Cory Stark New Baby, Anonymous Content Assistant, Articles T

Michael Galeota, who starred on the Disney Channel's "The Jersey" died Sunday, according to Variety. S10 E10 Miami Mobster Take Down. That didnt stop Russell from trying to get them on board with doing a film about the submarine deal. Anthony Galeota was born October 17, 1968, on Long Island. But this was Hialeah.". His father, Arnold, was a strait-laced sales manager but a distant and disapproving dad. View Tony Galeota's 1940 US census record to find family members, occupation details & more. His mother, Bonnie Gellilti, was "a bit of a criminal," Tony remembers. But Galeota was convinced the cops were bluffing and refused to cooperate. I had kind of, little by little, put the word out to everybody among the cops, all the law enforcement side as well as among the crooks and said, Gotta meet Tony, gotta meet Tony, gotta meet Tony knowing that he was the only guy who really knew what happened. 4:00AM. I just called a friend who had a friend and asked if he could get us a sub. But his mind was on another kind of riches. The lessons in crime didn't come fast enough for Galeota to stay out of trouble. 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. Yester, a highly regarded affiliate of multiple cocaine cartels, opened European markets for Colombian narco-terrorist Pablo Escobar and went on the run in 1990 after being charged with cocaine trafficking. All the services here are free. Galeota is no angelic Andy Dufresne, the main character in Shawshank who serves two decades behind bars for a crime he didn't commit. local Journalism in South Florida. "No one can tell us how long he will be in there," she says. The Coast Guard said four suspected smugglers were taken into custody and 32 bales of cocaine were found in the water. And she launched drunken tirades at Tony after baseball games, no matter how well the all-star shortstop performed. "We were like: 'We want to get the fuck out of here. Filmography (by Job) Trailers and Videos. "But I've always paid for everything, either with stitches in my head, concussions, or jail time. "I'm in survival mode now," Galeota says, adding that he agonizes over being imprisoned for what he believes are unjust charges. The year before, his father helped him land a job as a wedding DJ. The 43-year-old is shaped like a mini refrigerator: short and squat, with a shaved head and wide-set emerald eyes. Controlling it. Docs need stars just like features need stars. Russian immigrant Ludwig Fainberg, a.k.a. 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. Were out there to cause an effect in the drug industry and I believe we made a little dent on it.. He was 31. Everything here has a cost.". MIAMI BEACH (CBSMiami) The Coast Guard offloaded about $93 million of cocaine Thursday afternoon on Miami Beach. A kilo of cocaine in Panama costs much less - about $5,000 per. They finally fled the country this past July, leaving Tony alone. 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. By then, the club's criminal clientele and Fainberg's increasingly lavish lifestyle had raised eyebrows. People named Tony Goleta. 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. He paid for her to secretly get an abortion. New laws effectively outlaw brothels such as the Doll House, permit or not but if Galeota walks with no convictions, it will surely embarrass officials trying to make it look like they're cleaning up the industry. A tattoo of an Italian Mafioso emerges from an extra-large sleeveless T-shirt. 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. More at IMDbPro Contact Info: View agent, publicist, legal on IMDbPro. But the deal never happened. Twice, American authorities had investigated Galeota. Panama's judicial system is outdated and overburdened, she says. With Fainberg locked up, Porky's was Galeota's plaything. 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). Kristy was able to pay a lawyer $500 to get her son released, but there was no bond for Galeota's drug offense. "I couldn't take all the people who wanted to come.". One scammer stole from another scammer; of course I accept it, he says. His mother, Bonnie Gellilti, was "a bit of a criminal," Tony remembers. "Their connections were bigger than ours," he says. local news and culture, Michael E. Miller He turned himself in a few days later, but the lounge's owner decided to close the cursed club. 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. And theyre like, F*** yeah, lets do it. He ogled the women standing on corners in their underwear and high heels. "There was no transportation, no cops, no nothing," he says. Reborn behind bars. Galeota was crammed into a sweltering holding cell with 150 others. "Maybe we didn't have the permits we were supposed to have, but we're foreigners who didn't understand the rules.". The club was very successful. Sign Up. Log In. Galeota is one of several Americans locked up here. Police repeatedly raided the club, yet Galeota escaped unscathed every time. See Photos. "There were beautiful girls, just walking the streets, giving blowjobs for $10 or $15.". It was a caper, for sure., He says: Tarzan was the lynchpin to it, because it was his story. "It is with tremendous heartfelt sadness to announce the passing of Michael James. Galeota was hit with felony drug and prostitution charges. Between an undercover agent, a tap on Tarzans cellphone and the wiring of Babushka, federal law enforcement agencies had enough information to shut down the sale. "My wife could have left me. With dark hair and pale, wide-set eyes, teenage Tony resembled a stocky Frank Sinatra. His Doll House dream began at Porky's. 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. A tattoo of an Italian Mafioso emerges from an extra-large sleeveless T-shirt. "This case has had a big impact here," says Jos Otero, a reporter for Panamanian newspaper La Prensa. Tony Galeota lived in 1954, at address, Massachusetts. "They would describe what they looked like," Galeota says. He was very serious and said he would look into it. But when he opens a new club in Panama City, the competition isn't happy and frames him for drug dealing. Because of his age, he escaped with six months' probation. Photo Gallery. "That's the goal," is all he'll offer. "But I've always paid for everything, either with stitches in my head, concussions, or jail time. But the story of how the documentary got made is nearly as crazy as the caper plot itself. 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. He soon finds himself wanting to be a mobster, and starts running errands for them. Making the documentary, he says: I found the story so compelling and so riveting that I was just relentlessly magnetized to it. "She would use shoe polish to change our driver's licenses so we could go to clubs and drink when we were 15. And she launched drunken tirades at Tony after baseball games, no matter how well the all-star shortstop performed. When his younger brother was molested, he beat the suspected perpetrator to a pulp. The value then triples to $100,000 per kilo at the street level when it's busted down for individual use. When Seidle died in 2008, Porky's political protection followed the 82-year-old to the grave. "When you go to prison, it's like dying, but you get to see your own funeral," Galeota says. Instead, Galeota admits he's done bad things, such as. Galeota says the police had already gotten what they wanted: Porky's demise. A judge eventually dropped the human trafficking charge, but Galeota still rotted in his sordid cell alongside insects the size of small dogs. "It was home to a lot of shrewd and nefarious characters.". 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. They arrested 18 suspects, including Galeota, several strippers, and most employees. His father, Arnold, was a strait-laced sales manager but a distant and disapproving dad. 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. "That clean, business-friendly, postcard-Panama bullshit is just a faade," Galeota says. MICHAEL GALEOTA OBITUARY. The message was that the cocaine traffickers would kill Yesters family members. 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. See Photos. He needed some help," he recalls. "I lived it up in Miami," he says. Prostitution in Miami had become too risky, he decided, but overseas sex tourism was soaring. By the mid-'90s, Galeota had turned Porky's into a one-stop shop for strippers, sex, and serious drugs. 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. Two days later, he was transferred to La Joya a hellish cinder-block complex an hour outside of Panama City. Tony Galletta. See Photos. 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. "But I've always paid for everything, either with stitches in my head, concussions, or jail time. 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. 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. "I thought I would kick up my heels together like 'Oh my God, I'm finally out,'" he says. "My father wasn't in the mob, but his friends were," Tony says. We travelled all the time. As for his career, his only oath is that he won't let his sons follow his example. "I don't care how strong you are; that's going to affect your marriage," she says. Kristy was a self-described "firecracker" who had also escaped from an abusive home and wanted attention. Galeota examines a bruise from a prison fight in La Joya. "The investigation was so poorly handled and rushed," says Otero, the journalist. Coast Guard members who seized the cocaine said this is what their jobs are all about. As Shea tried to pull the panties off one of the dancers, he heard police sirens in the distance and bolted. While Kristy was still in the States, he lived with five of his Colombian prostitutes. 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. When he was 16, he knocked up his 15-year-old girlfriend at Hauppauge High School. 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. 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. His mother, Bonnie Gellilti, was "a bit of a criminal," Tony remembers. And then Russell got a text message out of the blue. Although he knows he could receive the death penalty, the money is too tempting to resist. Meet me in Africa for a cup of coffee tomorrow.. It was a weeknight, and Porky's was washed in pale-pink neon light. According to Yester, the cartel provided an initial payment of $10 million. "Miami is a place where I would love to live," he pronounced, "and where I would love to die." 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. Anthony Galeota was born October 17, 1968, on Long Island. He was recently sentenced to serve around six years in federal prison. By now, she knows of his many infidelities, including that he lived and slept with some of the girls at the Doll House. Guards with machine guns man rusty metal towers. View the profiles of people named Anthony Galeota. She is cute and curvy with dark hair and a button nose. As he sweated in jail, Galeota's Panamanian empire crumbled. His mother, Bonnie Gellilti, was "a bit of a criminal," Tony remembers. By the time they returned to Long Island later that night, a pimp was born. "It is with tremendous heartfelt sadness to announce the passing of Michael James Galeota," Jan. 10, reads a statement on a Go Fund Me page, created by Galeota's family to raise money for his burial. Almeida was a specialist in obtaining black-market goods for status-crazed drug dealers. If any official asks you to pay for anything, please report them.". But their courtship was cut short. Wrongly imprisoned. Then she'd charge my friends $50 each," he says. "It was puppy love," he says. 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. Half an hour later, Galeota was guarding the door when a car rolled up with the window down. Girls charged $150 or more for sex. Nearly 300 feet long with 10 torpedo tubes (empty in this case), it was diesel but could be converted to electric for silent running. Explore More. Controlling it. Nobody was impressed more than Kristy Sharpe, an 18-year-old waitress from Orlando with blond hair, blue eyes, and lightly freckled skin. "I've done a lot of shady things in the States," he admits. He was 31. Greed got the better of him. ", Instead, he found another, tighter-knit family: the mob. Anywhere other than La Joya, this news would be shocking. See also: "From Porky's to Panamanian Prison: Web Extra.". 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. State and local police launched an investigation in February 2009. Moreover, trafficking prostitutes and drugs and involvement in organized crime are some serious charges.". And twice they had given up. In hand-painted white lettering, it reads, "Dear visitors. 17:57 GMT 13 Mar 2018. "My wife is never going to completely trust me. And he hopes to open a place in Fort Lauderdale when he's back. He didn't stay long. "I've done a lot of shady things in the States," he admits. 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. The crew boarded the 165-foot Panamanian-flagged coastal freighter Hope II. Galeota is no angelic Andy Dufresne, the main character in Shawshank who serves two decades behind bars for a crime he didn't commit. With little oversight, military leaders acted as if they were independent of the government. Police repeatedly raided the club, yet Galeota escaped unscathed every time. His father, Arnold, was a strait-laced sales manager but a distant and disapproving dad. Make a one-time donation today for as little as $1. He bought seven properties pretty much sight unseen.". Advertisement. They also discovered the club was registered as a massage parlor, not a brothel. A judge eventually dropped the human trafficking charge, but Galeota still rotted in his sordid cell alongside insects the size of small dogs. 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. While another new prisoner was beaten and robbed, Galeota was untouched. We didn't even have to have sex unless we wanted to," says a Colombian stripper named Catherine. Galeota's sheer size and mob connections are the only things keeping him from getting shivved in the dark. "I'm used to getting my water from a rain bucket, not hot from the tap." Miami's underworld may still be seedy, but it has outsourced much of its shadiness to nearby Third-World countries such as Panama. 16:56 GMT 13 Mar 2018 local news and culture, Michael E. Miller He and Kristy struck up an unlikely romance. But when the house of cards tumbles, John . "It was a very violent atmosphere," he says. Finally, on May 23, the gate on Galeota's cramped cell swung open, and he was free to go. Its about 2,800 kilos, about a ton and a half of contraband. "It is with tremendous heartfelt sadness to announce the passing of Michael James. "She would use shoe polish to change our driver's licenses so we could go to clubs and drink when we were 15. This looks great. . 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. She's forgiven me, for the most part. Instead, they eat rice for lunch and dinner, drink dirty river water, and use a hole in the ground for a toilet. When a dancer clapped her ass cheeks like a maraca, a customer's hands instinctively rose to touch them. source of local news and culture, Michael E. Miller "Everybody give me your money!" October 4, 2012 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. 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. Facilitating it. But Galeota's problems aren't completely behind him. In an instant, Galeota's meaty hand was around the customer's neck, shoving him outside. The dead and dying are piled into wheelbarrows and left by the front gate until guards arrive in the morning. "They shot him in the middle of the night," Galeota continues quietly, "and buried his body behind the pavilion.". Tony Galeota. "It was a nightmare in there. Panamanian police had been casing the Doll House, Moulin Rouge, and another joint, called Havana Club, for weeks. His mother, Bonnie Gellilti, was "a bit of a. Panamanian newspapers put "Operation Fiesta" on the front page as prosecutors alleged Galeota was part of an international crime ring. "Anthony has been in jail for more than 15 months, and a judge hasn't even heard his case yet!" It was 1990, and Galeota transformed the place by wiring in subwoofers and bringing in New York dancers. As the couple drove south on I-95, they thought they were leaving the worst behind them. When he left to open a bona fide brothel in Panama, Galeota thought the country's lax prostitution laws would make him rich. This story has been shared 121,048 times. Theyre nice guys [the cartel members], and I didnt ask what they needed the submarine for, Tarzan tells The Post, speaking on a crackling phone connection from Russia. Then my friend got back to me a couple days later and said there was just one question: Do you want a sub with missiles or without? , For all their camaraderie, though, the criminals opinions of one another were mixed. But Tony had darker secrets. "But she's never going to forget. Documentary Drama When Miami mobster Tony Galeota opens a club in Panama City, the competition frames him for drug dealing and human trafficking. They were very compliant to everything we asked of them, said McElhaney. "If you like to eat chocolate and you live in a chocolate factory, you're going to eat chocolate," he says. 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. 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. 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. He could convince you that the sky was green." Furious and Busted Rick Cedar steals radios to support his family. His attorney has warned him that prosecutors will likely appeal, so he plans to stay in Panama until his case is resolved. The 43-year-old is shaped like a mini refrigerator: short and squat, with a shaved head and wide-set emerald eyes. Galeota and his "girls" in the Doll House, before the bust. Tony was a tough, muscular little shit back then. 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. And last year, Yester was finally arrested in Rome on charges unrelated to the submarine while en route to a wedding. Banks seized all seven of his apartments. "This case has had a big impact here," says Jos Otero, a reporter for Panamanian newspaper La Prensa. Tony Galeota's age is expected to be 52. Galeota believes that his arrest has little to do with a renewed commitment to the law in Panama. He headed right to his beloved Miami, Florida. "I've done a lot of shady things in the States," he admits. and help keep the future of New Times, Use of this website constitutes acceptance of our, From Porky's to Panamanian Prison: Web Extra. ", Tony Galeota and fellow defendant Alon "Tarzan" Bar during better days in their Panama club The Doll House, After bribing half the guards at La Joya, Galeota was taken to an immigration holding center in Panama City where he and four co-defendants were kept for four more days. 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. We did outsmart the FBI, we did outsmart the DEA, we even did outsmart the court, Tarzan says in the film.