"Bill was one of the most influential people in Miami," Galeota says. Controlling it. 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. But Monday morning, when it came time to walk out of La Joya, there was no vehicle waiting. He broke it off with the woman, but his problems were only beginning. Michael Galeota, who starred on the Disney Channel's "The Jersey" died Sunday, according to Variety. Controlling it. The American says he's giving up the strip club and brothel businesses. Miami's underworld may still be seedy, but it has outsourced much of its shadiness to nearby Third-World countries such as Panama. Galeota's sheer size and mob connections are the only things keeping him from getting shivved in the dark. "But I've always paid for everything, either with stitches in my head, concussions, or jail time. This business has been very good to me.". 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. 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. 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. Three weeks after the Doll House raid, Kristy was working the bar at Bongos when three teenagers walked into the restaurant. And then Russell got a text message out of the blue. Follow Miami New Times on Facebook and Twitter @MiamiNewTimes. His father, Arnold, was a strait-laced sales manager but a distant and disapproving dad. "It was puppy love," he says. And like the Italian-American crooner, he loved women a little too much. Galeota's sheer size and mob connections are the only things keeping him from getting shivved in the dark. "I couldn't take all the people who wanted to come.". 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. The lessons in crime didn't come fast enough for Galeota to stay out of trouble. Instead, Galeota admits he's done bad things, such as. Log In or Sign Up Tonia Galeota See Photos Antonio Galeota See Photos Tony Galeota See Photos Toni Galea See Photos Toni Colletto See Photos Toni Torres Galea 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. Let me check.. We break down the best movies and series to watch in November in theaters and streaming. Anthony Galeota was born October 17, 1968, on Long Island. "It was puppy love," he says. "I was always looking for their approval," he says, "but I never got that. If Galeota is freed, it will be a major blow for Panama's prostitution crackdown. Tony Goleta. 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. We both understand that.". This time, I'm innocent.". He bought seven properties pretty much sight unseen.". The nightmare deepened for Galeota. But instead of classical music, his specialty is sex. ", McDonald has succeeded, however, in chipping away at the case, persuading a judge three weeks ago to drop the trafficking charge on a technicality. 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. Biography. Get the latest updates in news, food, music and culture, and receive special offers direct to your inbox. Instead, they eat rice for lunch and dinner, drink dirty river water, and use a hole in the ground for a toilet. "They had what seemed like a dynamite case, but it has ended up in pieces.".
And when his mother was distraught over a broken washing machine, he filled the house with new appliances. And she launched drunken tirades at Tony after baseball games, no matter how well the all-star shortstop performed. But the deal never happened. He was a big, big fish.". Catherine says she slept with customers because she needed the money to support her family. Filmography (by Job) Trailers and Videos. 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. And like the Italian-American crooner, he loved women a little too much. He called me in two days and he asked me, do we want the submarine with missiles or without missiles? says Tarzan. "He had that guido effect on me," she says. If anything, Galeota's life got even more out of control after Fainberg's arrest. But he was too shell-shocked to take up his attorney's offer for a ride to a nice hotel. The smugglers boat was destroyed because it was a hazard to navigation. "Everybody give me your money!" By
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. He didn't stay long. "They shot him in the middle of the night," Galeota continues quietly, "and buried his body behind the pavilion.". , updated ", 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. 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. Instead, he's trapped in a labyrinthine legal system, alone and unable to speak Spanish. Nobody was impressed more than Kristy Sharpe, an 18-year-old waitress from Orlando with blond hair, blue eyes, and lightly freckled skin. This looks great. . Guards with machine guns man rusty metal towers. There was nothing unusual about it. 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 Galeota's age is expected to be 52. The person they were going to pay for the submarine was the officer who let them [into the naval base], says Russell. 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. 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. As Shea tried to pull the panties off one of the dancers, he heard police sirens in the distance and bolted. Make a one-time donation today for as little as $1. Explore More. 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. Meet me in Africa for a cup of coffee tomorrow.. ", - 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. So we met with a realtor, got high, and Tony got stupid with money. 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. Business was better, but it still wouldn't make him rich. ), The narcotics charge, however, still stands despite little evidence linking Galeota to the drugs. The submarine request, which came from Yester on behalf of the cartel, was not as outrageous as it now sounds. He was 31. If any official asks you to pay for anything, please report them.". "Then they'd tell me: 'They are as good as dead.'". It was a weeknight, and Porky's was washed in pale-pink neon light. "She would use shoe polish to change our driver's licenses so we could go to clubs and drink when we were 15. She's forgiven me, for the most part. MIAMI BEACH (CBSMiami) The Coast Guard offloaded about $93 million of cocaine Thursday afternoon on Miami Beach. "Now I'm living in hell.". Prosecutors charged Galeota and Fainberg with not only drug dealing but also human trafficking. He ogled the women standing on corners in their underwear and high heels. His school friends didn't believe him, so a few days later he sneaked out, stole his mom's minivan, and drove around the neighborhood loading up with other teens. Photo courtesy of Josh Weiss - Giant insects infest the prison. The charismatic teenager sold the stolen suits or electronics at strip clubs or used-car lots. "I was just numb.". Family members can also bring them food and clean water, however, and inmates bribe guards to smuggle in additional items. Become a member to support the independent voice of South Florida "We treated the women well.". "Many times, I worried about him getting killed. We are no longer accepting comments on this article.
Instead, he's trapped in a labyrinthine legal system, alone and unable to speak Spanish. "It was home to a lot of shrewd and nefarious characters.". While Galeota avoided testifying, Fainberg faced 30 counts including racketeering and conspiracy to traffic cocaine and heroin. Reborn behind bars. Galeota is one of several Americans locked up here. The domestic bliss lasted only a couple of weeks. ), 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. Skip Ancestry main menu Main Menu And, above all, selling it. Galeota also found himself in the back of an unmarked FBI car. He ogled the women standing on corners in their underwear and high heels. And last year, Yester was finally arrested in Rome on charges unrelated to the submarine while en route to a wedding. He needed some help," he recalls. local Journalism in South Florida. Make a one-time donation today for as little as $1. "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. Moreover, trafficking prostitutes and drugs and involvement in organized crime are some serious charges.". But Tarzan a seasoned wheeler-dealer, strip club owner and former mob enforcer took it in his stride and went back to his partners with the response. 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.
Strippers, Cocaine and Murder: The Crazy (True) Story of Two Crooks He was, after all, working with an American playboy in Miami and a fugitive Cuban spy to procure this submarine. "I lived it up in Miami," he says. I definitely want his number and so I began chasing it from there and actually jumped on a plane, went down and smuggled myself into this Panamanian prison to meet with him.. Police again surrounded Porky's in the early hours of May 9, 2009. If he didnt give them the information, he was afraid that he would have gotten killed, and he was probably right., In the meantime, Yester may have been too in love with his eight-figure haul to really care and there was ultimately no retribution against his family. Again, the charges were dropped. "That clean, business-friendly, postcard-Panama bullshit is just a faade," Galeota says. According to the Coast Guard: It first took place north of the Gulf of Uraba. He was 31. Galeota was crammed into a sweltering holding cell with 150 others. More at IMDbPro Contact Info: View agent, publicist, legal on IMDbPro. "They knew some Russian guy named Tarzan who had just opened up a club in Miami called Porky's. Its Colombian dancers were in Panama on six-month tourist visas, weren't licensed as prostitutes, and weren't getting required weekly health checkups. See Photos.
Watch Locked Up Abroad TV Show - Streaming Online | Nat Geo TV Police repeatedly raided the club, yet Galeota escaped unscathed every time. When his younger brother was molested, he beat the suspected perpetrator to a pulp. The gig introduced him to a lifelong vice. They tried to squeeze Fainberg to get Seidle. But the story of how the documentary got made is nearly as crazy as the caper plot itself. Everything here has a cost.". 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. He called his cartel contacts and arranged to meet them in the pickup area of the Madrid train station. "I was just numb.". "No one can tell us how long he will be in there," she says. "She would use shoe polish to change our driver's licenses so we could go to clubs and drink when we were 15. His father, Arnold, was a strait-laced sales manager but a distant and disapproving dad.
How 'Tarzan' and a Cuban duo 'got in deep' with a cocaine cartel 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 is with tremendous heartfelt sadness to announce the passing of Michael James. But he was too shell-shocked to take up his attorney's offer for a ride to a nice hotel.
Banged Up Abroad - National Geographic for everyone in everywhere 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. "That's the problem.". During a visit last month, a New Times reporter witnessed one police official receive a $20 bill in a barely disguised handshake. But in South Florida, he was once a strip club king. In the distance, La Cordillera de San Blas cuts through the Panamanian jungle like a serrated knife. "Their connections were bigger than ours," he says. 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. Were out there to cause an effect in the drug industry and I believe we made a little dent on it.. "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. And theyre like, F*** yeah, lets do it. "I don't care how strong you are; that's going to affect your marriage," she says. Here, Galeota is just one of 500 prisoners crammed into a filthy cell block designed to hold 200 people. When he heard that his old partner in crime from Porky's had moved to Panama, he flew in to meet with Galeota. The Dolls House, Via Espaia Road, Panama City, Panam, "They murdered a guy in here a couple of days ago" Tony Galeota, Tony Galeota: From Running Porky's, Miami's Most Notorious Strip Joint, to Rotting in a Panamanian Jail. Get the latest updates in news, food, music and culture, and receive special offers direct to your inbox. S10 E10 Miami Mobster Take Down. Miami mobster Tony Galeota is locked up in Panama after being framed for drug dealing and human trafficking. Twice, American authorities had investigated Galeota. When Galeota arrived, his mobster reputation preceded him. See Photos. Get started U.S. Yearbooks Name Index, 1890-1979. Russian mobsters learned about their comrade's successful venture, and adopted the club as a virtual office. The crew boarded the 165-foot Panamanian-flagged coastal freighter Hope II. The two were married in 1994 at a wedding full of mobsters. Follow this journalist on Twitter @MikeMillerMiami. Galeota was hit with felony drug and prostitution charges. Episode 5: Spain /Sold My Soul 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. 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. As he sweated in jail, Galeota's Panamanian empire crumbled.
Michael Galeota Obituary (1984 - 2016) - Legacy But not until she discovered he'd been dating a former Porky's stripper for more than two years did she threaten to divorce him in 2009. Docs need stars just like features need stars. Michael Galeota, who starred on the Disney Channel's "The Jersey" died Sunday, according to Variety. Inside the prison, the sign is a running joke. In this real life Goodfellas tale, New York teen John Alite gets a job at his local Deli, a hangout for 'wise guys'. Finally, on May 23, the gate on Galeota's cramped cell swung open, and he was free to go.
Tony Galeta Profiles | Facebook And, above all, selling it. He ogled the women standing on corners in their underwear and high heels. 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. Between the restaurant and the Doll House, he was making enough to retire in five years. ", 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. Over the years, Galeota saw nearly a dozen shootings at Porky's, some of them fatal. 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. "But I've always paid for everything, either with stitches in my head, concussions, or jail time. Miami's underworld may still be seedy, but it has outsourced much of its shadiness to nearby Third-World countries such as Panama. Then an old friend showed up. A judge eventually dropped the human trafficking charge, but Galeota still rotted in his sordid cell alongside insects the size of small dogs. Galeota's wife Kristy comments "Porky's was definitely a place you could get killed." He hired 'Fat Tony' Galeota as Porky's manager. We did outsmart the FBI, we did outsmart the DEA, we even did outsmart the court, Tarzan says in the film. June 4, 2013 Its a lot of f- -king paper. With little oversight, military leaders acted as if they were independent of the government. I'm kind of stuck with it. Kristy was a self-described "firecracker" who had also escaped from an abusive home and wanted attention. And she launched drunken tirades at Tony after baseball games, no matter how well the all-star shortstop performed. Facilitating it. But Galeota was convinced the cops were bluffing and refused to cooperate. Nearly 300 feet long with 10 torpedo tubes (empty in this case), it was diesel but could be converted to electric for silent running. "They shot him in the middle of the night," Galeota continues quietly, "and buried his body behind the pavilion.". Unfortunately, Galeota's defense isn't as simple as quoting strippers, says his lawyer, Guillermina McDonald. And there was absolutely no bullshit. In the meantime, he's spending time with his wife and kids. 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. Its impossible but only because its true. His mother, Bonnie Gellilti, was "a bit of a. According to Yester, the cartel provided an initial payment of $10 million. He escaped with his life and went on the run, aiming to avoid the cartel, Interpol and US law enforcers. "I thought I would kick up my heels together like 'Oh my God, I'm finally out,'" he says.