Docs need stars just like features need stars. Finally, on May 23, the gate on Galeota's cramped cell swung open, and he was free to go. 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 he insists that, for once, he has done nothing wrong. He was talking to Fainberg about a murder he'd witnessed in Porky's parking lot. He called me in two days and he asked me, do we want the submarine with missiles or without missiles? says Tarzan. He and Fainberg were on their way to riches thanks to powerful friends and legalized prostitution. Coast Guard members who seized the cocaine said this is what their jobs are all about. 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. Sign Up. One can imagine they did plenty of drugs.. Ten million dollars really feels like 10 million dollars, he gushes in the movie. Instead, they eat rice for lunch and dinner, drink dirty river water, and use a hole in the ground for a toilet. MICHAEL GALEOTA OBITUARY. Tony Galeto. And theyre like, F*** yeah, lets do it. They were very compliant to everything we asked of them, said McElhaney. Locked up in one of the world's worst prisons, Tony has to prove his innocence and attempt an audacious escape. His mother, Bonnie Gellilti, was "a bit of a criminal," Tony remembers. 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. "But I've always paid for everything, either with stitches in my head, concussions, or jail time. But it bored him. "They would describe what they looked like," Galeota says. Make a one-time donation today for as little as $1. Miami's independent source of For a while, Panama's pay-to-play culture suited Galeota just fine. "It is with tremendous heartfelt sadness to announce the passing of Michael James Gal 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. Locked Up Abroad 151M subscribers Miami mobster Tony Galeota is a strip-club supremo. A poster on the wall advertises "Lesby Show: 2 Girls per Person" for $350. "The worst part of being in here is being in here for nothing. 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. Theres this crazy Russian gangster who sold a submarine to the Cali drug cartel; his name is Tarzan and hes locked in a Panamanian prison and he had a Blackberry And he said, Do you want his number?, And I said, Hell, yes! Tony Galeta. "But I did it for my child.". Here, Galeota is just one of 500 prisoners crammed into a filthy cell block designed to hold 200 people. Find your friends on Facebook. Police again surrounded Porky's in the early hours of May 9, 2009. Yester told the Colombians that theyd have to pay $35 million for the vessel, even though Tarzan had talked the price down to $5.5 million plus just $600 for a crew to pilot it to Colombia. Days go by without water, and when it does arrive, it's turbid sludge from a nearby river. "Thank God I'm out," he tells New Times in his first interview since his release. His mother, Bonnie Gellilti, was "a bit of a criminal," Tony remembers. "There was no transportation, no cops, no nothing," he says. Make a one-time donation today for as little as $1. We have a lot of laughs about it now," he says. Tony Galeta Profiles | Facebook and help keep the future of New Times, Use of this website constitutes acceptance of our, From Porky's to Panamanian Prison: Web Extra. He created a souped-up cigarette boat that went for $2 million and was presumably used to transport cocaine. Eventually, however, he made his way to Tarzan. Joseph GALEOTA Obituary (2011) - Willimantic, CT - Hartford Courant By the time he was 18, he had been arrested seven times for armed robbery and assault, he says. More than anything, Galeota is grateful that his family kept faith in him. 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. But their courtship was cut short. source of local news and culture, Michael E. Miller 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. It continued at another local strip club, called Quarterbacks Playmates Lounge. As the couple drove south on I-95, they thought they were leaving the worst behind them. When crews were launched to investigate, the suspected smugglers threw several packages into the water. Making the documentary, he says: I found the story so compelling and so riveting that I was just relentlessly magnetized to it. This business has been very good to me.". At night, the guards lock the gate and leave, turning over control of each cell block to prisoners. The gig introduced him to a lifelong vice. As for his career, his only oath is that he won't let his sons follow his example. 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. McDonald expects those will be dismissed as well, but not for months. 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. When Seidle died in 2008, Porky's political protection followed the 82-year-old to the grave. When Galeota arrived in Miami in the summer of 1991, the city was awash in coke, crack, and drug cash. Catherine says she slept with customers because she needed the money to support her family. Controlling it. It could be worse. 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. In the second interdiction, a Customs plane spotted another suspicious boat off the coast of Panama on August 28th. "Now I'm living in hell.". Its about 2,800 kilos, about a ton and a half of contraband. 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. "It was home to a lot of shrewd and nefarious characters.". At the entrance to La Joya, ant hills and wasp nests surround a wooden sign. 8:00AM. "It is with tremendous heartfelt sadness to announce the passing of Michael James. Tony Galeota Age And Family. Prosecutors accused him of providing prostitutes for his Russian friends, trafficking drugs, selling stolen cigarettes and liquor, and setting up arms deals for Russian and Colombian cocaine smugglers. If anything, Galeota's life got even more out of control after Fainberg's arrest. 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. In the distance, La Cordillera de San Blas cuts through the Panamanian jungle like a serrated knife. Panama had gone from paradise to purgatory. It was a weeknight, and Porky's was washed in pale-pink neon light. Instead of celebrating, he walked through the scuzzy neighbourhood until he found a shabby motel. He paid for her to secretly get an abortion. When traffickers balked at the price, Yester reminded them that it could hold 40 tons of cocaine and would pay for itself quickly. But the story of how the documentary got made is nearly as crazy as the caper plot itself. They also discovered the club was registered as a massage parlor, not a brothel. There is no rehabilitation here," he says. "That's obstruction of justice.". 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. 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. When Galeota arrived, his mobster reputation preceded him. Log In. Operation Odessa (2018) - IMDb 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. 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. "Then they'd tell me: 'They are as good as dead.'". "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. They finally fled the country this past July, leaving Tony alone. While on routine patrol, a U.S. Customs and Border Protection plane spotted a suspicious speed boat. Although he admits that "running around whoring and casinoing wasn't worth it," he can't promise to be faithful to the woman who has stood beside him. Galeota has seen several murders. 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. Anywhere other than La Joya, this news would be shocking. Police repeatedly raided the club, yet Galeota escaped unscathed every time. 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. Behind him, 12-foot-high fences topped with spools of barbed wire frame a muddy soccer field. Get the latest updates in news, food, music and culture, and receive special offers direct to your inbox. "My wife can say she has regrets, but that's bullshit," he says. 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. 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. And last year, Yester was finally arrested in Rome on charges unrelated to the submarine while en route to a wedding. "Maybe we didn't have the permits we were supposed to have, but we're foreigners who didn't understand the rules.". While Kristy was still in the States, he lived with five of his Colombian prostitutes. 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. 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. Half an hour later, Galeota was guarding the door when a car rolled up with the window down. This time, I'm innocent.". S10 E10 - Miami Mobster Take Down Tony Galeota is framed for drug trafficking in Panama City. Prosecutors charged Galeota and Fainberg with not only drug dealing but also human trafficking. 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? "I brought in music and women," Galeota says. According to Yester, the cartel provided an initial payment of $10 million. A judge eventually dropped the human trafficking charge, but Galeota still rotted in his sordid cell alongside insects the size of small dogs. Facebook gives people the power. CAKEGATE 2023: Bad Bunny's Restaurant Accused of Gobbling Birthday Girl's Cake, Neighborhood Nazi Jon Minadeo Peddles Hate by the Minute, Gator Gets in on the Action at Tampa Bay Horse Race, 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. "She would use shoe polish to change our driver's licenses so we could go to clubs and drink when we were 15. 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. And like the Italian-American crooner, he loved women a little too much. By now, she knows of his many infidelities, including that he lived and slept with some of the girls at the Doll House. 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. Kristy was a self-described "firecracker" who had also escaped from an abusive home and wanted attention. Juan, Tarzan and law enforcement insisted there was no way hed agree to participate in the documentary. And multiple sources close to Fainberg say he was pressured to rat out Seidle but refused. Next time, I will steal it back from him., Tarzan (left) at the site of the submarine. Reborn behind bars. A tattoo of an Italian Mafioso emerges from an extra-large sleeveless T-shirt. ", Instead, he found another, tighter-knit family: the mob. We had a $500,000 house, cars, and motorcycles. "He was a smooth-talker. Girls charged $150 or more for sex. 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. Family members can also bring them food and clean water, however, and inmates bribe guards to smuggle in additional items. It is not known when he was born or his current age. I said, Thank you, Cali cartel. 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. But Fainberg wasn't in town to catch up. Russian immigrant Ludwig Fainberg, a.k.a. Meet me in Africa for a cup of coffee tomorrow.. Anthony Galeota was born October 17, 1968, on Long Island. Episode 5: Spain /Sold My Soul But in South Florida, he was once a strip club king. 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. Eventually, he moved two dozen ladies to Panama City. When he discovered he was about to be subpoenaed, he withdrew $2,500 from the bank and boarded a two-week Caribbean cruise. View the profiles of people named Anthony Galeota. Is this possible, to buy a military submarine - used one? And he said, What a question! (CBS Miami). He soon finds himself wanting to be a mobster, and starts running errands for them. Anthony Galeota (right) poses with Ludwig "Tarzan" Fainberg inside the Doll House weeks before their arrest. Then she'd charge my friends $50 each," he says. "It was puppy love," he says. State and local police launched an investigation in February 2009. Get started U.S. Yearbooks Name Index, 1890-1979. 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. Like a real-life godfather, Galeota weathered it all. They taught him the rules, the most important of which Galeota took to heart: "You can have your girlfriends on the side," he remembers hearing, "but never leave your wife.". The nightmare deepened for Galeota. Inside the prison, the sign is a running joke. He is currently being held in Italy. "When you're in La Joya for two years, you get used to that environment," Galeota says. Marshals deported Ludwig Fainberg from Miami. Even then, however, he couldn't sleep. In January 2017, Almeida got federally charged by the Drug Enforcement Administration with conspiracy to possess narcotics with intent to distribute. 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. "You see who wants to fuck your wife, who wants to rob you, and who your real friends are.". Join the New Times community and help support independent He was a loan shark: generously offering money but punishing those who didn't pay back. local news and culture, Michael E. Miller "No one can tell us how long he will be in there," she says. 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. "I want to go legit when I get out, but if the economy is bad, I might go back to the industry," he says. The Coast Guard said each one of the kilos is worth $33,000. This time, I'm innocent.". "It was puppy love," he says. 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. From Porky's to Panama Prison, Tony Galeota Reveals Miami's Mob-Run 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. Galeota already lived according to a gangster's code. Born on June 3, 1924 at Hartford. "They knew some Russian guy named Tarzan who had just opened up a club in Miami called Porky's. Instead of celebrating, he walked through the scuzzy neighborhood until he found a shabby motel. And so with like five days prep I jumped on a plane, went to Miami, started courting the cops and the feds and the US attorneys and all the good guys, the law enforcement side of it their participation was instrumental in it, because theyre the ones that have all the evidentiary record and all the surveillance video and the photos and the wiretaps and all that stuff, most of which is the sort of visual skeleton to the film. He broke it off with the woman, but his problems were only beginning. 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. 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. Prisoners eat stale bread and a slice of cheese for breakfast; rice and sometimes beans is their lunch and dinner. He ogled the women standing on corners in their underwear and high heels. "But she's never going to forget. It wasn't until he ordered some Italian food and a cold Guinness that he finally felt like he was free. He was hilarious and charming and garrulous, and it was as if hed stepped right out of a Scorsese movie, Russell says, adding: You know whats the funny thing people dont know about docs? We both understand that.". His attorney has warned him that prosecutors will likely appeal, so he plans to stay in Panama until his case is resolved. His father, Arnold, was a strait-laced sales manager but a distant and disapproving dad. Get the latest updates in news, food, music and culture, and receive special offers direct to your inbox.
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