And, above all, selling it. His father, Arnold, was a strait-laced sales manager but a distant and disapproving dad. He paid for her to secretly get an abortion. Galeota has seen several murders. Somewhere between his native Ukraine, Israel, and Russia, he'd shed his trademark long hair and changed his name to Alon Bar. Twice, American authorities had investigated Galeota. A sign on the latter reads, "District Attorney for Drugs: Do Not Enter." S10 E10 Miami Mobster Take Down. Unfortunately, Galeota's defense isn't as simple as quoting strippers, says his lawyer, Guillermina McDonald. 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. "Like me, he was a black sheep who could do nothing right.". It wasn't until he ordered some Italian food and a cold Guinness that he finally felt like he was free. Prisoners eat stale bread and a slice of cheese for breakfast; rice and sometimes beans is their lunch and dinner. Galeota is not exactly repentant. This looks great. . Anthony Galeota was born October 17, 1968, on Long Island. It was a Foxtrot-class submarine, or Project 641 as the Soviets called it. Theres this crazy Russian gangster who sold a submarine to the Cali drug cartel; his name is Tarzan and hes locked in a Panamanian prison and he had a Blackberry And he said, Do you want his number?, And I said, Hell, yes! Greed got the better of him. On a crowded balcony overlooking La Joya, Galeota describes the past 16 months as a nightmare. Catherine says she slept with customers because she needed the money to support her family. And, above all, selling it. Facilitating it. 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. Furious and Busted Rick Cedar steals radios to support his family. He raises his eyebrows and looks upwards to the left to emphasize just how flabbergasted he was with Mishas counter question. 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. 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. one of the kids shouted as he pulled a handkerchief over his face and wildly swung a revolver. For a while, Panama's pay-to-play culture suited Galeota just fine. While out of sight, he phoned his guy and lied about being in a particular taxi cab. Guards with machine guns man rusty metal towers. The heavy-set Italian even signed a release. Tony Kaleta. "This case has had a big impact here," says Jos Otero, a reporter for Panamanian newspaper La Prensa. 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. 17:57 GMT 13 Mar 2018. Create a free family tree for yourself or for Tony Galeota and we'll search for valuable new information for you. I had a friend of mine living in St. Petersburg, and I said, Misha, tell me something, Tarzan real name Ludwig Fainberg says in a heavy Russian accent. We had a $500,000 house, cars, and motorcycles. This story has been shared 173,716 times. Theyre nice guys [the cartel members], and I didnt ask what they needed the submarine for., If they woke up and were hungry, they would fly a private jet to Cancun for lunch, says Tiller Russell, director of Operation Odessa. Then theyd roll to Venezuela to check out a new casino. Moreover, trafficking prostitutes and drugs and involvement in organized crime are some serious charges.". 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. Find your friends on Facebook. But he insists that, for once, he has done nothing wrong. 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. and help keep the future of New Times, Use of this website constitutes acceptance of our. He could convince you that the sky was green." 8:00AM. Michael Galeota, who starred on the Disney Channel's "The Jersey" died Sunday, according to Variety. As the couple drove south on I-95, they thought they were leaving the worst behind them. Once they spotted the plane, they changed course which is suspicious for us, said Boatswains Mate 1st Class, Joshua McElhaney with the Coast Guard. "That's the problem.". Galeota saw an opportunity. Juan felt like he had no choice, says Russell. He was a big, big fish.". "There was probably a lot more fun going on at Porky's than we even knew of," says one Hialeah police officer who asked not to be identified. Tony and Kristy were shocked and out of a job. Anywhere other than La Joya, this news would be shocking. We have a lot of laughs about it now," he says. Police again surrounded Porky's in the early hours of May 9, 2009. "They would describe what they looked like," Galeota says. Controlling it. 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. Also read: Tony Galeota: From Running. 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. Galeota believes that his arrest has little to do with a renewed commitment to the law in Panama. "Now I'm living in hell.". Sheila Flynn For Dailymail.com In this real life Goodfellas tale, New York teen John Alite gets a job at his local Deli, a hangout for 'wise guys'. independent local journalism in Miami. Sixteen months later, the two men have yet to appear in court. Like a concert pianist, Tony Galeota has spent his life honing a single skill since he was a teenager. While Galeota avoided testifying, Fainberg faced 30 counts including racketeering and conspiracy to traffic cocaine and heroin. Prostitution in Miami had become too risky, he decided, but overseas sex tourism was soaring. Half an hour later, Galeota was guarding the door when a car rolled up with the window down. Instead, they eat rice for lunch and dinner, drink dirty river water, and use a hole in the ground for a toilet. "But she's never going to forget. And I'm not asking her to.". Inmates are fed bread and cheese for breakfast and rice (sometimes beans) for lunch and dinner. His mother, Bonnie Gellilti, was "a bit of a. (CBS Miami). "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. "That's obstruction of justice.". In court statements and interviews with New Times, they said Galeota gave them contracts to sign, cell phones and computers to use, and apartments in which to live. By then, the club's criminal clientele and Fainberg's increasingly lavish lifestyle had raised eyebrows. Banks seized all seven of his apartments. Making the documentary, he says: I found the story so compelling and so riveting that I was just relentlessly magnetized to it. Can he prove his innocence and escape? Finally, on May 23, the gate on Galeota's cramped cell swung open, and he was free to go. "It is with tremendous heartfelt sadness to announce the passing of Michael James Gal SO I started with the cops and I had been kind of circling the others without knowing if it was really possible or not. "This country is corrupt. "Now I'm living in hell.". "These guys were into just about everything," Assistant U.S. Attorney Diana Fernandez said at the time. Instead, he's trapped in a labyrinthine legal system, alone and unable to speak Spanish. They were all together when Tony worked for the Russin mobsters in Porky's club as its manager. Use tab to navigate through the menu items. Tony Goleta. Tony is my friend, and well always love each other. I gave each of my kids a Rolex when they were 5 years old. Even then, however, he couldn't sleep. "We were like: 'We want to get the fuck out of here. Galeota also found himself in the back of an unmarked FBI car. Instead, Galeota admits he's done bad things, such as. For 18 years, Galeota ran Porky's with the same punishing justice he learned from the mob and transformed it into Miami's most notorious whorehouse, where Russian gangsters and Cuban criminals spent millions on sex and drugs. But instead of classical music, his specialty is sex. Tony was a tough, muscular little shit back then. This time, I'm innocent.". Tony Galeota. I know its gonna be a strange question. 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. local news and culture, Michael E. Miller Family members can also bring them food and clean water, however, and inmates bribe guards to smuggle in additional items. During the Doll House raid, they found marked bills in the register and several grams of pot on a promoter. One can imagine they did plenty of drugs.. It wasn't until he ordered some Italian food and a cold Guinness that he finally felt like he was free. As he contemplates the question, Galeota watches his fellow inmates kick a soccer ball across La Joya's putrid playground. He soon finds himself wanting to be a mobster, and starts running errands for them. He and Fainberg were on their way to riches thanks to powerful friends and legalized prostitution. The $33,000 number is actually the wholesale price in the US for smugglers - or how much a kilo is worth delivered to US soil, for traffickers. When he discovered he was about to be subpoenaed, he withdrew $2,500 from the bank and boarded a two-week Caribbean cruise. The smugglers boat was destroyed because it was a hazard to navigation. "My wife could have left me. By now, she knows of his many infidelities, including that he lived and slept with some of the girls at the Doll House. Filmography (by Job) Trailers and Videos. Running an underworld operation in Cocaine Cowboys-era Miami wasn't an easy gig. Luckier still, a powerful Colombian inmate named Mauricio Ramrez recognized Galeota from his restaurant. But when the house of cards tumbles, John . 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.. "That's the goal," is all he'll offer. "Another night at Porky's, another shooting," he remembers now from his prison cell in Panama. Santiago de Cali shone in the syrupy South American sunlight filling Colombia's Cauca River Valley. Its about 2,800 kilos, about a ton and a half of contraband. Galeota is no angelic Andy Dufresne, the main character in Shawshank who serves two decades behind bars for a crime he didn't commit. 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. "It was a very violent atmosphere," he says. 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. Tony Galeota has a wife named Kristy Galeota, with whom he lives. Log In. The Doll House couldn't expand fast enough to meet the influx of sex tourists. A friend suggested Panama. "There were beautiful girls, just walking the streets, giving blowjobs for $10 or $15.". I just called a friend who had a friend and asked if he could get us a sub. Here, Galeota is just one of 500 prisoners crammed into a filthy cell block designed to hold 200 people. On a Sunday night in July of 1991, a 29-year-old electrician named Phillip John Shea came into Quarterbacks shortly after Tony and Kristy left. Facebook gives people the power. And they were doing it on behalf of the notorious Cali drug cartel in Colombia, who planned to use the underwater vessel to smuggle cocaine undetected. He ogled the women standing on corners in their underwear and high heels. 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. 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. See Photos. 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. Ten million dollars really feels like 10 million dollars, he gushes in the movie. "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. 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. Just not a strip club. Update information for Tony Galeota . Police repeatedly raided the club, yet Galeota escaped unscathed every time. And she launched drunken tirades at Tony after baseball games, no matter how well the all-star shortstop performed. But Monday morning, when it came time to walk out of La Joya, there was no vehicle waiting. Get the latest updates in news, food, music and culture, and receive special offers direct to your inbox. Photo courtesy of Josh Weiss A prisoner poses with a gun smuggled into La Joya with help from guards. "I couldn't take all the people who wanted to come.". Because of his age, he escaped with six months' probation. We are no longer accepting comments on this article. "Anthony has been in jail for more than 15 months, and a judge hasn't even heard his case yet!" The dead and dying are piled into wheelbarrows and left by the front gate until guards arrive in the morning. "I wouldn't leave a dog in that prison, let alone my husband.". If Galeota is freed, it will be a major blow for Panama's prostitution crackdown. Its a great success overall. Tarzan managed to get light punishment for his 1997 conviction; he rolled over on Almeida and spent 30 months behind bars before being deported to Israel, where his family had immigrated, in 1999. The club was very successful. His father, Arnold, was a strait-laced sales manager but a distant and disapproving dad. Two days later, he was transferred to La Joya a hellish cinder-block complex an hour outside of Panama City. But when he opens a new club in Panama City, the competition isn't happy and frames him for drug dealing. Get the latest updates in news, food, music and culture, and receive special offers direct to your inbox. Its our mission down there besides search and rescue. But the Doll House and Moulin Rouge remain closed. The 43-year-old is shaped like a mini refrigerator: short and squat, with a shaved head and wide-set emerald eyes. Born on June 3, 1924 at Hartford. The gig introduced him to a lifelong vice. And when his mother was distraught over a broken washing machine, he filled the house with new appliances. "I'm used to getting my water from a rain bucket, not hot from the tap." "My wife can say she has regrets, but that's bullshit," he says. He escaped with his life and went on the run, aiming to avoid the cartel, Interpol and US law enforcers. Through the air plane window, Tony Galeota could see the city's colonial churches glow like polished gold. "It's not an easy choice," she says. In hand-painted white lettering, it reads, "Dear visitors. Its a lot of f- -king paper. When Galeota arrived, his mobster reputation preceded him. It continued at another local strip club, called Quarterbacks Playmates Lounge. 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. "The first month, we had $15,000 in gross sales. The Coast Guard said each one of the kilos is worth $33,000. Locked up in one of the world's worst prisons, Tony has to prove his innocence and attempt an audacious escape. "The worst part of being in here is being in here for nothing. We travelled all the time. 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. Follow Miami New Times on Facebook and Twitter @MiamiNewTimes. "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. 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. With dark hair and pale, wide-set eyes, teenage Tony resembled a stocky Frank Sinatra. He told them he could get them the submarine for $35million, but said hes need the money in installments; when they gave him the first $10million, he kept the money for himself and disappeared. But his mind was on another kind of riches. When Galeota stood up, he checked his T-shirt for bullet holes, but found none. 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. Galeota is one of several Americans locked up here. He was hilarious and charming and garrulous, and it was as if hed stepped right out of a Scorsese movie, Russell says, adding: You know whats the funny thing people dont know about docs? While another new prisoner was beaten and robbed, Galeota was untouched. (Panama passed harsher penalties for human trafficking during Galeota's incarceration, but Galeota can't be prosecuted under laws that weren't in place when he was arrested. Sixteen months later, the two men have yet to appear in court. "We were doing fantastic, but Tarzan got bored and started living the life," Galeota explains. 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 There was nothing unusual about it. Tony Galeota lived in 1954, at address, Massachusetts. He was recently sentenced to serve around six years in federal prison. 4:00AM. MIAMI BEACH (CBSMiami) The Coast Guard offloaded about $93 million of cocaine Thursday afternoon on Miami Beach. Almeida was a specialist in obtaining black-market goods for status-crazed drug dealers. Find your friends on Facebook. 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. See Photos. and help keep the future of New Times, Use of this website constitutes acceptance of our, From Porky's to Panamanian Prison: Web Extra. 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. "There was no transportation, no cops, no nothing," he says. 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.. 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. He was very serious and said he would look into it. 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. Rats, roaches, and beetles the size of Chihuahuas crawl over inmates at night. or. We have a lot of laughs about it now," he says. And then Russell got a text message out of the blue. This story has been shared 121,048 times. "They had what seemed like a dynamite case, but it has ended up in pieces.". "It was puppy love," he says. They were very compliant to everything we asked of them, said McElhaney. 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. 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. But the story of how the documentary got made is nearly as crazy as the caper plot itself. Girls charged $150 or more for sex. "That clean, business-friendly, postcard-Panama bullshit is just a faade," Galeota says. He hired 'Fat Tony' Galeota as Porky's manager. Instead of celebrating, he walked through the scuzzy neighbourhood until he found a shabby motel. 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. 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. One man stabbed someone over a $10 debt. As Shea tried to pull the panties off one of the dancers, he heard police sirens in the distance and bolted. "I was always looking for their approval," he says, "but I never got that. View the profiles of people named Anthony Galeota. Anywhere other than La Joya, this news would be shocking. He ogled the women standing on corners in their underwear and high heels. "We were like: 'We want to get the fuck out of here. Guards with machine guns man rusty metal towers. This is a guy that the FBI went after for years but could never get him. When Bill Seidle died, Galeota knew the club's days were numbered. Seidle was never charged with a crime. 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 As far as he was concerned, he owned the military base.
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