tony galeota family
If only there were a place where prostitution was legal, he thought, a city full of beautiful women like Miami, but no rules. 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. His father, Arnold, was a strait-laced sales manager but a distant and disapproving dad. See Photos. The Doll House couldn't expand fast enough to meet the influx of sex tourists. Greed got the better of him. 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. 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. 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. His mother, Bonnie Gellilti, was "a bit of a criminal," Tony remembers. We were approximately 24-hours on board before we got to a hidden compartment, said Castro.There was a hidden compartment and once we opened it we found all the contraband.. "It's not an easy choice," she says. Then an old friend showed up. For the most part, Doll House dancers agree. "When you're in La Joya for two years, you get used to that environment," Galeota says. We've been here for two years!' "Thank God I'm out," he tells New Times in his first interview since his release. But all the cops found were five grams of weed, a bottle of Viagra, and some mysterious yellow pills. There was nothing unusual about it. Galeota says the police had already gotten what they wanted: Porky's demise. He didn't stay long. Galeota's sheer size and mob connections are the only things keeping him from getting shivved in the dark. 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. He is currently being held in Italy. 4:00AM. As the couple drove south on I-95, they thought they were leaving the worst behind them. "I've done a lot of shady things in the States," he admits. Police again surrounded Porky's in the early hours of May 9, 2009. Indeed, court records show that Seidle was a target of the federal wiretapping investigation. Tony Gogetta. Become a member to support the independent voice of South Florida "I was 16 years old and amazed," he says. "My family didn't care; they took it," Galeota says of the stolen goods. Indeed, Havana Club has already reopened. Filmography (by Job) Trailers and Videos. Here, Galeota is just one of 500 prisoners crammed into a filthy cell block designed to hold 200 people. Tony Galeota has a wife named Kristy Galeota, with whom he lives. We had a $500,000 house, cars, and motorcycles. 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. 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. "My wife could have left me. While he, Tarzan and Juan were dealing with the Colombians and while Tony and Tarzan even got onto a Russian military naval base to tour a possible submarine for the deal the entire time the Cuban was planning to rip off the Colombians. The club was very successful. "Another night at Porky's, another shooting," he remembers now from his prison cell in Panama. "She would use shoe polish to change our driver's licenses so we could go to clubs and drink when we were 15. Over the years, Galeota saw nearly a dozen shootings at Porky's, some of them fatal. "But I've always paid for everything, either with stitches in my head, concussions, or jail time. "There was no transportation, no cops, no nothing," he says. During a visit last month, a New Times reporter witnessed one police official receive a $20 bill in a barely disguised handshake. See Photos. His attorney has warned him that prosecutors will likely appeal, so he plans to stay in Panama until his case is resolved. This time, I'm innocent.". Galeota jumped at the deal. By "Like me, he was a black sheep who could do nothing right.". He decked out the Doll House with five upstairs rooms equipped with king-size beds, mirrors, lube, condoms, and showers, and brought in dozens of Colombian women, who could earn $120 split with the club for an hour of sex. His father, Arnold, was a strait-laced sales manager but a distant and disapproving dad. He offered protection and gave Galeota $200. None of them ever appeared in the newspapers, but Hialeah police records confirm there were at least ten shootings at Porky's during Galeota's tenure. He was recently sentenced to serve around six years in federal prison. And there was absolutely no bullshit. When his younger brother was molested, he beat the suspected perpetrator to a pulp. It was 1990, and Galeota transformed the place by wiring in subwoofers and bringing in New York dancers. The gig introduced him to a lifelong vice. We did outsmart the FBI, we did outsmart the DEA, we even did outsmart the court, Tarzan says in the film. Panama had gone from paradise to purgatory. 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. Everybody wanted to make money. "That's obstruction of justice.". He answered only to property owner William Seidle, a U.S. Bankruptcy Court trustee who ran a chain of car dealerships. It wasn't until he ordered some Italian food and a cold Guinness that he finally felt like he was free. He was 31. Police repeatedly raided the club, yet Galeota escaped unscathed every time. 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. 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. 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. Join the New Times community and help support Log In. But the hassle had taken its toll on him. "But she's never going to forget. "It was a very violent atmosphere," he says. A tattoo of an Italian Mafioso emerges from an extra-large sleeveless T-shirt. Moreover, trafficking prostitutes and drugs and involvement in organized crime are some serious charges.". 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. 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. He needed some help," he recalls. The gig introduced him to a lifelong vice. Making the documentary, he says: I found the story so compelling and so riveting that I was just relentlessly magnetized to it. He raises his eyebrows and looks upwards to the left to emphasize just how flabbergasted he was with Mishas counter question. one of the kids shouted as he pulled a handkerchief over his face and wildly swung a revolver. People named Tony Galeta. Anywhere other than La Joya, this news would be shocking. As Shea tried to pull the panties off one of the dancers, he heard police sirens in the distance and bolted. But he insists that, for once, he has done nothing wrong. Follow Miami New Times on Facebook and Twitter @MiamiNewTimes. Galeota and his "girls" in the Doll House, before the bust. Episode 5: Spain /Sold My Soul But Galeota's plan would soon go catastrophically wrong. Next time, I will steal it back from him., Tarzan (left) at the site of the submarine. Tony Galletta. La Joya is flush with contraband, from cell phones and cigarettes to marijuana and handguns all of it brought in with the complicity of corrupt guards. 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. ", Coast Guard Offloads More Than $93 Million In Cocaine, Miami Beach. The domestic bliss lasted only a couple of weeks. "They shot him in the middle of the night," Galeota continues quietly, "and buried his body behind the pavilion.". "I was just numb.". This time, I'm innocent.". Galeota's enemies say that a life of sin has finally caught up with the flesh-peddler. 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. Galeota's enemies say that a life of sin has finally caught up with the flesh-peddler. "I lived it up in Miami," he says. 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. Facilitating it. His name was Tony Galeota, he said, and he had run Porky's for 18 years before being locked up in Panama's worst prison for a crime he didn't commit. 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. Its our mission down there besides search and rescue. Police repeatedly raided the club, yet Galeota escaped unscathed every time. Become a member to support the independent voice of South Florida Even then, however, he couldn't sleep. And, above all, selling it. "We just meshed," she says. Even though Yester may have suspected that the cartel was after him, he couldnt help but try to get his hands on the remaining $25 million. 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. His government protection would evaporate, the Doll House would be raided, his investments would be stolen, and he would be arrested. Once they spotted the plane, they changed course which is suspicious for us, said Boatswains Mate 1st Class, Joshua McElhaney with the Coast Guard. His mother, Bonnie Gellilti, was "a bit of a criminal," Tony remembers. 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. 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. "We treated the women well.". View the profiles of people named Anthony Galeota. Prosecutors say police never filed the necessary paperwork. 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. Tony Goleta. The Porky's party nearly came to a sudden end in early 1997. ", 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. "It was puppy love," 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 criminal," Tony remembers. While on routine patrol, a U.S. Customs and Border Protection plane spotted a suspicious speed boat. Because of his age, he escaped with six months' probation. 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. 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?. And she launched drunken tirades at Tony after baseball games, no matter how well the all-star shortstop performed. Anthony Galeota was born October 17, 1968, on Long Island. By the mid-'90s, Galeota had turned Porky's into a one-stop shop for strippers, sex, and serious drugs. Anthony Galeota was born October 17, 1968, on Long Island. Miami's independent source of Meet me in Africa for a cup of coffee tomorrow.. Reborn behind bars. 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. "The worst part of being in here is being in here for nothing. Finally, on May 23, the gate on Galeota's cramped cell swung open, and he was free to go. October 4, 2012 By now, she knows of his many infidelities, including that he lived and slept with some of the girls at the Doll House. Anthony Galeota was born October 17, 1968, on Long Island. Cops had made several controlled buys of drugs. Years later, Tarzan again found himself behind bars, this time in Panama; in fact, he was serving time in 2011 when Russell first approached him for the documentary. Within weeks of its April 2011 opening, the club was raking in $6,000 on good nights. With dark hair and pale, wide-set eyes, teenage Tony resembled a stocky Frank Sinatra. But in South Florida, he was once a strip club king. "My wife can say she has regrets, but that's bullshit," he says. Were out there to cause an effect in the drug industry and I believe we made a little dent on it.. Over the course of three months, undercover detectives made dozens of visits, tallying up a vivid snapshot of the club: "15 purchases of cocaine, four purchases of MDMA, one purchase of Xanax, one purchase of marijuana, 18 solicitations for prostitution, [and] 20 lewd acts.". 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. When Galeota stood up, he checked his T-shirt for bullet holes, but found none. Russian immigrant Ludwig Fainberg, a.k.a. Facilitating it. Sign Up. 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. (CBS Miami). Prostitution is legal in Panama," he complains. With Fainberg locked up, Porky's was Galeota's plaything. 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. The submarine request, which came from Yester on behalf of the cartel, was not as outrageous as it now sounds. He could convince you that the sky was green." "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. It was coke or pimping or messing with the wrong people.. We are no longer accepting comments on this article. Banks seized all seven of his apartments. In January 2017, Almeida got federally charged by the Drug Enforcement Administration with conspiracy to possess narcotics with intent to distribute. This time, I'm innocent.". They were very compliant to everything we asked of them, said McElhaney. 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. But Tony had darker secrets. Wrongly imprisoned. Prisoners eat stale bread and a slice of cheese for breakfast; rice and sometimes beans is their lunch and dinner. Instead, he's trapped in a labyrinthine legal system, alone and unable to speak Spanish. 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. His attorney has warned him that prosecutors will likely appeal, so he plans to stay in Panama until his case is resolved. Galeota's enemies say that a life of sin has finally caught up with the flesh-peddler. Bonnie also shoplifted booze to sustain her hard drinking habit. At night, the guards lock the gate and leave, turning over control of each cell block to prisoners. "Luis pulled out a .38 and shot the guy in the chest. Inmates are fed bread and cheese for breakfast and rice (sometimes beans) for lunch and dinner. While out of sight, he phoned his guy and lied about being in a particular taxi cab. She is cute and curvy with dark hair and a button nose. Bonnie also shoplifted booze to sustain her hard drinking habit. October 4, 2012 Thats why you have to do this kind of story as non-fiction., The initial meeting with Tarzan, however, was hampered by the fact that the Russian mob got wind of Russells visit, he says, and they threatened Tarzans life inside the jail if he shared his full story. He left, but returned with a gun. Anywhere other than La Joya, this news would be shocking. Research > Galeota > Tony Galeota. Again, the charges were dropped. Garrulous and bearish, the dentist-turned-hood (practicing the former in the Soviet Union and training for the latter in Brighton Beach) routinely carried two pistols and operated out of his Hialeah, Fla., strip club, Porkys: famous for a small motorized car that pulled up between the spread legs of dancers as they performed. I got a piece of the action of every blowjob that my friends got," Galeota says. He was a big, big fish.". He paid for her to secretly get an abortion. Galeota may not be a good man, but he is brutally honest. Make a one-time donation today for as little as $1. #Torture #PanamGovernment #LaJoyaprisonPanam #PresidentVarela #Panam #Corruption. He also owned the Russian restaurant Babushka, which was a magnet for snowbirding criminals from his homeland. The smugglers boat was destroyed because it was a hazard to navigation. But bloodshed would follow them to Miami. 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. 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. On a crowded balcony overlooking La Joya, Galeota describes the past 16 months as a nightmare. "I wouldn't leave a dog in that prison, let alone my husband.". Its a lot of f- -king paper. ", http://www.miaminewtimes.com/2012-10-04/news/tony-galeota-from-running-porky-s-miami-s-most-notorious-strip-joint-to-rotting-in-a-panamanian-jail/full/. ", - 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 fear was well founded, considering what went down when Tarzan linked up with Cuban outlaws Juan Almeida and Nelson Tony Yester. His father, Arnold, was a strait-laced sales manager but a distant and disapproving dad. But Galeota's problems aren't completely behind him. Guards with machine guns man rusty metal towers. Santiago de Cali shone in the syrupy South American sunlight filling Colombia's Cauca River Valley. Tony is my friend, and well always love each other. This looks great. . The crew boarded the 165-foot Panamanian-flagged coastal freighter Hope II. "When you go to prison, it's like dying, but you get to see your own funeral," Galeota says. "I just watched Luis blow a guy away," Galeota heard himself say on tape. 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. Then once he sent me this crazy email like, Holy s***! 8:00AM. Between the restaurant and the Doll House, he was making enough to retire in five years. Catherine says she slept with customers because she needed the money to support her family. We have a lot of laughs about it now," he says. Make a one-time donation today for as little as $1. And when his mother was distraught over a broken washing machine, he filled the house with new appliances. "When you're in La Joya for two years, you get used to that environment," Galeota says. 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. 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. We've been here for two years!' Find your friends on Facebook. I gave each of my kids a Rolex when they were 5 years old. "Whenever there is an American businessman involved in crime here in Panama, it becomes an important case. Coast Guard members who seized the cocaine said this is what their jobs are all about. When traffickers balked at the price, Yester reminded them that it could hold 40 tons of cocaine and would pay for itself quickly. "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 Galeota Tony Galeota. 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. 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 43-year-old is shaped like a mini refrigerator: short and squat, with a shaved head and wide-set emerald eyes. Michael Galeota, who starred on the Disney Channel's "The Jersey" died Sunday, according to Variety. We both understand that.". Tony Galeota's age is expected to be 52. While another new prisoner was beaten and robbed, Galeota was untouched. The year before, his father helped him land a job as a wedding DJ. Docs need stars just like features need stars. Advertisement. See Photos. If Galeota is freed, it will be a major blow for Panama's prostitution crackdown. 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. "You see who wants to fuck your wife, who wants to rob you, and who your real friends are.". It had been ten years since U.S. 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. Murdaugh is heckled as he leaves court, Moment teenager crashes into back of lorry after 100mph police race, Ken Bruce finishes his 30-year tenure as host of BBC Radio 2, Family of a 10-month-old baby filmed vaping open up, Missing hiker buried under snow forces arm out to wave to helicopter, Insane moment river of rocks falls onto Malibu Canyon in CA, Fleet-footed cop chases an offender riding a scooter, Ukrainian soldier takes out five tanks with Javelin missiles. She's forgiven me, for the most part. In January 1997, after he dropped his daughter off at school, Tarzan was arrested and hit with a 30-count federal indictment. "Maybe we didn't have the permits we were supposed to have, but we're foreigners who didn't understand the rules.". ), Right about the time my last film was coming out, he emailed me and said, I did a jailbreak from Panama, traveled to Costa Rica, on to Cuba and then got repatriated to Moscow Im ready to do the movie, Russell says. Documentary Drama When Miami mobster Tony Galeota opens a club in Panama City, the competition frames him for drug dealing and human trafficking. Join the New Times community and help support independent Moreover, trafficking prostitutes and drugs and involvement in organized crime are some serious charges.". The year before, his father helped him land a job as a wedding DJ. Make a one-time donation today for as little as $1. But Fainberg wasn't in town to catch up. Nearly 300 feet long with 10 torpedo tubes (empty in this case), it was diesel but could be converted to electric for silent running. "I don't care how strong you are; that's going to affect your marriage," she says. By the time he was 18, he had been arrested seven times for armed robbery and assault, he says. 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. Miami's underworld may still be seedy, but it has outsourced much of its shadiness to nearby Third-World countries such as Panama. He was 31. When Galeota arrived in Miami in the summer of 1991, the city was awash in coke, crack, and drug cash. "This country is corrupt. It was like this super weird, incredibly sketchy circumstance that we came together in, Russell tells DailyMail.com of his visit to the Mad Max-like prison where at night they lock the gates. "They had what seemed like a dynamite case, but it has ended up in pieces.". 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. Facebook gives people the power. 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. In the distance, La Cordillera de San Blas cuts through the Panamanian jungle like a serrated knife. He sold the shop and in 2010 opened Bongos, a restaurant serving wings and beer. Of the $10 million, he said, I cannot f- -king believe it how fast I spend it.. 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. Controlling it. This story has been shared 173,716 times.
Is Firefighter One Word Or Two,
Houses For Rent In Edgar County, Il,
Articles T