Prostitution in Miami had become too risky, he decided, but overseas sex tourism was soaring. "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. But Tony had darker secrets. 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. Tony and Kristy were shocked and out of a job. They arrested 18 suspects, including Galeota, several strippers, and most employees. He'd already invested in seven apartments in Panama City and rented a storefront on the capital's seediest street, where prostitution was legal. With dark hair and pale, wide-set eyes, teenage Tony resembled a stocky Frank Sinatra. And theyre like, F*** yeah, lets do it. ", 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/. Thousands of teachers walk out demanding pay, funding incr Canadian teacher with size-Z prosthetic breasts placed on paid leave, What's next for Buster Murdaugh after dad's murder conviction, life sentence, US home prices just did something they haven't done since 2012, Rebel Wilson says Meghan Markle isnt as naturally warm as Prince Harry, Kristen Doute supports Ariana Madix amid mutual ex Tom Sandovals scandal, Celeb-loved jewelry brand Dorsey drops dazzling new styles, Undertaker transforms coffin into barbecue grill, Tom Sizemore And The Dangerous Burden of Desperation, Tom Sandoval breaks silence on Ariana Madix split amid cheating claims. Bonnie also shoplifted booze to sustain her hard drinking habit. Tony Galeota: From Running Porky's, Miami's Most Notorious Strip Joint We've been here for two years!' "They knew some Russian guy named Tarzan who had just opened up a club in Miami called Porky's. "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. Use tab to navigate through the menu items. How 'Tarzan' and a Cuban duo 'got in deep' with a cocaine cartel It wasn't until he ordered some Italian food and a cold Guinness that he finally felt like he was free. Operation Odessa (2018) - IMDb "I thought I would kick up my heels together like 'Oh my God, I'm finally out,'" he says. Log In. "That's the goal," is all he'll offer. "Keep your fucking hands off the girl!" Galeota also found himself in the back of an unmarked FBI car. 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. Banged Up Abroad - Wikipedia Locked up in one of the world's worst prisons, Tony has to prove his innocence and attempt an audacious escape. "This country is corrupt. Make a one-time donation today for as little as $1. "It was a nightmare in there.". Santiago de Cali shone in the syrupy South American sunlight filling Colombia's Cauca River Valley. 8:00AM. But Galeota's problems aren't completely behind him. 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. 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. Juan, Tarzan and law enforcement insisted there was no way hed agree to participate in the documentary. 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. October 4, 2012 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. Banks seized all seven of his apartments. He ogled the women standing on corners in their underwear and high heels. But then the country's corrupt system turned on them. The heavy-set Italian even signed a release. Russian immigrant Ludwig Fainberg, a.k.a. Galeota yelled. When he was 16, he knocked up his 15-year-old girlfriend at Hauppauge High School. 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. Galeota is no angelic Andy Dufresne, the main character in Shawshank who serves two decades behind bars for a crime he didn't commit. When a dancer clapped her ass cheeks like a maraca, a customer's hands instinctively rose to touch them. 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. "When you're in La Joya for two years, you get used to that environment," Galeota says. "I wouldn't leave a dog in that prison, let alone my husband.". Galeota is one of several Americans locked up here. Director Tiller Russell tells DailyMail.com that hed heard rumblings and rumors about the insane deal, but it was about seven years ago when he first got a concrete lead about Tarzan and his cronies. 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 father, Arnold, was a strait-laced sales manager but a distant and disapproving dad. Anywhere other than La Joya, this news would be shocking. Police repeatedly raided the club, yet Galeota escaped unscathed every time. "These guys were into just about everything," Assistant U.S. Attorney Diana Fernandez said at the time. Instead, they eat rice for lunch and dinner, drink dirty river water, and use a hole in the ground for a toilet. Even then, however, he couldn't sleep. 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. Log in or sign up for Facebook to connect with friends, family and people you know. 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. Get the latest updates in news, food, music and culture, and receive special offers direct to your inbox. "It was a nightmare in there. His father, Arnold, was a strait-laced sales manager but a distant and disapproving dad. "But she's never going to forget. 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. More than anything, Galeota is grateful that his family kept faith in him. And multiple sources close to Fainberg say he was pressured to rat out Seidle but refused. The goods came from sources in the freshly fallen Soviet Union, a place where everything seemed to be up for grabs at ridiculously low prices. This is a guy that the FBI went after for years but could never get him. "They would describe what they looked like," Galeota says. Anthony Galeota (right) poses with Ludwig "Tarzan" Fainberg inside the Doll House weeks before their arrest. independent local journalism in Miami. "You see who wants to fuck your wife, who wants to rob you, and who your real friends are.". A tattoo of an Italian Mafioso emerges from an extra-large sleeveless T-shirt. "Now I'm living in hell.". And last year, Yester was finally arrested in Rome on charges unrelated to the submarine while en route to a wedding. Prosecutors say police never filed the necessary paperwork. Michael Galeota Obituary (1984 - 2016) Chicago Sun-Times 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. "It is with tremendous heartfelt sadness to announce the passing of Michael James Gal Galeota is not exactly repentant. When one inmate killed another, the dead man's gang on the outside murdered the inmate's entire family, Galeota says. Docs need stars just like features need stars. He hired 'Fat Tony' Galeota as Porky's manager. Anywhere other than La Joya, this news would be shocking. Making the documentary, he says: I found the story so compelling and so riveting that I was just relentlessly magnetized to it. Tarzan, got his first job in America as an enforcer for the Gambino crime family. In the distance, La Cordillera de San Blas cuts through the Panamanian jungle like a serrated knife. Locked Up Abroad 151M subscribers Miami mobster Tony Galeota is a strip-club supremo. He answered only to property owner William Seidle, a U.S. Bankruptcy Court trustee who ran a chain of car dealerships. She's forgiven me, for the most part. SO I started with the cops and I had been kind of circling the others without knowing if it was really possible or not. Like a concert pianist, Tony Galeota has spent his life honing a single skill since he was a teenager. But Galeota's plan would soon go catastrophically wrong. In hand-painted white lettering, it reads, "Dear visitors. We break down the best movies and series to watch in November in theaters and streaming. The 43-year-old is shaped like a mini refrigerator: short and squat, with a shaved head and wide-set emerald eyes. And he hopes to open a place in Fort Lauderdale when he's back, Just not a strip club. While on routine patrol, a U.S. Customs and Border Protection plane spotted a suspicious speed boat. Like a concert pianist, Tony Galeota has spent his life honing a single skill since he was a teenager. So we met with a realtor, got high, and Tony got stupid with money. Watch Locked Up Abroad Season 10 Episode 10 Miami Mobster Take Down Online And there was absolutely no bullshit. But the man's paws were soon on her crotch again. They had girls in every city. local news and culture, Michael E. Miller By the mid-'90s, Galeota had turned Porky's into a one-stop shop for strippers, sex, and serious drugs. Indeed, court records show that Seidle was a target of the federal wiretapping investigation. Join Facebook to connect with Anthony Galeota and others you may know. Most of them were robberies gone wrong or simple revenge. So the translator said she couldn't take a shower, didn't show up, and the case was delayed. Guards with machine guns man rusty metal towers. 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. document.getElementById( "ak_js_1" ).setAttribute( "value", ( new Date() ).getTime() ); Thanks for contacting us. 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. 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. I told Juan, I said, Hey. The person they were going to pay for the submarine was the officer who let them [into the naval base], says Russell. "My father wasn't in the mob, but his friends were," Tony says. 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. local Journalism in South Florida. Next time, I will steal it back from him., Tarzan (left) at the site of the submarine. 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. Michael Galeota, who starred on the Disney Channel's "The Jersey" died Sunday, according to Variety. And, above all, selling it. 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. 4:00AM. source of local news and culture, Michael E. Miller Like a concert pianist, Tony Galeota has spent his life honing a single skill since he was a teenager. "We were doing fantastic, but Tarzan got bored and started living the life," Galeota explains. When the bartender told Shea it was last call, he became enraged. "When you're in La Joya for two years, you get used to that environment," Galeota says. Panama had gone from paradise to purgatory. "When you go to prison, it's like dying, but you get to see your own funeral," Galeota says. And I'm not asking her to.". she scoffs. With little oversight, military leaders acted as if they were independent of the government. Galeota is one of several Americans locked up here. I know its gonna be a strange question. Has a stint in Panamanian prison reformed Miami's most notorious strip club manager? Galeota saw an opportunity. We have a lot of laughs about it now," he says. Rats, roaches, and beetles the size of Chihuahuas crawl over inmates at night. It was coke or pimping or messing with the wrong people.. Within weeks of its April 2011 opening, the club was raking in $6,000 on good nights. one of the kids shouted as he pulled a handkerchief over his face and wildly swung a revolver. 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. Anthony Galeota was born October 17, 1968, on Long Island. Anthony Galeota was born October 17, 1968, on Long Island. The young mobster needed to lay low, so the Pacciones sent him south to a strip club called the Porthole Pub in Pompano Beach. But all the cops found were five grams of weed, a bottle of Viagra, and some mysterious yellow pills. 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. "I couldn't take all the people who wanted to come.". But the Doll House and Moulin Rouge remain closed. The charismatic teenager sold the stolen suits or electronics at strip clubs or used-car lots. 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. "It was home to a lot of shrewd and nefarious characters.". The 43-year-old is shaped like a mini refrigerator: short and squat, with a shaved head and wide-set emerald eyes. Half an hour later, Galeota was guarding the door when a car rolled up with the window down. Instead, they eat rice for lunch and dinner, drink dirty river water, and use a hole in the ground for a toilet. Prosecutors charged Galeota and Fainberg with not only drug dealing but also human trafficking. "The investigation was so poorly handled and rushed," says Otero, the journalist. Panamanian newspapers put "Operation Fiesta" on the front page as prosecutors alleged Galeota was part of an international crime ring. So looking back on it and all the hijinks, from being smuggled in to a Panamanian prison to crossing paths with the FSB in Moscow to being met in a Porsche Cayenne by Tony Yester and driving away thinking: Okay, the CIA, DEA, FBI and US Marshals have been looking for this guy for 25 years, and Im in his car by myself with no notion of where were going or when were coming back. In retrospect, its like, Im a moron, but at the time I was full-throttle chase the story., Of the finished product Operation Odessa, he says: Hopefully, its a rocknroll thrill ride into the underworld, where you get a passport to a life and lifestyle and characters that you didnt even imagine existed much less having a ringside seat with them., The comments below have not been moderated, By 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. 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. "The worst part of being in here is being in here for nothing. But Galeota was convinced the cops were bluffing and refused to cooperate. 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. Join the New Times community and help support Two days later, he was transferred to La Joya a hellish cinder-block complex an hour outside of Panama City. You could not mislead him in any way or you could tell that the consequences could be serious, but I loved him. Meet me in Africa for a cup of coffee tomorrow.. I gave each of my kids a Rolex when they were 5 years old. Inside, the bar is still littered with half-empty bottles of Chivas Regal. As he contemplates the question, Galeota watches his fellow inmates kick a soccer ball across La Joya's putrid playground. The Porky's party nearly came to a sudden end in early 1997. Rising swiftly through the ranks, John buries his conscience to become a notorious Mafia hitman. The Coast Guard said four suspected smugglers were taken into custody and 32 bales of cocaine were found in the water. 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. He paid for her to secretly get an abortion. Controlling it. When youre rolling with the criminal underworld, its always weird; its really weird in Russia.. Days go by without water, and when it does arrive, it's turbid sludge from a nearby river. Galeota was hit with felony drug and prostitution charges. The 43-year-old is shaped like a mini refrigerator: short and squat, with a shaved head and wide-set emerald eyes. Over the years, Galeota saw nearly a dozen shootings at Porky's, some of them fatal. Everybody wanted to make money. "I thought I would kick up my heels together like 'Oh my God, I'm finally out,'" he says. Galeota jumped at the deal. 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. The crew boarded the 165-foot Panamanian-flagged coastal freighter Hope II. He raises his eyebrows and looks upwards to the left to emphasize just how flabbergasted he was with Mishas counter question. 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. He and Fainberg were on their way to riches thanks to powerful friends and legalized prostitution. He was, after all, working with an American playboy in Miami and a fugitive Cuban spy to procure this submarine. Become a member to support the independent voice of South Florida 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. "It was puppy love," he 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. Tarzan was released from the Panamanian prison in around 2016 and has since built a side career out of playing tough guys in gangster flicks shot in Russia, where he now lives. The heavy-set Italian even signed a release. But he insists that, for once, he has done nothing wrong. See Photos. Moreover, trafficking prostitutes and drugs and involvement in organized crime are some serious charges.". Seidle was never charged with a crime. Miami's underworld may still be seedy, but it has outsourced much of its shadiness to nearby Third-World countries such as Panama. "Then they'd tell me: 'They are as good as dead.'". Running an underworld operation in Cocaine Cowboys-era Miami wasn't an easy gig. "They murdered a guy in here a couple of days ago," Tony Galeota says. His father, Arnold, was a strait-laced sales manager but a distant and disapproving dad. 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 I'm kind of stuck with it. He paid for her to secretly get an abortion. Join the New Times community and help support independent Anthony Galeota was born October 17, 1968, on Long Island. 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? Tony Goleta Profiles | Facebook Sometimes we get a little excited when we find the amount of cocaine we found, said Castro. Controlling it. When crews were launched to investigate, the suspected smugglers threw several packages into the water. 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. "That's obstruction of justice.". Like a real-life godfather, Galeota weathered it all. If any official asks you to pay for anything, please report them.". I got a piece of the action of every blowjob that my friends got," Galeota says. He was a big, big fish.". From Porky's to Panama Prison, Tony Galeota Reveals Miami's Mob-Run They are willing to assume the massive risk of getting caught and going to prison for decades, because if they make just one big score they're millionaires. Bonnie also shoplifted booze to sustain her hard drinking habit. "Maybe we didn't have the permits we were supposed to have, but we're foreigners who didn't understand the rules.". Michael Galeota, who starred on the Disney Channel's "The Jersey" died Sunday, according to Variety. "I was always looking for their approval," he says, "but I never got that. The gig introduced him to a lifelong vice. In the distance, La Cordillera de San Blas cuts through the Panamanian jungle like a serrated knife. "Running a club in that neighborhood, win or lose, you've got to fight.". But she insists that her husband's imprisonment has brought them closer. 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. 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.
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