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. 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. 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. "There were beautiful girls, just walking the streets, giving blowjobs for $10 or $15.". ", 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. 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. October 4, 2012 If anything, Galeota's life got even more out of control after Fainberg's arrest. 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. The year before, his father helped him land a job as a wedding DJ. But the men kept in touch as Russell pursued other projects, with Tarzan sending random messages such as Christmas greetings until he finally sent the email the filmmaker had been awaiting (although he couldnt have guessed the other crazy details in the communication. Anywhere other than La Joya, this news would be shocking. Almeida was a specialist in obtaining black-market goods for status-crazed drug dealers. Tarzan, got his first job in America as an enforcer for the Gambino crime family. With little oversight, military leaders acted as if they were independent of the government. But she insists that her husband's imprisonment has brought them closer. This story has been shared 121,048 times. Galeota's enemies say that a life of sin has finally caught up with the flesh-peddler. We break down the best movies and series to watch in November in theaters and streaming. "We treated the women well.". As the authorities closed in, they picked up Juan and Tarzan, but they couldnt find Tony and neither could the cartel. He called me in two days and he asked me, do we want the submarine with missiles or without missiles? says Tarzan. It had been ten years since U.S. He might have sold them the submarine, taken the money and walked away with the money.. 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.". He was recently sentenced to serve around six years in federal prison. But instead of classical music, his specialty is sex. They had girls in every city. We did outsmart the FBI, we did outsmart the DEA, we even did outsmart the court, Tarzan says in the film. Tony Kaleta. With Fainberg locked up, Porky's was Galeota's plaything. 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. 4:00AM. Tony Galeta. The club was very successful. Its a great success overall. Seidle was never charged with a crime. 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. "They murdered a guy in here a couple of days ago," Tony Galeota says. "This case has had a big impact here," says Jos Otero, a reporter for Panamanian newspaper La Prensa. But the hassle had taken its toll on him. His father, Arnold, was a strait-laced sales manager but a distant and disapproving dad. And she launched drunken tirades at Tony after baseball games, no matter how well the all-star shortstop performed. When he was 16, he knocked up his 15-year-old girlfriend at Hauppauge High School. At the entrance to La Joya, ant hills and wasp nests surround a wooden sign. 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. "It is with tremendous heartfelt sadness to announce the passing of Michael James Gal We travelled all the time. The drugs will be turned over to the DEA. "When you're in La Joya for two years, you get used to that environment," Galeota says. The trio convened in Russia, and snapshots of them aboard the football-field-size sub, posing with the captain, hamming it up with one another, were shown to cartel members to make clear that the submarine sale closed with all parties naked in a bathhouse was for real. Log in or sign up for Facebook to connect with friends, family and people you know. See Photos. Anywhere other than La Joya, this news would be shocking. 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. We have a lot of laughs about it now," he says. "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. Log in or sign up for Facebook to connect with friends, family and people you know. 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. "It was puppy love," he says. Tarzan and one of his partners, 'Fat Tony' Galeota, had opened a strip club in Panama similar to a previous enterprise in Miami called Porky's - but they landed behind bars in Central America.. 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. Galeota yelled. "The investigation was so poorly handled and rushed," says Otero, the journalist. Over the years, Galeota saw nearly a dozen shootings at Porky's, some of them fatal. Log In. Instead, they eat rice for lunch and dinner, drink dirty river water, and use a hole in the ground for a toilet. Then they pushed play on a cassette deck. Get the latest updates in news, food, music and culture, and receive special offers direct to your inbox. Director Robin Dashwood Stars Alex Andreas Ricardo Burgos Tony Galeota I was literally on a press tour for the last film, and I was in New York doing interviews and stuff I called the producers and said, Do you think we can get a million dollars in the next five days?. But he was too shell-shocked to take up his attorney's offer for a ride to a nice hotel. 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? Moreover, trafficking prostitutes and drugs and involvement in organized crime are some serious charges.". See Photos. 8:00AM. Get started U.S. Yearbooks Name Index, 1890-1979. SO I started with the cops and I had been kind of circling the others without knowing if it was really possible or not. 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 Monday morning, when it came time to walk out of La Joya, there was no vehicle waiting. Girls charged $150 or more for sex. While out of sight, he phoned his guy and lied about being in a particular taxi cab. Sometimes we get a little excited when we find the amount of cocaine we found, said Castro. The Doll House couldn't expand fast enough to meet the influx of sex tourists. "They had what seemed like a dynamite case, but it has ended up in pieces.". But Galeota's problems aren't completely behind him. More detailed reports on the crimes weren't available. Galeota's sheer size and mob connections are the only things keeping him from getting shivved in the dark. It was a caper, for sure., He says: Tarzan was the lynchpin to it, because it was his story. His government protection would evaporate, the Doll House would be raided, his investments would be stolen, and he would be arrested. "I'm in survival mode now," Galeota says, adding that he agonizes over being imprisoned for what he believes are unjust charges. Kristy and his sons hid in a shabby, poorly protected office. The submarine request, which came from Yester on behalf of the cartel, was not as outrageous as it now sounds. S10 E10 - Miami Mobster Take Down Tony Galeota is framed for drug trafficking in Panama City. She's forgiven me, for the most part. Furious and Busted Rick Cedar steals radios to support his family. Anthony Galeota was born October 17, 1968, on Long Island. Tony Gogetta. According to the Coast Guard: It first took place north of the Gulf of Uraba. Guards with machine guns man rusty metal towers. TV-14 | 06.05.2013. 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. Follow this journalist on Twitter @MikeMillerMiami. One can imagine they did plenty of drugs.. The last one locked the door. "My wife is never going to completely trust me. They were very compliant to everything we asked of them, said McElhaney. The entire situation sounds like something dreamed up for a Miami Vice-inspired action thriller, but it actually happened in the 1990s and the trio came very close to pulling it off before one of them pocketed the cartels millions and went on the run. This looks great. . "Anthony has been in jail for more than 15 months, and a judge hasn't even heard his case yet!" 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. Galeota is one of several Americans locked up here. Galeota's sheer size and mob connections are the only things keeping him from getting shivved in the dark. Business was better, but it still wouldn't make him rich. Galeota is no angelic Andy Dufresne, the main character in Shawshank who serves two decades behind bars for a crime he didn't commit. "We were doing fantastic, but Tarzan got bored and started living the life," Galeota explains. "It was a nightmare in there.". When Galeota arrived in Miami in the summer of 1991, the city was awash in coke, crack, and drug cash. As the couple drove south on I-95, they thought they were leaving the worst behind them. "Last week we were supposed to have a hearing, but there was no running water in Panama City. With dark hair and pale, wide-set eyes, teenage Tony resembled a stocky Frank Sinatra. He was a character.. Panama's judicial system is outdated and overburdened, she says. Finally, on May 23, the gate on Galeota's cramped cell swung open, and he was free to go. We asked them some questions and some of their information didnt quite add up, so we conducted a boarding.. 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. Twice, American authorities had investigated Galeota. "But I've always paid for everything, either with stitches in my head, concussions, or jail time. He sold the shop and in 2010 opened Bongos, a restaurant serving wings and beer. When his younger brother was molested, he beat the suspected perpetrator to a pulp. Bonnie also shoplifted booze to sustain her hard drinking habit. He soon finds himself wanting to be a mobster, and starts running errands for them. Tarzan and Tony went so far as to gain access to a Soviet naval base and be taken on a tour of a submarine potentially for sale, even cajoling Russian military officials to pose for photos - which they used to prove to the Colombians that a deal could be brokered (and which are shown in the film). South Florida's independent "I used to have to patch Tony up all the time," Kristy says. But Tony had darker secrets. 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. Inmates are fed bread and cheese for breakfast and rice (sometimes beans) for lunch and dinner. Tony Goleta. We were approximately 24-hours on board before we got to a hidden compartment, said Castro.There was a hidden compartment and once we opened it we found all the contraband.. A friend suggested Panama. Once they spotted the plane, they changed course which is suspicious for us, said Boatswains Mate 1st Class, Joshua McElhaney with the Coast Guard. Instead, he says competitors pulled government strings to screw him. and help keep the future of New Times, Use of this website constitutes acceptance of our, From Porky's to Panamanian Prison: Web Extra. A tattoo of an Italian Mafioso emerges from an extra-large sleeveless T-shirt. It was a lot of kind of romancing them and explaining to them, hey, this is your chance to tell your story on kind of a broad canvas. As far as he was concerned, he owned the military base. Rats, roaches, and beetles the size of Chihuahuas crawl over inmates at night. "I want to go legit when I get out, but if the economy is bad, I might go back to the industry," he says. He ogled the women standing on corners in their underwear and high heels. By the time he was 18, he had been arrested seven times for armed robbery and assault, he says. "That clean, business-friendly, postcard-Panama bullshit is just a faade," Galeota says. and help keep the future of New Times, Use of this website constitutes acceptance of our. "That's the goal," is all he'll offer. Reborn behind bars. One man stabbed someone over a $10 debt. October 4, 2012 Join the New Times community and help support We have a lot of laughs about it now," he says. Here, Galeota is just one of 500 prisoners crammed into a filthy cell block designed to hold 200 people. While Kristy was still in the States, he lived with five of his Colombian prostitutes. "We were like: 'We want to get the fuck out of here. Photo courtesy of Josh Weiss Surrounded by Colombian strippers, Galeota gives a toast during a party at the Doll House. And last year, Yester was finally arrested in Rome on charges unrelated to the submarine while en route to a wedding. Galeota saw an opportunity. 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. 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. Is this possible, to buy a military submarine - used one? And he said, What a question! On Friday, May 17, Galeota got word that the judge had also dismissed the drug charge because of lack of evidence. Galeota has seen several murders. His father, Arnold, was a strait-laced sales manager but a distant and disapproving dad. Coast Guard members who seized the cocaine said this is what their jobs are all about. In an instant, Galeota's meaty hand was around the customer's neck, shoving him outside. Biography. Instead, he's trapped in a labyrinthine legal system, alone and unable to speak Spanish. "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. Galeota is no angelic Andy Dufresne, the main character in Shawshank who serves two decades behind bars for a crime he didn't commit. Sign Up. This time, I'm innocent.". "I was 16 years old and amazed," he says. 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 Galeota stood up, he checked his T-shirt for bullet holes, but found none. But his mind was on another kind of riches. 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. Banks seized all seven of his apartments. "Thank God I'm out," he tells New Times in his first interview since his release. Research > Galeota > Tony Galeota. 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? 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 Fainberg wasn't in town to catch up. The 43-year-old is shaped like a mini refrigerator: short and squat, with a shaved head and wide-set emerald eyes. His attorney has warned him that prosecutors will likely appeal, so he plans to stay in Panama until his case is resolved. Controlling it. When his dad lost his job, Tony paid the bills. This time, I'm innocent.". 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. His attorney has warned him that prosecutors will likely appeal, so he plans to stay in Panama until his case is resolved. ", 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. View the profiles of people named Anthony Galeota. Even then, however, he couldn't sleep. But when the house of cards tumbles, John . When one inmate killed another, the dead man's gang on the outside murdered the inmate's entire family, Galeota says. Let me check.. Tony was a tough, muscular little shit back then. Panamanian police had been casing the Doll House, Moulin Rouge, and another joint, called Havana Club, for weeks. "We went there and we couldn't believe what we saw," says Josh Weiss, a former DJ at Porky's and one of Galeota's closest friends. In the early 1990s, three friends set out to hustle the Russian mob, the Cali cartel and the DEA for the score of a lifetime. In the meantime, he's spending time with his wife and kids. 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. So I was literally stepping over dead bodies of the people who had been shanked and stuff over the course of the night.. But the deal never happened. 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. 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. The two ran Porky's for another decade after Fainberg's deportation. "They shot him in the middle of the night," Galeota continues quietly, "and buried his body behind the pavilion.". He paid for her to secretly get an abortion. See also: "From Porky's to Panamanian Prison: Web Extra.". Moreover, trafficking prostitutes and drugs and involvement in organized crime are some serious charges.". Just not a strip club. They arrested 18 suspects, including Galeota, several strippers, and most employees. Police again surrounded Porky's in the early hours of May 9, 2009. "I lived it up in Miami," he says. 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. Facilitating it. Prosecutors say police never filed the necessary paperwork. "My father wasn't in the mob, but his friends were," Tony says. When youre rolling with the criminal underworld, its always weird; its really weird in Russia.. People named Toni Galeota Find your friends on Facebook Log in or sign up for Facebook to connect with friends, family and people you know. The fear was well founded, considering what went down when Tarzan linked up with Cuban outlaws Juan Almeida and Nelson Tony Yester. On a crowded balcony overlooking La Joya, Galeota describes the past 16 months as a nightmare. Cops had made several controlled buys of 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. Tony Galeota lived in 1954, at address, Massachusetts. Also read: Tony Galeota: From Running. "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. I never got a straight answer [about why he was in jail there], says Russell. I have to tell you, all my enemies are dead, and Im happy, he says in the documentary. The domestic bliss lasted only a couple of weeks. The heavy-set Italian even signed a release. For the most part, Doll House dancers agree. "They murdered a guy in here a couple of days ago," Tony Galeota says. "No one can tell us how long he will be in there," she says. He was talking to Fainberg about a murder he'd witnessed in Porky's parking lot. Advertisement. His mother, Bonnie Gellilti, was "a bit of a criminal," Tony remembers. Nobody was impressed more than Kristy Sharpe, an 18-year-old waitress from Orlando with blond hair, blue eyes, and lightly freckled skin. The nightmare deepened for Galeota. "I thought I would kick up my heels together like 'Oh my God, I'm finally out,'" he says. And, above all, selling it. When he left to open a bona fide brothel in Panama, Galeota thought the country's lax prostitution laws would make him rich. Get the latest updates in news, food, music and culture, and receive special offers direct to your inbox.
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