"He was a smooth-talker. But in South Florida, he was once a strip club king. "Now I'm living in hell.". "The worst part of being in here is being in here for nothing. 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. Tony Galeota lived in 1954, at address, Massachusetts. Is this possible, to buy a military submarine - used one? And he said, What a question! Gunshots flashed like fireworks in the darkness. But Galeota's problems aren't completely behind him. The Doll House couldn't expand fast enough to meet the influx of sex tourists. 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. 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. He was very serious and said he would look into it. We had a $500,000 house, cars, and motorcycles. 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. Galeota's sheer size and mob connections are the only things keeping him from getting shivved in the dark. Guards with machine guns man rusty metal towers. "I was just numb.". The FBI swooped in January 21, surrounding the club and arresting Fainberg. Has a stint in Panamanian prison reformed Miami's most notorious strip club manager? And twice they had given up. Galeota and his "girls" in the Doll House, before the bust. Panama became Galeota's personal paradise. source of local news and culture, Michael E. Miller South Florida's independent Its a great success overall. Anthony Galeota (right) poses with Ludwig "Tarzan" Fainberg inside the Doll House weeks before their arrest. 16:56 GMT 13 Mar 2018 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? Miami mobster Tony Galeota is locked up in Panama after being framed for drug dealing and human trafficking. They went Maserati shopping by helicopter so they could look at the cars from the air. His father, Arnold, was a strait-laced sales manager but a distant and disapproving dad. 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. , updated Sometimes we get a little excited when we find the amount of cocaine we found, said Castro. 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. Galeota is one of several Americans locked up here. He left, but returned with a gun. 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. But he insists that, for once, he has done nothing wrong. Guards with machine guns man rusty metal towers. For the most part, Doll House dancers agree. But all the cops found were five grams of weed, a bottle of Viagra, and some mysterious yellow pills. But she insists that her husband's imprisonment has brought them closer. Facebook gives people the power. "It was a real moneymaker. ", "You hear that?" But bloodshed would follow them to Miami. Instead of celebrating, he walked through the scuzzy neighbourhood until he found a shabby motel. When he left to open a bona fide brothel in Panama, Galeota thought the country's lax prostitution laws would make him rich. 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. S10 E10 - Miami Mobster Take Down Tony Galeota is framed for drug trafficking in Panama City. Tony Galeota Age And Family. Galeota's enemies say that a life of sin has finally caught up with the flesh-peddler. He broke it off with the woman, but his problems were only beginning. He knew that the owners of a local strip club called Moulin Rouge David Fridman and Jake Lita (an Israeli wanted by German police on human-trafficking charges) had a business offer for the duo. Join Facebook to connect with Anthony Galeota and others you may know. In January 2017, Almeida got federally charged by the Drug Enforcement Administration with conspiracy to possess narcotics with intent to distribute. Log In or Sign Up Tony Galeota See Photos Anthony Galeota See Photos Tony Kalata See Photos Tony Galeote See Photos Tony Galea See Photos Tony Galeto See Photos Tony Gullette See Photos Tony Gulotta See Photos When Galeota arrived in Miami in the summer of 1991, the city was awash in coke, crack, and drug cash. More at IMDbPro Contact Info: View agent, publicist, legal on IMDbPro. People named Tony Galeota Find your friends on Facebook Log in or sign up for Facebook to connect with friends, family and people you know. Awards. 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. Tarzan, got his first job in America as an enforcer for the Gambino crime family. His mother, Bonnie Gellilti, was "a bit of a criminal," Tony remembers. As the couple drove south on I-95, they thought they were leaving the worst behind them. "This case has had a big impact here," says Jos Otero, a reporter for Panamanian newspaper La Prensa. But the deal never happened. The year before, his father helped him land a job as a wedding DJ. I told Juan, I said, Hey. Just not a strip club. By now, she knows of his many infidelities, including that he lived and slept with some of the girls at the Doll House. Like a concert pianist, Tony Galeota has spent his life honing a single skill since he was a teenager. And multiple sources close to Fainberg say he was pressured to rat out Seidle but refused. 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. "But I've always paid for everything, either with stitches in my head, concussions, or jail time. "Their connections were bigger than ours," he says. While Galeota avoided testifying, Fainberg faced 30 counts including racketeering and conspiracy to traffic cocaine and heroin. 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. "She would use shoe polish to change our driver's licenses so we could go to clubs and drink when we were 15. ), The narcotics charge, however, still stands despite little evidence linking Galeota to the drugs. 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. A sign on the latter reads, "District Attorney for Drugs: Do Not Enter." But he insists that, for once, he has done nothing wrong. 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. ", 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. Michael Galeota, who starred on the Disney Channel's "The Jersey" died Sunday, according to Variety. Sign Up. 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. She is cute and curvy with dark hair and a button nose. Here, Galeota is just one of 500 prisoners crammed into a filthy cell block designed to hold 200 people. "This country is corrupt. Instead, they eat rice for lunch and dinner, drink dirty river water, and use a hole in the ground for a toilet. "Bill was one of the most influential people in Miami," Galeota says. There was nothing unusual about it. Like a real-life godfather, Galeota weathered it all. "Many times, I worried about him getting killed. Kristy and his sons hid in a shabby, poorly protected office. 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. In January 1997, after he dropped his daughter off at school, Tarzan was arrested and hit with a 30-count federal indictment. Galeota also found himself in the back of an unmarked FBI car. The value then triples to $100,000 per kilo at the street level when it's busted down for individual use. His father, Arnold, was a strait-laced sales manager but a distant and disapproving dad. Advertisement. local Journalism in South Florida. They had girls in every city. 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. There was a spate of murders, several police raids, and a federal drug-trafficking trial. Galeota examines a bruise from a prison fight in La Joya. On Friday, May 17, Galeota got word that the judge had also dismissed the drug charge because of lack of evidence. Explore More. Bonnie also shoplifted booze to sustain her hard drinking habit. Get started U.S. Yearbooks Name Index, 1890-1979. It was a Foxtrot-class submarine, or Project 641 as the Soviets called it. "I was just numb.". The Coast Guard said four suspected smugglers were taken into custody and 32 bales of cocaine were found in the water. Instead, they eat rice for lunch and dinner, drink dirty river water, and use a hole in the ground for a toilet. He might have sold them the submarine, taken the money and walked away with the money.. Galeota already lived according to a gangster's code. Reborn behind bars. Prosecutors charged Galeota and Fainberg with not only drug dealing but also human trafficking. The heavy-set Italian even signed a release. "Another night at Porky's, another shooting," he remembers now from his prison cell in Panama. "He had that guido effect on me," she says. They were all together when Tony worked for the Russin mobsters in Porky's club as its manager. Bonnie also shoplifted booze to sustain her hard drinking habit. When traffickers balked at the price, Yester reminded them that it could hold 40 tons of cocaine and would pay for itself quickly. "I just watched Luis blow a guy away," Galeota heard himself say on tape. 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. Twice, American authorities had investigated Galeota. Let me check.. Wrongly imprisoned. 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.. "They shot him in the middle of the night," Galeota continues quietly, "and buried his body behind the pavilion.". Almeida was a specialist in obtaining black-market goods for status-crazed drug dealers. Prisoners eat stale bread and a slice of cheese for breakfast; rice and sometimes beans is their lunch and dinner. As far as he was concerned, he owned the military base. 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. With little oversight, military leaders acted as if they were independent of the government. But the man's paws were soon on her crotch again. "I've done a lot of shady things in the States," he admits. After that, Kristy closed Bongos. 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. 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 bought seven properties pretty much sight unseen.". Prostitution was so common at Porky's that the club had fixed places and prices, Galeota says. The offload is a result of two successful drug interdictions in the Caribbean since August 23. When Galeota stood up, he checked his T-shirt for bullet holes, but found none. 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 ogled the women standing on corners in their underwear and high heels. 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. Inside, the bar is still littered with half-empty bottles of Chivas Regal. Born on June 3, 1924 at Hartford. The American says he's giving up the strip club and brothel businesses. The fear was well founded, considering what went down when Tarzan linked up with Cuban outlaws Juan Almeida and Nelson Tony Yester. Galeota was hit with felony drug and prostitution charges. Girls charged $150 or more for sex. We've been here for two years!' This looks great. . Finally, on May 23, the gate on Galeota's cramped cell swung open, and he was free to go. This story has been shared 121,048 times. "It was puppy love," he says. Episode 5: Spain /Sold My Soul Banks seized all seven of his apartments. But Galeota's problems aren't completely behind him. 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.
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