"Everybody give me your money!" Again, Tony's friends in New York told him where to go. 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. document.getElementById( "ak_js_1" ).setAttribute( "value", ( new Date() ).getTime() ); Thanks for contacting us. Prosecutors accused him of providing prostitutes for his Russian friends, trafficking drugs, selling stolen cigarettes and liquor, and setting up arms deals for Russian and Colombian cocaine smugglers. Galeota is no angelic Andy Dufresne, the main character in Shawshank who serves two decades behind bars for a crime he didn't commit. 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. "I brought in music and women," Galeota says. They were concerned that Tarzan and his arriviste colleagues in crime would merge with Cuban mobsters who already used brutal, bloody force to rule Miamis underworld and create a sort of supergroup of criminality. Become a member to support the independent voice of South Florida 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. We asked them some questions and some of their information didnt quite add up, so we conducted a boarding.. Russian mobsters learned about their comrade's successful venture, and adopted the club as a virtual office. "My wife could have left me. 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 While on routine patrol, a U.S. Customs and Border Protection plane spotted a suspicious speed boat. The Coast Guard said each one of the kilos is worth $33,000. But Fainberg wasn't in town to catch up. "The first month, we had $15,000 in gross sales. But their courtship was cut short. Tony Goleta. Banks seized all seven of his apartments. Galeota's enemies say that a life of sin has finally caught up with the flesh-peddler. Log in or sign up for Facebook to connect with friends, family and people you know. I got a piece of the action of every blowjob that my friends got," Galeota says. Furious and Busted Rick Cedar steals radios to support his family. People named Tony Goleta. one of the kids shouted as he pulled a handkerchief over his face and wildly swung a revolver. But it was abundantly clear that the key figure in the deal was Yester and his story would be particularly illuminating though the CIA, DEA and FBI had been after him, without success, for more than two decades. As Shea tried to pull the panties off one of the dancers, he heard police sirens in the distance and bolted. 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. Documentary Drama When Miami mobster Tony Galeota opens a club in Panama City, the competition frames him for drug dealing and human trafficking. MIAMI BEACH (CBSMiami) The Coast Guard offloaded about $93 million of cocaine Thursday afternoon on Miami Beach. and help keep the future of New Times, Use of this website constitutes acceptance of our. 17:57 GMT 13 Mar 2018. Reborn behind bars. We both understand that.". 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. Prosecutors charged Galeota and Fainberg with not only drug dealing but also human trafficking. 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. 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've done a lot of shady things in the States," he admits. Kristy caught Tony cheating several times, she says. Juan felt like he had no choice, says Russell. And I'm not asking her to.". It was a weeknight, and Porky's was washed in pale-pink neon light. But he was too shell-shocked to take up his attorney's offer for a ride to a nice hotel. Become a member to support the independent voice of South Florida 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. Tarzans on board and essentially youre in the movie, one way or another. Then I ended up spending a great deal of what I like to call social engineering, which is kind of like the hanging out with all these guys theyre all very secretive cats with these very sketchy kind of criminal pasts. He was, after all, working with an American playboy in Miami and a fugitive Cuban spy to procure this submarine. So the translator said she couldn't take a shower, didn't show up, and the case was delayed. Log in or sign up for Facebook to connect with friends, family and people you know. Instead, he's trapped in a labyrinthine legal system, alone and unable to speak Spanish. 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. "The investigation was so poorly handled and rushed," says Otero, the journalist. They were very compliant to everything we asked of them, said McElhaney. Coast Guard members who seized the cocaine said this is what their jobs are all about. And like the Italian-American crooner, he loved women a little too much. "Many times, I worried about him getting killed. Biography. I have to tell you, all my enemies are dead, and Im happy, he says in the documentary. They tried to squeeze Fainberg to get Seidle. 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. "She would use shoe polish to change our driver's licenses so we could go to clubs and drink when we were 15. Luckier still, a powerful Colombian inmate named Mauricio Ramrez recognized Galeota from his restaurant. Next time, I will steal it back from him., Tarzan (left) at the site of the submarine. See Photos. Tarzan, Almeida and Yester had previously teamed on multimillion-dollar deals for Colombian cocaine barons, snagging motorcycles and Kamov 32 military helicopters (with two rotors and capable of transporting 5,000 kilos of cocaine via hook). 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. But this was Hialeah.". "They shot him in the middle of the night," Galeota continues quietly, "and buried his body behind the pavilion.". 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. Log In. 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. 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. Galeota's sheer size and mob connections are the only things keeping him from getting shivved in the dark. Galeota is no angelic Andy Dufresne, the main character in Shawshank who serves two decades behind bars for a crime he didn't commit. Like a concert pianist, Tony Galeota has spent his life honing a single skill since he was a teenager. "There was no transportation, no cops, no nothing," he says. Kristy and his sons hid in a shabby, poorly protected office. Its impossible but only because its true. Like a concert pianist, Tony Galeota has spent his life honing a single skill since he was a teenager. The year before, his father helped him land a job as a wedding DJ. Ten million dollars really feels like 10 million dollars, he gushes in the movie. She's forgiven me, for the most part. According to Yester, the cartel provided an initial payment of $10 million. More detailed reports on the crimes weren't available. 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.". 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. So we met with a realtor, got high, and Tony got stupid with money. We had a $500,000 house, cars, and motorcycles. Behind him, 12-foot-high fences topped with spools of barbed wire frame a muddy soccer field. You could not mislead him in any way or you could tell that the consequences could be serious, but I loved him. Galeota examines a bruise from a prison fight in La Joya. I gave each of my kids a Rolex when they were 5 years old. (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. "I'm in survival mode now," Galeota says, adding that he agonizes over being imprisoned for what he believes are unjust charges. Get the latest updates in news, food, music and culture, and receive special offers direct to your inbox. 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. "I was just numb.". Rats, roaches, and beetles the size of Chihuahuas crawl over inmates at night. 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. MICHAEL GALEOTA OBITUARY. Photo courtesy of Josh Weiss - Giant insects infest the prison. Instead of celebrating, he walked through the scuzzy neighbourhood until he found a shabby motel. "I couldn't take all the people who wanted to come.". 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. Almeida was a specialist in obtaining black-market goods for status-crazed drug dealers. Here, Galeota is just one of 500 prisoners crammed into a filthy cell block designed to hold 200 people. 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. Two days later, he was transferred to La Joya a hellish cinder-block complex an hour outside of Panama City. He ogled the women standing on corners in their underwear and high heels. 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. More than anything, Galeota is grateful that his family kept faith in him. These interdiction's were part of Operation Martillo, an international operation to fight illegal trafficking. His father, Arnold, was a strait-laced sales manager but a distant and disapproving dad. Like a real-life godfather, Galeota weathered it all. They put a hit out on him when he disappeared with the money, while Juan and Tarzan took the legal fall in Miami. This story has been shared 121,048 times. 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. Tony Galeota Tony Galeota. He raises his eyebrows and looks upwards to the left to emphasize just how flabbergasted he was with Mishas counter question. The 43-year-old is shaped like a mini refrigerator: short and squat, with a shaved head and wide-set emerald eyes. But the story of how the documentary got made is nearly as crazy as the caper plot itself. "They knew some Russian guy named Tarzan who had just opened up a club in Miami called Porky's. "This country is corrupt. "I'm used to getting my water from a rain bucket, not hot from the tap." "Their connections were bigger than ours," he says. But he insists that, for once, he has done nothing wrong. "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. According to the Coast Guard: It first took place north of the Gulf of Uraba. Galeota is one of several Americans locked up here. . His government protection would evaporate, the Doll House would be raided, his investments would be stolen, and he would be arrested. 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. He was 31. But the man's paws were soon on her crotch again. 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. All the services here are free. Tony Gogetta. ", McDonald has succeeded, however, in chipping away at the case, persuading a judge three weeks ago to drop the trafficking charge on a technicality. Guards with machine guns man rusty metal towers. The gig introduced him to a lifelong vice. And, above all, selling it. 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? And so from there, Juan showed up in Moscow with a vague, half-assed agreement with Tarzan he still had gotten me to come there without agreeing to be in the film, and he put me through the paces of taking me to the sauna and sort of took me on this insane kind of underworld tour of Moscow. More at IMDbPro Contact Info: View agent, publicist, legal on IMDbPro. That didnt stop Russell from trying to get them on board with doing a film about the submarine deal. Its our mission down there besides search and rescue. And like the Italian-American crooner, he loved women a little too much. 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. He created a souped-up cigarette boat that went for $2 million and was presumably used to transport cocaine. This time, the feds took over the strip club before selling it to new owners, with one requirement: Neither Galeota nor anyone else from the old club could ever work there again. He was a loan shark: generously offering money but punishing those who didn't pay back. But in South Florida, he was once a strip club king. "They murdered a guy in here a couple of days ago," Tony Galeota says. A tattoo of an Italian Mafioso emerges from an extra-large sleeveless T-shirt. He sold the shop and in 2010 opened Bongos, a restaurant serving wings and beer. View the profiles of people named Anthony Galeota. If anything, Galeota's life got even more out of control after Fainberg's arrest. 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. I hoped to walk away from the deal with $10 million.. He might have sold them the submarine, taken the money and walked away with the money.. 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? In the meantime, he's spending time with his wife and kids. ", After bribing half the guards at La Joya, Galeota was taken to an immigration holding center in Panama City where he and four codefendants were kept for four more days. 8:00AM. Juan, Tarzan and law enforcement insisted there was no way hed agree to participate in the documentary. Sixteen months later, the two men have yet to appear in court. Twice, American authorities had investigated Galeota. We've received your submission. Prisoners eat stale bread and a slice of cheese for breakfast; rice and sometimes beans is their lunch and dinner. The club was very successful. 2023 NYP Holdings, Inc. All Rights Reserved, Texas man busted in death of DJ galpal found stuffed in suitcase in Colombia, Inside the luxe lives of El Chapo's sons including jailbird Ovidio Guzmn Lpez, Arizona officials say Mexican cartels control US border: 'Ticking time bomb', Passengers on Aeromexico flight crouch in fear as plane caught in cartel crossfire: video. It was a Foxtrot-class submarine, or Project 641 as the Soviets called it. "They would describe what they looked like," Galeota says. It was this sort of legendary underworld myth, almost, that people had been talking about for, you know, 20 years., He tells DailyMail.com: In Moscow, I got a text from Tony that said, Youve talked to the waiters; you should come meet the chef. 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. Galeota is not exactly repentant. "He never forced us to do anything. ", - 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. Miami's independent source of So if you wanna do it, the time is now, and essentially, its happening one way or another, so you might be the person to author your story. But instead of classical music, his specialty is sex. 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. He met with mobsters in Cali mansions full of women, and he knocked on random doors in search of dancers. His father, Arnold, was a strait-laced sales manager but a distant and disapproving dad. He left, but returned with a gun. Instead, they eat rice for lunch and dinner, drink dirty river water, and use a hole in the ground for a toilet. In the distance, La Cordillera de San Blas cuts through the Panamanian jungle like a serrated knife. 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 is my friend, and well always love each other. He was talking to Fainberg about a murder he'd witnessed in Porky's parking lot. Locked Up Abroad 151M subscribers Miami mobster Tony Galeota is a strip-club supremo. Tony Kaleta. On Friday, May 17, Galeota got word that the judge had also dismissed the drug charge because of lack of evidence. Log In. 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. "Now I'm living in hell.". The bartender hid in the bathroom and dialed 911. Everybody wanted to make money. The Coast Guard said the eight-member crew cooperated and was taken into custody. The 43-year-old is shaped like a mini refrigerator: short and squat, with a shaved head and wide-set emerald eyes. This time, I'm innocent.". He paid for her to secretly get an abortion. Instead, they eat rice for lunch and dinner, drink dirty river water, and use a hole in the ground for a toilet. June 4, 2013 "I've done a lot of shady things in the States," he admits. When Seidle died in 2008, Porky's political protection followed the 82-year-old to the grave. The submarine request, which came from Yester on behalf of the cartel, was not as outrageous as it now sounds. All he needed now were the prostitutes. Galeota's sheer size and mob connections are the only things keeping him from getting shivved in the dark. Instead, he says competitors pulled government strings to screw him. Seidle was never charged with a crime. October 4, 2012 Thats how they eventually uncovered the plot to sell a submarine to the Cali cartel, orchestrated by Tarzan, exotic car importer Juan Almeida and Nelson Tony Yester, a Cuban immigrant believed to be a trained intelligence operative who remains an international fugitive to this day. In the distance, La Cordillera de San Blas cuts through the Panamanian jungle like a serrated knife. Then she'd charge my friends $50 each," he says. "That's the goal," is all he'll offer. Panama's judicial system is outdated and overburdened, she says. "Whenever there is an American businessman involved in crime here in Panama, it becomes an important case. Reborn behind bars. 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. "I was always looking for their approval," he says, "but I never got that. "No one can tell us how long he will be in there," she says. "It was a very violent atmosphere," he says. As he sweated in jail, Galeota's Panamanian empire crumbled. Sheila Flynn For Dailymail.com Unfortunately, Galeota's defense isn't as simple as quoting strippers, says his lawyer, Guillermina McDonald. During the Doll House raid, they found marked bills in the register and several grams of pot on a promoter. Make a one-time donation today for as little as $1. He could convince you that the sky was green." 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. He called me in two days and he asked me, do we want the submarine with missiles or without missiles? says Tarzan. At night, the guards lock the gate and leave, turning over control of each cell block to prisoners. But bloodshed would follow them to Miami. "Now I'm living in hell.". He didn't stay long. A judge eventually dropped the human trafficking charge, but Galeota still rotted in his sordid cell alongside insects the size of small dogs. But he insists that, for once, he has done nothing wrong. A judge eventually dropped the human trafficking charge, but Galeota still rotted in his sordid cell alongside insects the size of small dogs. The gig introduced him to a lifelong vice. When a dancer clapped her ass cheeks like a maraca, a customer's hands instinctively rose to touch them. "Maybe we didn't have the permits we were supposed to have, but we're foreigners who didn't understand the rules.". Finally, on May 23, the gate on Galeota's cramped cell swung open, and he was free to go. Join the New Times community and help support As chronicled in the new Showtime documentary Operation Odessa, the trio of cutthroat outlaws collaborated in 1996 to procure the ultimate weapon for Colombias money-minting Cali cocaine cartel: a military submarine. Facilitating it. Panamanian police had been casing the Doll House, Moulin Rouge, and another joint, called Havana Club, for weeks. "Whenever there is an American businessman involved in crime here in Panama, it becomes an important case. Kristy was able to pay a lawyer $500 to get her son released, but there was no bond for Galeota's drug offense. Marshals deported Ludwig Fainberg from Miami. But the deal never happened. He broke it off with the woman, but his problems were only beginning. CAKEGATE 2023: Bad Bunny's Restaurant Accused of Gobbling Birthday Girl's Cake, Neighborhood Nazi Jon Minadeo Peddles Hate by the Minute, Sen. Rubio's Permanent Daylight Savings Bill Sees Light of Day Once More, NFL Legend Ray Lewis Joins World Jai-Alai League Board of Directors, Affordable New "Micro-Units" Slated for Little River, Edgewater. 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. 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.
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