or. Finally, on May 23, the gate on Galeota's cramped cell swung open, and he was free to go. Bonnie also shoplifted booze to sustain her hard drinking habit. But Tony had darker secrets. "I couldn't take all the people who wanted to come.". Although he knows he could receive the death penalty, the money is too tempting to resist. They put a hit out on him when he disappeared with the money, while Juan and Tarzan took the legal fall in Miami. Panamanian newspapers put "Operation Fiesta" on the front page as prosecutors alleged Galeota was part of an international crime ring. 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. Greed got the better of him. 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. After that, Kristy closed Bongos. 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. Instead, they eat rice for lunch and dinner, drink dirty river water, and use a hole in the ground for a toilet. But Galeota's plan would soon go catastrophically wrong. A friend suggested Panama. Instead, they eat rice for lunch and dinner, drink dirty river water, and use a hole in the ground for a toilet. (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. As he contemplates the question, Galeota watches his fellow inmates kick a soccer ball across La Joya's putrid playground. With dark hair and pale, wide-set eyes, teenage Tony resembled a stocky Frank Sinatra. Controlling it. His mother, Bonnie Gellilti, was "a bit of a criminal," Tony remembers. Research > Galeota > Tony Galeota. "You see who wants to fuck your wife, who wants to rob you, and who your real friends are.". His father, Arnold, was a strait-laced sales manager but a distant and disapproving dad. When his dad lost his job, Tony paid the bills. "My family didn't care; they took it," Galeota says of the stolen goods. He was a big, big fish.". Eventually, he moved two dozen ladies to Panama City. But Monday morning, when it came time to walk out of La Joya, there was no vehicle waiting. Join the New Times community and help support 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. When crews were launched to investigate, the suspected smugglers threw several packages into the water. "The worst part of being in here is being in here for nothing. Like a real-life godfather, Galeota weathered it all. Galeota examines a bruise from a prison fight in La Joya. Galeota jumped at the deal. October 4, 2012 She is cute and curvy with dark hair and a button nose. On Friday, May 17, Galeota got word that the judge had also dismissed the drug charge because of lack of evidence. Its Colombian dancers were in Panama on six-month tourist visas, weren't licensed as prostitutes, and weren't getting required weekly health checkups. "My wife is never going to completely trust me. Sign Up. Galeota has seen several murders. He paid for her to secretly get an abortion. "I was 16 years old and amazed," he says. 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. S10 E10 Miami Mobster Take Down. He paid for her to secretly get an abortion. she scoffs. local Journalism in South Florida. "When you're in La Joya for two years, you get used to that environment," Galeota says. Santiago de Cali shone in the syrupy South American sunlight filling Colombia's Cauca River Valley. "Many times, I worried about him getting killed. We've been here for two years!' He and Fainberg were on their way to riches thanks to powerful friends and legalized prostitution. "My father wasn't in the mob, but his friends were," Tony says. "They shot him in the middle of the night," Galeota continues quietly, "and buried his body behind the pavilion.". He called me in two days and he asked me, do we want the submarine with missiles or without missiles? says Tarzan. "I've been in this business my whole life. Two days later, he was transferred to La Joya a hellish cinder-block complex an hour outside of Panama City. Log In. His mother, Bonnie Gellilti, was "a bit of a criminal," Tony remembers. Inside the prison, the sign is a running joke. His mother, Bonnie Gellilti, was "a bit of a criminal," Tony remembers. local news and culture, Michael E. Miller 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. Its our mission down there besides search and rescue. 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. And so it was extraordinary, where sort of person after person was this larger-than-life character, from Fat Tony the bartender to Tony Yester the spy-turned-dope-dealer-turned-fugitive. The lessons in crime didn't come fast enough for Galeota to stay out of trouble. Sixteen months later, the two men have yet to appear in court. "He had that guido effect on me," she says. "Anthony has been in jail for more than 15 months, and a judge hasn't even heard his case yet!" 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. "Then they'd tell me: 'They are as good as dead.'". He broke it off with the woman, but his problems were only beginning. Tony went on the run with the money the drug cartel provided up front, however, as authorities closed in - meaning the deal never happened, Tarzan got deported, Juan was (temporarily) convicted on drug charges and Tony became a fugitive not just from justice but from the hit that was put out on his head. Over the years, Galeota saw nearly a dozen shootings at Porky's, some of them fatal. Michael Galeota Obituary (1984 - 2016) - Pontotoc, MS - Pontotoc Progress When his younger brother was molested, he beat the suspected perpetrator to a pulp. Toni Galeota Profiles | Facebook Galeota is one of several Americans locked up here. And she launched drunken tirades at Tony after baseball games, no matter how well the all-star shortstop performed. He could convince you that the sky was green." "I used to have to patch Tony up all the time," Kristy says. Instead of celebrating, he walked through the scuzzy neighborhood until he found a shabby motel. "I lived it up in Miami," he says. 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). He needed some help," he recalls. 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. "I'm in survival mode now," Galeota says, adding that he agonizes over being imprisoned for what he believes are unjust charges. 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. Follow Miami New Times on Facebook and Twitter @MiamiNewTimes. "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. But he insists that, for once, he has done nothing wrong. Find your friends on Facebook. This time, I'm innocent.". By In January 1997, after he dropped his daughter off at school, Tarzan was arrested and hit with a 30-count federal indictment. He answered only to property owner William Seidle, a U.S. Bankruptcy Court trustee who ran a chain of car dealerships. Its a lot of f- -king paper. I gave each of my kids a Rolex when they were 5 years old. 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. According to the Coast Guard: It first took place north of the Gulf of Uraba. A tattoo of an Italian Mafioso emerges from an extra-large sleeveless T-shirt. He was a character.. "Whenever there is an American businessman involved in crime here in Panama, it becomes an important case. S10 E10 - Miami Mobster Take Down Tony Galeota is framed for drug trafficking in Panama City. 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. He was 31. He met with mobsters in Cali mansions full of women, and he knocked on random doors in search of dancers. independent local journalism in Miami. Apparently knowing all too well how things would shake out, Yester decided to screw his partners and take off for Amsterdam with the first $10 million. Log In. Watch Locked Up Abroad TV Show - Streaming Online | Nat Geo TV 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. The dead and dying are piled into wheelbarrows and left by the front gate until guards arrive in the morning. But their courtship was cut short. 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. "That's obstruction of justice.". Photo courtesy of Josh Weiss Surrounded by Colombian strippers, Galeota gives a toast during a party at the Doll House. There is no rehabilitation here," he says. Galeota's sheer size and mob connections are the only things keeping him from getting shivved in the dark. 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. Panama's judicial system is outdated and overburdened, she says. As Shea tried to pull the panties off one of the dancers, he heard police sirens in the distance and bolted. Three weeks after the Doll House raid, Kristy was working the bar at Bongos when three teenagers walked into the restaurant. Galeota yelled. Days go by without water, and when it does arrive, it's turbid sludge from a nearby river. 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. The nightmare deepened for Galeota. "Luis pulled out a .38 and shot the guy in the chest. 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. 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. Anthony Galeota was born October 17, 1968, on Long Island. "Like me, he was a black sheep who could do nothing right.". So I was literally stepping over dead bodies of the people who had been shanked and stuff over the course of the night.. There was nothing unusual about it. If I were to make this story up and pitch it as a writer, producers would be like, Thats the worst pitch Ive ever heard. And she launched drunken tirades at Tony after baseball games, no matter how well the all-star shortstop performed. Anthony Jr. was taken to a juvenile detention center that wasn't much better. Ludwig Fainberg a Russian-speaking Ukrainian nicknamed "Tarzan" for his flowing locks had opened it a few months earlier but ran it like a private club for Eastern Europeans. Here, Galeota is just one of 500 prisoners crammed into a filthy cell block designed to hold 200 people. He was talking to Fainberg about a murder he'd witnessed in Porky's parking lot. Facebook Email or phone Password Forgot account? Galeota is one of several Americans locked up here. "We were like: 'We want to get the fuck out of here. Juan, Tarzan and law enforcement insisted there was no way hed agree to participate in the documentary. "It is with tremendous heartfelt sadness to announce the passing of Michael James Gal Galeota's sheer size and mob connections are the only things keeping him from getting shivved in the dark. Tony Galeota Wikipedia: Everything To Know About The Film Actor But his mind was on another kind of riches. A dozen plainclothes cops poured in with pistols drawn. 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. "My father wasn't in the mob, but his friends were," Tony says. 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. Biography. The club was very successful. Russell did as he was told and flew to the appointed city in Africa; as soon as he walked into his hotel room, the phone rang and he was instructed to be downstairs in five minutes, where Tony whisked him off in a Porsche Cayenne and they spent several surreal days together; Tony showed the director his Russian fighter jet, which had $5million in the cockpit as the fugitives getaway plan, and told his part of the story. Docs need stars just like features need stars. Luckier still, a powerful Colombian inmate named Mauricio Ramrez recognized Galeota from his restaurant. Inside La Joya, he had paid a guard to smuggle in a BlackBerry to talk to his wife, but strangers kept calling with threats to kill his kids unless he paid them. With little oversight, military leaders acted as if they were independent of the government. "Now I'm living in hell.". He was 31. This time, I'm innocent.". 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 local news and culture, Michael E. Miller Prostitution is legal in Panama," he complains. "Thank God I'm out," he tells New Times in his first interview since his release. 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. More than anything, Galeota is grateful that his family kept faith in him. Just not a strip club. The irony is not lost on Galeota that after a life of crime in Miami, he was arrested in Panama just as he was going legit. Prosecutors say police never filed the necessary paperwork. 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. Juan felt like he had no choice, says Russell. By now, she knows of his many infidelities, including that he lived and slept with some of the girls at the Doll House. And he hopes to open a place in Fort Lauderdale when he's back, Just not a strip club. Panamanian police had been casing the Doll House, Moulin Rouge, and another joint, called Havana Club, for weeks. 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.. The guards leave at 5pm, and they just lock the gates, and its inmate rule at night, he says, explaining that he bribed a guard to get him in and out of the jail. CAKEGATE 2023: Bad Bunny's Restaurant Accused of Gobbling Birthday Girl's Cake, Neighborhood Nazi Jon Minadeo Peddles Hate by the Minute, Gator Gets in on the Action at Tampa Bay Horse Race, 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. Use tab to navigate through the menu items. He'd already invested in seven apartments in Panama City and rented a storefront on the capital's seediest street, where prostitution was legal. Prostitution was so common at Porky's that the club had fixed places and prices, Galeota says. But Galeota was convinced the cops were bluffing and refused to cooperate. In the distance, La Cordillera de San Blas cuts through the Panamanian jungle like a serrated knife. Michael Galeota's Obituary (1984 - 2016) Estes Park Trail-Gazette Next time, I will steal it back from him., Tarzan (left) at the site of the submarine.
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