking charge, but Galeota still rotted in his sordid cell alongside insects the size of small dogs. He bought seven properties pretty much sight unseen.". As Yester laid low with the cash, cartel liaisons in the United States, aware that they had been burned, pressured Almeida to show them where Yesters relatives lived in and around Miami. 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. TV-14 | 06.05.2013. "It was puppy love," he says. The heavy-set Italian even signed a release. Again, Tony's friends in New York told him where to go. Update information for Tony Galeota . Russian immigrant Ludwig Fainberg, a.k.a. More at IMDbPro Contact Info: View agent, publicist, legal on IMDbPro. Tony Galeota's age is expected to be 52. For a while, Panama's pay-to-play culture suited Galeota just fine. When Seidle died in 2008, Porky's political protection followed the 82-year-old to the grave. "That's obstruction of justice.". "That's the goal," is all he'll offer. (A New York Police Department spokesman says records from that far back aren't available.) 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. Tony Galeota lived in 1954, at address, Massachusetts. Again, the charges were dropped. 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. See Photos. "But I've always paid for everything, either with stitches in my head, concussions, or jail time. "I want to go legit when I get out, but if the economy is bad, I might go back to the industry," he says. His mother, Bonnie Gellilti, was "a bit of a criminal," Tony remembers. 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. Tony Galeota's shaved head fairly glows with nostalgia as he remembers the days when you might have strolled into his Hialeah bar in search of commercial sex, or maybe to get beaten up or swindled . When Galeota arrived in Miami in the summer of 1991, the city was awash in coke, crack, and drug cash. The entire situation sounds like something dreamed up for a Miami Vice-inspired action thriller, but it actually happened in the 1990s and the trio came very close to pulling it off before one of them pocketed the cartels millions and went on the run. Santiago de Cali shone in the syrupy South American sunlight filling Colombia's Cauca River Valley. 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. "These guys were into just about everything," Assistant U.S. Attorney Diana Fernandez said at the time. See also: "From Porky's to Panamanian Prison: Web Extra.". Tony and Kristy were shocked and out of a job. By then, the club's criminal clientele and Fainberg's increasingly lavish lifestyle had raised eyebrows. I hoped to walk away from the deal with $10 million.. 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. It was coke or pimping or messing with the wrong people.. 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. Photo courtesy of Josh Weiss Surrounded by Colombian strippers, Galeota gives a toast during a party at the Doll House. But in South Florida, he was once a strip club king. But Galeota's problems aren't completely behind him. With little oversight, military leaders acted as if they were independent of the government. "This case has had a big impact here," says Jos Otero, a reporter for Panamanian newspaper La Prensa. A tattoo of an Italian Mafioso emerges from an extra-large sleeveless T-shirt. Tony Galeota has a wife named Kristy Galeota, with whom he lives. Because of his age, he escaped with six months' probation. Juan, Tarzan and law enforcement insisted there was no way hed agree to participate in the documentary. But Fainberg wasn't in town to catch up. Photo Gallery. Docs need stars just like features need stars. Become a member to support the independent voice of South Florida But Galeota's problems aren't completely behind him. "Bill was one of the most influential people in Miami," Galeota says. Join Facebook to connect with Anthony Galeota and others you may know. We have a lot of laughs about it now," he says. Eventually, however, he made his way to Tarzan. Tarzan was released from the Panamanian prison in around 2016 and has since built a side career out of playing tough guys in gangster flicks shot in Russia, where he now lives. Reborn behind bars. Even then, however, he couldn't sleep. With dark hair and pale, wide-set eyes, teenage Tony resembled a stocky Frank Sinatra. With Fainberg locked up, Porky's was Galeota's plaything. ", McDonald has succeeded, however, in chipping away at the case, persuading a judge three weeks ago to drop the trafficking charge on a technicality. His nightmare began in June , when police raided his Panama City strip club and arrested him and his Ukrainian partner for trafficking women and selling drugs. A deep bass line rattled customers' chests as they downed overpriced drinks. It was a lot of kind of romancing them and explaining to them, hey, this is your chance to tell your story on kind of a broad canvas. Research > Galeota > Tony Galeota. "I'm in survival mode now," Galeota says, adding that he agonizes over being imprisoned for what he believes are unjust charges. Photo courtesy of Josh Weiss A prisoner poses with a gun smuggled into La Joya with help from guards. Galeota's enemies say that a life of sin has finally caught up with the flesh-peddler. Then my friend got back to me a couple days later and said there was just one question: Do you want a sub with missiles or without? , For all their camaraderie, though, the criminals opinions of one another were mixed. See Photos. "You see who wants to fuck your wife, who wants to rob you, and who your real friends are.". 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. The two were married in 1994 at a wedding full of mobsters. State and local police launched an investigation in February 2009. I never got a straight answer [about why he was in jail there], says Russell. 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. But Monday morning, when it came time to walk out of La Joya, there was no vehicle waiting. It was like this super weird, incredibly sketchy circumstance that we came together in, Russell tells DailyMail.com of his visit to the Mad Max-like prison where at night they lock the gates. It could be worse. independent local journalism in Miami. Michael Galeota, who starred on the Disney Channel's "The Jersey" died Sunday, according to Variety. But Porky's was just a Hialeah dive bar on the corner of SE 14th Street and Ninth Avenue, surrounded by cheap motels and buzzed by flights taking off from Miami International Airport. 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. The year before, his father helped him land a job as a wedding DJ. Reborn behind bars. Tony Galeto. If only there were a place where prostitution was legal, he thought, a city full of beautiful women like Miami, but no rules. Behind him, 12-foot-high fences topped with spools of barbed wire frame a muddy soccer field. And twice they had given up. local news and culture, Michael E. Miller As Shea tried to pull the panties off one of the dancers, he heard police sirens in the distance and bolted. And there was absolutely no bullshit. 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. 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. Anthony Galeota was born October 17, 1968, on Long Island. Instead, he's trapped in a labyrinthine legal system, alone and unable to speak Spanish. He also owned the Russian restaurant Babushka, which was a magnet for snowbirding criminals from his homeland. But his mind was on another kind of riches. The last one locked the door. That didnt stop Russell from trying to get them on board with doing a film about the submarine deal. "The investigation was so poorly handled and rushed," says Otero, the journalist. "Luis pulled out a .38 and shot the guy in the chest. Ten million dollars really feels like 10 million dollars, he gushes in the movie. Find your friends on Facebook. But Tarzan a seasoned wheeler-dealer, strip club owner and former mob enforcer took it in his stride and went back to his partners with the response. Two days later, he was transferred to La Joya a hellish cinder-block complex an hour outside of Panama City. "They shot him in the middle of the night," Galeota continues quietly, "and buried his body behind the pavilion.". 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. "But I did it for my child.". It continued at another local strip club, called Quarterbacks Playmates Lounge. She is cute and curvy with dark hair and a button nose. The smugglers boat was destroyed because it was a hazard to navigation. He called me in two days and he asked me, do we want the submarine with missiles or without missiles? says Tarzan. He might have sold them the submarine, taken the money and walked away with the money.. Sixteen months later, the two men have yet to appear in court. At night, the guards lock the gate and leave, turning over control of each cell block to prisoners. "We treated the women well.". 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. People named Tony Galeta. 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. The bartender hid in the bathroom and dialed 911. 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. 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. 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. This story has been shared 173,716 times. Panama had gone from paradise to purgatory. Is this possible, to buy a military submarine - used one? And he said, What a question! Tarzan, Almeida and Yester had previously teamed on multimillion-dollar deals for Colombian cocaine barons, snagging motorcycles and Kamov 32 military helicopters (with two rotors and capable of transporting 5,000 kilos of cocaine via hook). Facilitating it. 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. Galeota is no angelic Andy Dufresne, the main character in Shawshank who serves two decades behind bars for a crime he didn't commit. Get started U.S. Yearbooks Name Index, 1890-1979. , updated "That's the problem.". Become a member to support the independent voice of South Florida Panamanian police had been casing the Doll House, Moulin Rouge, and another joint, called Havana Club, for weeks. "They shot him in the middle of the night," Galeota continues quietly, "and buried his body behind the pavilion.". Inmates are fed bread and cheese for breakfast and rice (sometimes beans) for lunch and dinner. When he left to open a bona fide brothel in Panama, Galeota thought the country's lax prostitution laws would make him rich. "When you go to prison, it's like dying, but you get to see your own funeral," Galeota says. We travelled all the time. 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. Prostitution in Miami had become too risky, he decided, but overseas sex tourism was soaring. Kristy was a self-described "firecracker" who had also escaped from an abusive home and wanted attention. Were out there to cause an effect in the drug industry and I believe we made a little dent on it.. He is currently being held in Italy. ", "You hear that?" Then she'd charge my friends $50 each," he says. And I'm not asking her to.". It had been ten years since U.S. I'm kind of stuck with it. Galeota is no angelic Andy Dufresne, the main character in Shawshank who serves two decades behind bars for a crime he didn't commit. Back in the mid-1990s, if you were a Miami mobster seeking girls, guns, cocaine, the services of an arsonist, or muscle to beat down a deadbeat, Ludwig Tarzan Fainberg was your man. Wrongly imprisoned. A 28-year-old English teacher named Tim Schrader agrees to smuggle eight kilos of heroin into the U.S. to solve his financial problems. 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. But all the cops found were five grams of weed, a bottle of Viagra, and some mysterious yellow pills. Miami mobster Tony Galeota is locked up in Panama after being framed for drug dealing and human trafficking. When he left to open a bona fide brothel in Panama, Galeota thought the country's lax prostitution laws would make him rich. "I've done a lot of shady things in the States," he admits. This time, I'm innocent.". During a visit last month, a New Times reporter witnessed one police official receive a $20 bill in a barely disguised handshake. View the profiles of people named Anthony Galeota. "There were beautiful girls, just walking the streets, giving blowjobs for $10 or $15.". Behind him, 12-foot-high fences topped with spools of barbed wire frame a muddy soccer field. Locked Up Abroad 151M subscribers Miami mobster Tony Galeota is a strip-club supremo. "But she's never going to forget. 4:00AM. Moreover, trafficking prostitutes and drugs and involvement in organized crime are some serious charges.". He was a loan shark: generously offering money but punishing those who didn't pay back. Here, Galeota is just one of 500 prisoners crammed into a filthy cell block designed to hold 200 people. "It was a very violent atmosphere," he says. It was this sort of legendary underworld myth, almost, that people had been talking about for, you know, 20 years., He tells DailyMail.com: In Moscow, I got a text from Tony that said, Youve talked to the waiters; you should come meet the chef. When one inmate killed another, the dead man's gang on the outside murdered the inmate's entire family, Galeota says. 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. When he was 16, he knocked up his 15-year-old girlfriend at Hauppauge High School. "That clean, business-friendly, postcard-Panama bullshit is just a faade," Galeota says. Within weeks of its April 2011 opening, the club was raking in $6,000 on good nights. Galeota and his "girls" in the Doll House, before the bust. June 4, 2013 His father, Arnold, was a strait-laced sales manager but a distant and disapproving dad. In the distance, La Cordillera de San Blas cuts through the Panamanian jungle like a serrated knife. Everything here has a cost.". If any official asks you to pay for anything, please report them.". 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. When Galeota arrived, his mobster reputation preceded him. Tony Goleta. Girls charged $150 or more for sex. "I'm used to getting my water from a rain bucket, not hot from the tap." "I've been in this business my whole life. A tattoo of an Italian Mafioso emerges from an extra-large sleeveless T-shirt. But the hassle had taken its toll on him. "They murdered a guy in here a couple of days ago," Tony Galeota says. But when the house of cards tumbles, John . Filmography (by Job) Trailers and Videos. "A family type thing, like an ale house with wings and beer," he says. 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. He called his cartel contacts and arranged to meet them in the pickup area of the Madrid train station. "She would use shoe polish to change our driver's licenses so we could go to clubs and drink when we were 15. The Coast Guard said four suspected smugglers were taken into custody and 32 bales of cocaine were found in the water. We have a lot of laughs about it now," he says. It wasn't until he ordered some Italian food and a cold Guinness that he finally felt like he was free. Seidle was never charged with a crime. "I've done a lot of shady things in the States," he admits. This looks great. . So if you wanna do it, the time is now, and essentially, its happening one way or another, so you might be the person to author your story. But he was too shell-shocked to take up his attorney's offer for a ride to a nice hotel. New laws effectively outlaw brothels such as the Doll House, permit or not but if Galeota walks with no convictions, it will surely embarrass officials trying to make it look like they're cleaning up the industry. A dozen plainclothes cops poured in with pistols drawn. In the second interdiction, a Customs plane spotted another suspicious boat off the coast of Panama on August 28th. 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. "When you're in La Joya for two years, you get used to that environment," Galeota says. On a crowded balcony overlooking La Joya, Galeota describes the past 16 months as a nightmare. It wasn't until he ordered some Italian food and a cold Guinness that he finally felt like he was free. His government protection would evaporate, the Doll House would be raided, his investments would be stolen, and he would be arrested. They had girls in every city. In the distance, La Cordillera de San Blas cuts through the Panamanian jungle like a serrated knife. "I lived it up in Miami," he says. He paid for her to secretly get an abortion. The Coast Guard said the eight-member crew cooperated and was taken into custody. Log in or sign up for Facebook to connect with friends, family and people you know. October 4, 2012 Its Colombian dancers were in Panama on six-month tourist visas, weren't licensed as prostitutes, and weren't getting required weekly health checkups. Galeota examines a bruise from a prison fight in La Joya. "Maybe we didn't have the permits we were supposed to have, but we're foreigners who didn't understand the rules.". Follow Miami New Times on Facebook and Twitter @MiamiNewTimes. "Their connections were bigger than ours," he says. They were all together when Tony worked for the Russin mobsters in Porky's club as its manager. "They shot him in the middle of the night," Galeota continues quietly, "and buried his body behind the pavilion.". Log In. Anywhere other than La Joya, this news would be shocking. We didn't even have to have sex unless we wanted to," says a Colombian stripper named Catherine. Galeota's enemies say that a life of sin has finally caught up with the flesh-peddler. Facebook Email or phone Password Forgot account? This time, the feds took over the strip club before selling it to new owners, with one requirement: Neither Galeota nor anyone else from the old club could ever work there again. Panamanian newspapers put "Operation Fiesta" on the front page as prosecutors alleged Galeota was part of an international crime ring. And so from there, Juan showed up in Moscow with a vague, half-assed agreement with Tarzan he still had gotten me to come there without agreeing to be in the film, and he put me through the paces of taking me to the sauna and sort of took me on this insane kind of underworld tour of Moscow. "He never forced us to do anything. They finally fled the country this past July, leaving Tony alone. They'd use their connections with immigration officials to obtain visas and prostitution licenses and then give Tarzan and Tony 40 percent of the profits to run a new club, called the Doll House. He could convince you that the sky was green." Indeed, Havana Club has already reopened. Born on June 3, 1924 at Hartford. "I was just numb.". The 43-year-old is shaped like a mini refrigerator: short and squat, with a shaved head and wide-set emerald eyes. CAKEGATE 2023: Bad Bunny's Restaurant Accused of Gobbling Birthday Girl's Cake, Neighborhood Nazi Jon Minadeo Peddles Hate by the Minute, 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. A tattoo of an Italian Mafioso emerges from an extra-large sleeveless T-shirt. Police repeatedly raided the club, yet Galeota escaped unscathed every time. "My wife could have left me. 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? 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. Police repeatedly raided the club, yet Galeota escaped unscathed every time. As he sweated in jail, Galeota's Panamanian empire crumbled. Somewhere between his native Ukraine, Israel, and Russia, he'd shed his trademark long hair and changed his name to Alon Bar. Tarzan and Tony went so far as to gain access to a Soviet naval base and be taken on a tour of a submarine potentially for sale, even cajoling Russian military officials to pose for photos - which they used to prove to the Colombians that a deal could be brokered (and which are shown in the film). Tarzan eventually testified against Juan and was deported to Israel, where he recanted his testimony meaning Juans conviction for conspiracy to traffic cocaine was overturned and he went free. Make a one-time donation today for as little as $1. None of them ever appeared in the newspapers, but Hialeah police records confirm there were at least ten shootings at Porky's during Galeota's tenure. "I'm not a religious person, but I believe I went to jail because I was living like a rock star -- running around with all these women, drinking a bottle of vodka every day for two years," he says. He was 31. Thats how they eventually uncovered the plot to sell a submarine to the Cali cartel, orchestrated by Tarzan, exotic car importer Juan Almeida and Nelson Tony Yester, a Cuban immigrant believed to be a trained intelligence operative who remains an international fugitive to this day. "Now I'm living in hell.". The offload is a result of two successful drug interdictions in the Caribbean since August 23. Prosecutors charged Galeota and Fainberg with not only drug dealing but also human trafficking. Moreover, trafficking prostitutes and drugs and involvement in organized crime are some serious charges.". The goods came from sources in the freshly fallen Soviet Union, a place where everything seemed to be up for grabs at ridiculously low prices. But killings are common in Panama's worst prison, where the smell of raw sewage wafts over the yard, metal shackles hang from moldy staircases, and overcrowded cells house nearly 3,500 of the Western Hemisphere's vilest murderers, rapists, and drug traffickers. Explore More. They tried to squeeze Fainberg to get Seidle. When Bill Seidle died, Galeota knew the club's days were numbered. But not until she discovered he'd been dating a former Porky's stripper for more than two years did she threaten to divorce him in 2009. Tony Gogetta. The crew boarded the 165-foot Panamanian-flagged coastal freighter Hope II. If anything, Galeota's life got even more out of control after Fainberg's arrest. Indeed, Tony would turn Porky's into a moneymaking machine.
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