tony galeota family

Anywhere other than La Joya, this news would be shocking. 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. During a visit last month, a New Times reporter witnessed one police official receive a $20 bill in a barely disguised handshake. Miami's independent source of It is not known when he was born or his current age. "Keep your fucking hands off the girl!" "Like me, he was a black sheep who could do nothing right.". It continued at another local strip club, called Quarterbacks Playmates Lounge. "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. 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. Yester told the Colombians that theyd have to pay $35 million for the vessel, even though Tarzan had talked the price down to $5.5 million plus just $600 for a crew to pilot it to Colombia. Locked up in one of the world's worst prisons, Tony has to prove his innocence and attempt an audacious escape. 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. ", "You hear that?" 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. But in South Florida, he was once a strip club king. Get the latest updates in news, food, music and culture, and receive special offers direct to your inbox. 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. Then she'd charge my friends $50 each," he says. At the entrance to La Joya, ant hills and wasp nests surround a wooden sign. He raises his eyebrows and looks upwards to the left to emphasize just how flabbergasted he was with Mishas counter question. The two were married in 1994 at a wedding full of mobsters. One scammer stole from another scammer; of course I accept it, he says. "Luis pulled out a .38 and shot the guy in the chest. This is a guy that the FBI went after for years but could never get him. 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. "It is with tremendous heartfelt sadness to announce the passing of Michael James. He was 31. A judge eventually dropped the human trafficking charge, but Galeota still rotted in his sordid cell alongside insects the size of small dogs. The 43-year-old is shaped like a mini refrigerator: short and squat, with a shaved head and wide-set emerald eyes. When he was 16, he knocked up his 15-year-old girlfriend at Hauppauge High School. He was recently sentenced to serve around six years in federal prison. local Journalism in South Florida. 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. When Galeota stood up, he checked his T-shirt for bullet holes, but found none. "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. Anthony Galeota was born October 17, 1968, on Long Island. 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. Next time, I will steal it back from him., Tarzan (left) at the site of the submarine. He paid for her to secretly get an abortion. "It was so slow I couldn't take it," he says. Again, Tony's friends in New York told him where to go. We've been here for two years!' By You could not mislead him in any way or you could tell that the consequences could be serious, but I loved him. He offered protection and gave Galeota $200. The last one locked the door. They were all together when Tony worked for the Russin mobsters in Porky's club as its manager. Skip Ancestry main menu Main Menu But Galeota was convinced the cops were bluffing and refused to cooperate. It was 1990, and Galeota transformed the place by wiring in subwoofers and bringing in New York dancers. It was coke or pimping or messing with the wrong people.. Family members can also bring them food and clean water, however, and inmates bribe guards to smuggle in additional items. In January 1997, after he dropped his daughter off at school, Tarzan was arrested and hit with a 30-count federal indictment. And he hopes to open a place in Fort Lauderdale when he's back, Just not a strip club. Sixteen months later, the two men have yet to appear in court. If only there were a place where prostitution was legal, he thought, a city full of beautiful women like Miami, but no rules. 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. Anthony Galeota was born October 17, 1968, on Long Island. With dark hair and pale, wide-set eyes, teenage Tony resembled a stocky Frank Sinatra. 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. 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. Make a one-time donation today for as little as $1. "They murdered a guy in here a couple of days ago," Tony Galeota says. Michael Galeota, who starred on the Disney Channel's "The Jersey" died Sunday, according to Variety. Here, Galeota is just one of 500 prisoners crammed into a filthy cell block designed to hold 200 people. "This case has had a big impact here," says Jos Otero, a reporter for Panamanian newspaper La Prensa. "I've been in this business my whole life. By the time he was 18, he had been arrested seven times for armed robbery and assault, he says. Docs need stars just like features need stars. "My wife could have left me. "A family type thing, like an ale house with wings and beer," he says. Days go by without water, and when it does arrive, it's turbid sludge from a nearby river. We have a lot of laughs about it now," he says. "That's the problem.". Galeota already lived according to a gangster's code. "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 might have sold them the submarine, taken the money and walked away with the money.. As the authorities closed in, they picked up Juan and Tarzan, but they couldnt find Tony and neither could the cartel. It could be worse. Instead, Galeota admits he's done bad things, such as. People named Tony Galeta. In the distance, La Cordillera de San Blas cuts through the Panamanian jungle like a serrated knife. Kristy was able to pay a lawyer $500 to get her son released, but there was no bond for Galeota's drug offense. View Tony Galeota's 1940 US census record to find family members, occupation details & more. Make a one-time donation today for as little as $1. She is a high-powered attorney who has defended two former presidents in corruption cases, but even she hasn't been able to get Galeota out of jail yet. And like the Italian-American crooner, he loved women a little too much. But Tony had darker secrets. In describing Tarzan, Almeida says in the film, He struck me as an oddball. Tarzan classifies Almeida as a guy who had two drinks and thought he was Tony Montana. As for movie-star handsome, hooker-loving Yesters first impression of Tarzan: I said, This f- -king guy is trouble. Thirty minutes later, I loved the trouble., Abetted by the tumultuous state of the former Soviet Union the ruble was completely devalued and state-owned resources went to whomever had the most firepower gaining access to the submarine was surprisingly easy. The bartender hid in the bathroom and dialed 911. Because of his age, he escaped with six months' probation. Coast Guard members who seized the cocaine said this is what their jobs are all about. "It was puppy love," he says. Behind him, 12-foot-high fences topped with spools of barbed wire frame a muddy soccer field. 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. Its about 2,800 kilos, about a ton and a half of contraband. I told Juan, I said, Hey. And like the Italian-American crooner, he loved women a little too much. "He was a smooth-talker. When crews were launched to investigate, the suspected smugglers threw several packages into the water. "Whenever there is an American businessman involved in crime here in Panama, it becomes an important case. "I was 16 years old and amazed," he says. 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. His mother, Bonnie Gellilti, was "a bit of a. In the meantime, he's spending time with his wife and kids. And I'm not asking her to. "Then they'd tell me: 'They are as good as dead.'". Tony Galeta. It had been ten years since U.S. "Last week we were supposed to have a hearing, but there was no running water in Panama City. "I couldn't take all the people who wanted to come.". 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. Its a great success overall. 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. But instead of classical music, his specialty is sex. Tony Galeto. All the main players involved appear on camera and share their stories, including law enforcement, from which the documentary takes its name; Operation Odessa was formed as a joint task force in the 1990s as American authorities worried that Colombian cartels would join together with Russian organized crime to pair drug money with Soviet military hardware. Miami mobster Tony Galeota is locked up in Panama after being framed for drug dealing and human trafficking. Johns paid $100 to rent a VIP room downstairs. But Monday morning, when it came time to walk out of La Joya, there was no vehicle waiting. On a crowded balcony overlooking La Joya, Galeota describes the past 16 months as a nightmare. "My wife could have left me. Sheila Flynn For Dailymail.com 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. or. A tattoo of an Italian Mafioso emerges from an extra-large sleeveless T-shirt. 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. Furious and Busted Rick Cedar steals radios to support his family. 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. Join the New Times community and help support independent Back in South Florida, Kristy Galeota vacillates between outrage and empathy for her husband. He called me in two days and he asked me, do we want the submarine with missiles or without missiles? says Tarzan. He didn't stay long. "This case has had a big impact here," says Jos Otero, a reporter for Panamanian newspaper La Prensa. Sign Up. Indeed, Havana Club has already reopened. Eventually, he moved two dozen ladies to Panama City. See Photos. The most audacious plot allegedly hatched in the back of Porky's was to purchase a former Soviet submarine for $5.5 million for a Colombian drug cartel so it could ship cocaine up the coast to California. "It was a nightmare in there.". 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. Tony Galeto. New Times wrote about Galeota's plight last year ("From Porky's to Hell," October 4, 2012), even visiting him in La Joya prison, a crumbling concrete complex in the jungle where inmates kill each other with impunity. Tony Galeota: From Running Porky's, Miami's Most Notorious Strip Joint, to Rotting More than 500 inmates crowd into a cell block designed for 200. The nightmare deepened for Galeota. "I just watched Luis blow a guy away," Galeota heard himself say on tape. They were very compliant to everything we asked of them, said McElhaney. 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. Photo courtesy of Josh Weiss - Giant insects infest the prison. "It was a nightmare in there. He knew that the owners of a local strip club called Moulin Rouge David Fridman and Jake Lita (an Israeli wanted by German police on human-trafficking charges) had a business offer for the duo. Tarzan, got his first job in America as an enforcer for the Gambino crime family. 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. 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. We asked them some questions and some of their information didnt quite add up, so we conducted a boarding.. When he discovered he was about to be subpoenaed, he withdrew $2,500 from the bank and boarded a two-week Caribbean cruise. "These guys were into just about everything," Assistant U.S. Attorney Diana Fernandez said at the time. And last year, Yester was finally arrested in Rome on charges unrelated to the submarine while en route to a wedding. Director Tiller Russell Stars Ludwig Fainberg Juan Almeida Nelson Yester See production, box office & company info Add to Watchlist 44 User reviews 9 Critic reviews Awards 1 nomination Videos 2 Trailer 1:46 Galeota was crammed into a sweltering holding cell with 150 others. We break down the best movies and series to watch in November in theaters and streaming. Police repeatedly raided the club, yet Galeota escaped unscathed every time. "I'm in survival mode now," Galeota says, adding that he agonizes over being imprisoned for what he believes are unjust charges. Miami's underworld may still be seedy, but it has outsourced much of its shadiness to nearby Third-World countries such as Panama. Sometimes we get a little excited when we find the amount of cocaine we found, said Castro. The offload is a result of two successful drug interdictions in the Caribbean since August 23. See Photos. "It is with tremendous heartfelt sadness to announce the passing of Michael James Gal When his dad lost his job, Tony paid the bills. Galeota is one of several Americans locked up here. "We just meshed," she says. At night, the guards lock the gate and leave, turning over control of each cell block to prisoners. Behind him, 12-foot-high fences topped with spools of barbed wire frame a muddy soccer field. This story has been shared 173,716 times. Kristy and his sons hid in a shabby, poorly protected office. When Kristy and their three sons finally arrived in June, the business became a family affair: His wife took over at Bongos, while Galeota concentrated on turning the club into a cash machine. He headed right to his beloved Miami, Florida. One man stabbed someone over a $10 debt. Galeota's enemies say that a life of sin has finally caught up with the flesh-peddler. The gig introduced him to a lifelong vice. Become a member to support the independent voice of South Florida SO I started with the cops and I had been kind of circling the others without knowing if it was really possible or not. Become a member to support the independent voice of South Florida "I want to go legit when I get out, but if the economy is bad, I might go back to the industry," he says. "I brought in music and women," Galeota says. Even then, however, he couldn't sleep. She is cute and curvy with dark hair and a button nose. When he left to open a bona fide brothel in Panama, Galeota thought the country's lax prostitution laws would make him rich. This time, I'm innocent.". Galeota's wife Kristy comments "Porky's was definitely a place you could get killed." 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. By now, she knows of his many infidelities, including that he lived and slept with some of the girls at the Doll House. The drugs will be turned over to the DEA. "I lived it up in Miami," he says. Join the New Times community and help support ", - 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. While on routine patrol, a U.S. Customs and Border Protection plane spotted a suspicious speed boat. 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. He was a big, big fish.". But in South Florida, he was once a strip club king. S10 E10 - Miami Mobster Take Down Tony Galeota is framed for drug trafficking in Panama City. "She would use shoe polish to change our driver's licenses so we could go to clubs and drink when we were 15. Galeota is no angelic Andy Dufresne, the main character in Shawshank who serves two decades behind bars for a crime he didn't commit. And twice they had given up. "I used to have to patch Tony up all the time," Kristy says. As he sweated in jail, Galeota's Panamanian empire crumbled. 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. "It was a real moneymaker. "Running a club in that neighborhood, win or lose, you've got to fight.". I'm kind of stuck with it. "My wife is never going to completely trust me. Controlling it. Tony Galeota Age And Family. I said, Thank you, Cali cartel. "I've done a lot of shady things in the States," he admits. Gunshots flashed like fireworks in the darkness. "But she's never going to forget. His mother, Bonnie Gellilti, was "a bit of a criminal," Tony remembers. It was a weeknight, and Porky's was washed in pale-pink neon light. "It was puppy love," he says. "The worst part of being in here is being in here for nothing. 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. 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. Of the $10 million, he said, I cannot f- -king believe it how fast I spend it.. Bonnie also shoplifted booze to sustain her hard drinking habit. A dozen plainclothes cops poured in with pistols drawn. One can imagine they did plenty of drugs.. His attorney has warned him that prosecutors will likely appeal, so he plans to stay in Panama until his case is resolved. I know its gonna be a strange question. We both understand that.". He turned himself in a few days later, but the lounge's owner decided to close the cursed club. Meanwhile, the task force had gotten wind of the bizarre submarine plan; not only had they wiretapped Tarzan, but they had also inserted an undercover agent into the operation an agent who appears in the documentary after undergoing an extensive makeup disguise because he continues to work undercover cases involving the Russian mob. Advertisement. He created a souped-up cigarette boat that went for $2 million and was presumably used to transport cocaine. He soon finds himself wanting to be a mobster, and starts running errands for them. Instead, they eat rice for lunch and dinner, drink dirty river water, and use a hole in the ground for a toilet. In the early 1990s, three friends set out to hustle the Russian mob, the Cali cartel and the DEA for the score of a lifetime. Anthony Galeota (right) poses with Ludwig "Tarzan" Fainberg inside the Doll House weeks before their arrest. He called his cartel contacts and arranged to meet them in the pickup area of the Madrid train station. 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. And, above all, selling it. A tattoo of an Italian Mafioso emerges from an extra-large sleeveless T-shirt. Its impossible but only because its true. I got a piece of the action of every blowjob that my friends got," Galeota says. Two days later, he was transferred to La Joya a hellish cinder-block complex an hour outside of Panama City. He was a character.. 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. Locked Up Abroad 151M subscribers Miami mobster Tony Galeota is a strip-club supremo. "I thought I would kick up my heels together like 'Oh my God, I'm finally out,'" he says. 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. The smugglers boat was destroyed because it was a hazard to navigation. Tony Galeota's age is expected to be 52. The club was very successful. She's forgiven me, for the most part. "Bill was one of the most influential people in Miami," Galeota says. Episode 5: Spain /Sold My Soul See Photos. Reborn behind bars. I have to tell you, all my enemies are dead, and Im happy, he says in the documentary. Access is free so discover Tony Galeota's story today. Galeota has seen several murders. Galeota's enemies say that a life of sin has finally caught up with the flesh-peddler. "A family type thing, like an ale house with wings and beer," he says. Like a concert pianist, Tony Galeota has spent his life honing a single skill since he was a teenager. Guards with machine guns man rusty metal towers. Controlling it. "I'm used to getting my water from a rain bucket, not hot from the tap." 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. Log in or sign up for Facebook to connect with friends, family and people you know. Guards with machine guns man rusty metal towers. I was literally on a press tour for the last film, and I was in New York doing interviews and stuff I called the producers and said, Do you think we can get a million dollars in the next five days?. Biography. The dead and dying are piled into wheelbarrows and left by the front gate until guards arrive in the morning. His father, Arnold, was a strait-laced sales manager but a distant and disapproving dad. The 43-year-old is shaped like a mini refrigerator: short and squat, with a shaved head and wide-set emerald eyes. When Seidle died in 2008, Porky's political protection followed the 82-year-old to the grave. More than anything, Galeota is grateful that his family kept faith in him. Wrongly imprisoned. Get the latest updates in news, food, music and culture, and receive special offers direct to your inbox. 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 he insists that, for once, he has done nothing wrong. 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. With dark hair and pale, wide-set eyes, teenage Tony resembled a stocky Frank Sinatra. Galeota jumped at the deal. Again, the charges were dropped. "Maybe we didn't have the permits we were supposed to have, but we're foreigners who didn't understand the rules.". Juan felt like he had no choice, says Russell. Tony Galeota has a wife named Kristy Galeota, with whom he lives. He answered only to property owner William Seidle, a U.S. Bankruptcy Court trustee who ran a chain of car dealerships. 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. Also read: Tony Galeota: From Running. As he contemplates the question, Galeota watches his fellow inmates kick a soccer ball across La Joya's putrid playground. Miami's underworld may still be seedy, but it has outsourced much of its shadiness to nearby Third-World countries such as Panama. , updated 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? By the mid-'90s, Galeota had turned Porky's into a one-stop shop for strippers, sex, and serious drugs. local news and culture, Michael E. Miller While Galeota avoided testifying, Fainberg faced 30 counts including racketeering and conspiracy to traffic cocaine and heroin. This business has been very good to me.". When he heard that his old partner in crime from Porky's had moved to Panama, he flew in to meet with Galeota. This time, I'm innocent.". Tony Galeota. "He never forced us to do anything. Were out there to cause an effect in the drug industry and I believe we made a little dent on it.. Update information for Tony Galeota . Tony Galletta. Galeota's enemies say that a life of sin has finally caught up with the flesh-peddler. "When you're in La Joya for two years, you get used to that environment," Galeota says. See also: "From Porky's to Panamanian Prison: Web Extra.". 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. 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. 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