tony galeota family

The gig introduced him to a lifelong vice. 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. But the story of how the documentary got made is nearly as crazy as the caper plot itself. With dark hair and pale, wide-set eyes, teenage Tony resembled a stocky Frank Sinatra. Prostitution in Miami had become too risky, he decided, but overseas sex tourism was soaring. Family members can also bring them food and clean water, however, and inmates bribe guards to smuggle in additional items. The gig introduced him to a lifelong vice. If anything, Galeota's life got even more out of control after Fainberg's arrest. 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. And then Russell got a text message out of the blue. The dead and dying are piled into wheelbarrows and left by the front gate until guards arrive in the morning. Galeota is not exactly repentant. Sixteen months later, the two men have yet to appear in court. Running an underworld operation in Cocaine Cowboys-era Miami wasn't an easy gig. "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. 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. 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. When crews were launched to investigate, the suspected smugglers threw several packages into the water. 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 Jr. was taken to a juvenile detention center that wasn't much better. Get the latest updates in news, food, music and culture, and receive special offers direct to your inbox. So I was literally stepping over dead bodies of the people who had been shanked and stuff over the course of the night.. But all the cops found were five grams of weed, a bottle of Viagra, and some mysterious yellow pills. This time, I'm innocent.". Tony Galeta. Behind him, 12-foot-high fences topped with spools of barbed wire frame a muddy soccer field. "The first month, we had $15,000 in gross sales. Gunshots flashed like fireworks in the darkness. "No one can tell us how long he will be in there," 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. Police again surrounded Porky's in the early hours of May 9, 2009. Instead of celebrating, he walked through the scuzzy neighbourhood until he found a shabby motel. 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. Inside, the bar is still littered with half-empty bottles of Chivas Regal. Become a member to support the independent voice of South Florida He called me in two days and he asked me, do we want the submarine with missiles or without missiles? says Tarzan. 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. 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. "It was a nightmare in there. By then, the club's criminal clientele and Fainberg's increasingly lavish lifestyle had raised eyebrows. Explore More. Galeota is no angelic Andy Dufresne, the main character in Shawshank who serves two decades behind bars for a crime he didn't commit. A deep bass line rattled customers' chests as they downed overpriced drinks. 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! . And, above all, selling it. "They knew some Russian guy named Tarzan who had just opened up a club in Miami called Porky's. Through the air plane window, Tony Galeota could see the city's colonial churches glow like polished gold. Everything here has a cost.". 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. 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. 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. But she insists that her husband's imprisonment has brought them closer. source of local news and culture, Michael E. Miller Wrongly imprisoned. Nobody was impressed more than Kristy Sharpe, an 18-year-old waitress from Orlando with blond hair, blue eyes, and lightly freckled skin. By now, she knows of his many infidelities, including that he lived and slept with some of the girls at the Doll House. A year later, it was $115,000 per month.". 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. At the entrance to La Joya, ant hills and wasp nests surround a wooden sign. They tried to squeeze Fainberg to get Seidle. While Galeota avoided testifying, Fainberg faced 30 counts including racketeering and conspiracy to traffic cocaine and heroin. 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. "They had what seemed like a dynamite case, but it has ended up in pieces.". Sheila Flynn For Dailymail.com I know its gonna be a strange question. The heavy-set Italian even signed a release. When he was 16, he knocked up his 15-year-old girlfriend at Hauppauge High School. It continued at another local strip club, called Quarterbacks Playmates Lounge. We travelled all the time. See Photos. When Galeota arrived in Miami in the summer of 1991, the city was awash in coke, crack, and drug cash. 8:00AM. And last year, Yester was finally arrested in Rome on charges unrelated to the submarine while en route to a wedding. His school friends didn't believe him, so a few days later he sneaked out, stole his mom's minivan, and drove around the neighborhood loading up with other teens. Anthony Galeota was born October 17, 1968, on Long Island. I gave each of my kids a Rolex when they were 5 years old. or. It is not known when he was born or his current age. But in South Florida, he was once a strip club king. For the most part, Doll House dancers agree. He and Kristy struck up an unlikely romance. With dark hair and pale, wide-set eyes, teenage Tony resembled a stocky Frank Sinatra. 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. "I used to have to patch Tony up all the time," Kristy says. But Monday morning, when it came time to walk out of La Joya, there was no vehicle waiting. 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. 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.. Panama had gone from paradise to purgatory. In January 1997, after he dropped his daughter off at school, Tarzan was arrested and hit with a 30-count federal indictment. "He was a smooth-talker. Unfortunately, Galeota's defense isn't as simple as quoting strippers, says his lawyer, Guillermina McDonald. His attorney has warned him that prosecutors will likely appeal, so he plans to stay in Panama until his case is resolved. "I couldn't take all the people who wanted to come.". Dalia Dippolito May Have Tried to Kill Him, But Michael Dippolito Is No Saint, Florida Man Wrestles Shark For Forty Five Minutes, Florida to Execute Death Row Prisoner Donald Dillbeck in February, "We Are Everywhere": Ominous Messages on Anti-Abortion Counseling Centers Prompt Federal Charges, So You're Saying There's (Still) a Chance: Dolphins Playoff Chances Dwindle After 26-20 Loss, Trashed American Flag Sparks Capitol Hill Kerfuffle, Do Not Sell or Share My Personal Information. While Kristy was still in the States, he lived with five of his Colombian prostitutes. ", McDonald has succeeded, however, in chipping away at the case, persuading a judge three weeks ago to drop the trafficking charge on a technicality. SO I started with the cops and I had been kind of circling the others without knowing if it was really possible or not. "Keep your fucking hands off the girl!" 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. "I just watched Luis blow a guy away," Galeota heard himself say on tape. When he was 16, he knocked up his 15-year-old girlfriend at Hauppauge High School. So we met with a realtor, got high, and Tony got stupid with money. the agent said. We've received your submission. People named Tony Goleta. The club was very successful. In an instant, Galeota's meaty hand was around the customer's neck, shoving him outside. The last one locked the door. Im gonna see them in f***ing hell when I arrive there., Russell says the fugitive is probably one of the most fascinating human beings Ive ever been in a room with., He adds: Theres five other films you couldve made about his life and life experiences, and yet he was charming and cultured and funny and also, then, on a dime deadly serious, not somebody that you trifle with. On Friday, May 17, Galeota got word that the judge had also dismissed the drug charge because of lack of evidence. Galeota's enemies say that a life of sin has finally caught up with the flesh-peddler. It could be worse. When Galeota arrived, his mobster reputation preceded him. Advertisement. 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). Prosecutors charged Galeota and Fainberg with not only drug dealing but also human trafficking. Tony Galeota's age is expected to be 52. See Photos. Nearly 300 feet long with 10 torpedo tubes (empty in this case), it was diesel but could be converted to electric for silent running. Controlling it. MICHAEL GALEOTA OBITUARY. "This case has had a big impact here," says Jos Otero, a reporter for Panamanian newspaper La Prensa. "Now I'm living in hell.". But Tony had darker secrets. Kristy and his sons hid in a shabby, poorly protected office. "Thank God I'm out," he tells New Times in his first interview since his release. "I wouldn't leave a dog in that prison, let alone my husband.". ), The narcotics charge, however, still stands despite little evidence linking Galeota to the drugs. "I was always looking for their approval," he says, "but I never got that. This time, I'm innocent.". Cops had made several controlled buys of drugs. I said, Thank you, Cali cartel. We've been here for two years!' Research > Galeota > Tony Galeota. In hand-painted white lettering, it reads, "Dear visitors. "I lived it up in Miami," he says. His father, Arnold, was a strait-laced sales manager but a distant and disapproving dad. It had been ten years since U.S. she scoffs. Also read: Tony Galeota: From Running. When a dancer clapped her ass cheeks like a maraca, a customer's hands instinctively rose to touch them. "It was puppy love," he says. He ogled the women standing on corners in their underwear and high heels. Miami's underworld may still be seedy, but it has outsourced much of its shadiness to nearby Third-World countries such as Panama. "Thank God I'm out," he tells New Times in his first interview since his release. "I've done a lot of shady things in the States," he admits. We both understand that.". The year before, his father helped him land a job as a wedding DJ. Eventually, however, he made his way to Tarzan. "But I've always paid for everything, either with stitches in my head, concussions, or jail time. Bonnie also shoplifted booze to sustain her hard drinking habit. ", Coast Guard Offloads More Than $93 Million In Cocaine, Miami Beach. A tattoo of an Italian Mafioso emerges from an extra-large sleeveless T-shirt. Miami's independent source of Police repeatedly raided the club, yet Galeota escaped unscathed every time. "My wife is never going to completely trust me. 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. This business has been very good to me.". His attorney has warned him that prosecutors will likely appeal, so he plans to stay in Panama until his case is resolved. "My wife could have left me. 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. He paid for her to secretly get an abortion. Although he knows he could receive the death penalty, the money is too tempting to resist. It was 1990, and Galeota transformed the place by wiring in subwoofers and bringing in New York dancers. The Coast Guard said each one of the kilos is worth $33,000. His mother, Bonnie Gellilti, was "a bit of a criminal," Tony remembers. "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. 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. McDonald expects those will be dismissed as well, but not for months. Born on June 3, 1924 at Hartford. Its about 2,800 kilos, about a ton and a half of contraband. The message was that the cocaine traffickers would kill Yesters family members. But their courtship was cut short. "This case has had a big impact here," says Jos Otero, a reporter for Panamanian newspaper La Prensa. "Anthony has been in jail for more than 15 months, and a judge hasn't even heard his case yet!" Anthony Galeota was born October 17, 1968, on Long Island. "I lived it up in Miami," he says. He and Fainberg were on their way to riches thanks to powerful friends and legalized prostitution. local news and culture, Michael E. Miller "Their connections were bigger than ours," he says. He paid for her to secretly get an abortion. As the authorities closed in, they picked up Juan and Tarzan, but they couldnt find Tony and neither could the cartel. TV-14 | 06.05.2013. 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. Sign Up. 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. We had a $500,000 house, cars, and motorcycles. "Another night at Porky's, another shooting," he remembers now from his prison cell in Panama. We break down the best movies and series to watch in November in theaters and streaming. 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 man deeply embedded with Escobar's Medelln cartel, Tony had a notorious reputation as "a really bad guy"he was once caught with 41 passports, and featured on his own 1999 episode of America's. "It is with tremendous heartfelt sadness to announce the passing of Michael James. 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. Panamanian newspapers put "Operation Fiesta" on the front page as prosecutors alleged Galeota was part of an international crime ring. 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. 4:00AM. Kristy was able to pay a lawyer $500 to get her son released, but there was no bond for Galeota's drug offense. "Their connections were bigger than ours," he says. When he heard that his old partner in crime from Porky's had moved to Panama, he flew in to meet with Galeota. Anthony Galeota was born October 17, 1968, on Long Island. Galeota is one of several Americans locked up here. When he left to open a bona fide brothel in Panama, Galeota thought the country's lax prostitution laws would make him rich. "The investigation was so poorly handled and rushed," says Otero, the journalist. "That's the goal," is all he'll offer. They taught him the rules, the most important of which Galeota took to heart: "You can have your girlfriends on the side," he remembers hearing, "but never leave your wife.". Galeota saw an opportunity. Anthony Galeota was born October 17, 1968, on Long Island. 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. When youre rolling with the criminal underworld, its always weird; its really weird in Russia.. 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. In the meantime, he's spending time with his wife and kids. "A family type thing, like an ale house with wings and beer," he says. This looks great. . Anthony Galeota was born October 17, 1968, on Long Island. 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. Its impossible but only because its true. "He had that guido effect on me," she says. "That clean, business-friendly, postcard-Panama bullshit is just a faade," Galeota says. Kristy caught Tony cheating several times, she says. But he was too shell-shocked to take up his attorney's offer for a ride to a nice hotel. 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. But in South Florida, he was once a strip club king. A tattoo of an Italian Mafioso emerges from an extra-large sleeveless T-shirt. Michael Galeota, who starred on the Disney Channel's "The Jersey" died Sunday, according to Variety. Then she'd charge my friends $50 each," he says. When Seidle died in 2008, Porky's political protection followed the 82-year-old to the grave. And he hopes to open a place in Fort Lauderdale when he's back, Just not a strip club. "It was puppy love," he says. When his younger brother was molested, he beat the suspected perpetrator to a pulp. 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. See Photos. 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. 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. 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. We didn't even have to have sex unless we wanted to," says a Colombian stripper named Catherine. Galeota also found himself in the back of an unmarked FBI car. Jimmy Galeota has spent the last month-and-a-half grieving his older brother Michael's death - but perhaps the most difficult part of it all to swallow has been the bizarre circumstances that. The Porky's party nearly came to a sudden end in early 1997. "We were like: 'We want to get the fuck out of here. 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. June 4, 2013 He hired 'Fat Tony' Galeota as Porky's manager. Galeota already lived according to a gangster's code. People named Toni Galeota Find your friends on Facebook Log in or sign up for Facebook to connect with friends, family and people you know. "This country is corrupt. 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. His government protection would evaporate, the Doll House would be raided, his investments would be stolen, and he would be arrested. He could convince you that the sky was green." His mother, Bonnie Gellilti, was "a bit of a criminal," Tony remembers. So the translator said she couldn't take a shower, didn't show up, and the case was delayed. As far as he was concerned, he owned the military base. local Journalism in South Florida. "I was just numb.". October 4, 2012 Find your friends on Facebook. Days go by without water, and when it does arrive, it's turbid sludge from a nearby river. "But I did it for my child.". His mother, Bonnie Gellilti, was "a bit of a criminal," Tony remembers. Next time, I will steal it back from him., Tarzan (left) at the site of the submarine. Within weeks of its April 2011 opening, the club was raking in $6,000 on good nights. 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. Galeota is one of several Americans locked up here. 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 instead of classical music, his specialty is sex. 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. Three weeks after the Doll House raid, Kristy was working the bar at Bongos when three teenagers walked into the restaurant. He headed right to his beloved Miami, Florida. Tony Galeota lived in 1954, at address, Massachusetts. "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 wife Kristy comments "Porky's was definitely a place you could get killed." They arrested 18 suspects, including Galeota, several strippers, and most employees. Sometimes we get a little excited when we find the amount of cocaine we found, said Castro. Join the New Times community and help support

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