Join Facebook to connect with Anthony Galeota and others you may know. 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. "They had what seemed like a dynamite case, but it has ended up in pieces.". Log in or sign up for Facebook to connect with friends, family and people you know. He and Fainberg were on their way to riches thanks to powerful friends and legalized prostitution. By then, the club's criminal clientele and Fainberg's increasingly lavish lifestyle had raised eyebrows. Galeota has seen several murders. Then an old friend showed up. Johns paid $100 to rent a VIP room downstairs. Follow this journalist on Twitter @MikeMillerMiami. 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. Prostitution is legal in Panama," he complains. The charismatic teenager sold the stolen suits or electronics at strip clubs or used-car lots. She's forgiven me, for the most part. and help keep the future of New Times, Use of this website constitutes acceptance of our, From Porky's to Panamanian Prison: Web Extra. All the services here are free. "It was puppy love," he says. 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. Its Colombian dancers were in Panama on six-month tourist visas, weren't licensed as prostitutes, and weren't getting required weekly health checkups. Anthony Jr. was taken to a juvenile detention center that wasn't much better. He was a big, big fish.". "There were beautiful girls, just walking the streets, giving blowjobs for $10 or $15.". Prostitution in Miami had become too risky, he decided, but overseas sex tourism was soaring. In January 1997, after he dropped his daughter off at school, Tarzan was arrested and hit with a 30-count federal indictment. "Thank God I'm out," he tells New Times in his first interview since his release. And he hopes to open a place in Fort Lauderdale when he's back, Just not a strip club. It could be worse. So the translator said she couldn't take a shower, didn't show up, and the case was delayed. "A family type thing, like an ale house with wings and beer," he says. The two were married in 1994 at a wedding full of mobsters. A year later, it was $115,000 per month.". I said, Thank you, Cali cartel. With little oversight, military leaders acted as if they were independent of the government. The offload is a result of two successful drug interdictions in the Caribbean since August 23. Police repeatedly raided the club, yet Galeota escaped unscathed every time. "Now I'm living in hell.". "These guys were into just about everything," Assistant U.S. Attorney Diana Fernandez said at the time. Thousands of teachers walk out demanding pay, funding incr Canadian teacher with size-Z prosthetic breasts placed on paid leave, What's next for Buster Murdaugh after dad's murder conviction, life sentence, US home prices just did something they haven't done since 2012, Rebel Wilson says Meghan Markle isnt as naturally warm as Prince Harry, Kristen Doute supports Ariana Madix amid mutual ex Tom Sandovals scandal, Celeb-loved jewelry brand Dorsey drops dazzling new styles, Undertaker transforms coffin into barbecue grill, Tom Sizemore And The Dangerous Burden of Desperation, Tom Sandoval breaks silence on Ariana Madix split amid cheating claims. We didn't even have to have sex unless we wanted to," says a Colombian stripper named Catherine. The gig introduced him to a lifelong vice. The message was that the cocaine traffickers would kill Yesters family members. "Whenever there is an American businessman involved in crime here in Panama, it becomes an important case. The fear was well founded, considering what went down when Tarzan linked up with Cuban outlaws Juan Almeida and Nelson Tony Yester. "The worst part of being in here is being in here for nothing. Thanks to a successful appeal, Almeida served only 18 months for his part in the sub caper. Banks seized all seven of his apartments. 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. Then she'd charge my friends $50 each," he says. 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. "Their connections were bigger than ours," he says. The drugs will be turned over to the DEA. Tarzan managed to get light punishment for his 1997 conviction; he rolled over on Almeida and spent 30 months behind bars before being deported to Israel, where his family had immigrated, in 1999. Almeida was a specialist in obtaining black-market goods for status-crazed drug dealers. So we met with a realtor, got high, and Tony got stupid with money. ", Coast Guard Offloads More Than $93 Million In Cocaine, Miami Beach. This business has been very good to me.".
In the meantime, he's spending time with his wife and kids. Tony Galeota Tony Galeota. During a visit last month, a New Times reporter witnessed one police official receive a $20 bill in a barely disguised handshake. On a crowded balcony overlooking La Joya, Galeota describes the past 16 months as a nightmare. As chronicled in the new Showtime documentary Operation Odessa, the trio of cutthroat outlaws collaborated in 1996 to procure the ultimate weapon for Colombias money-minting Cali cocaine cartel: a military submarine. As he contemplates the question, Galeota watches his fellow inmates kick a soccer ball across La Joya's putrid playground. Facilitating it. Galeota was crammed into a sweltering holding cell with 150 others. "We were like: 'We want to get the fuck out of here. Photo courtesy of Josh Weiss A prisoner poses with a gun smuggled into La Joya with help from guards. It was apparent they had what appeared to be narcotics and after we did the test they had bales on board of pure cocaine, said Boatswains Mate Omar Castro with the U.S. Coast Guard. Police repeatedly raided the club, yet Galeota escaped unscathed every time. And, above all, selling it. Sixteen months later, the two men have yet to appear in court. Juan felt like he had no choice, says Russell. He ogled the women standing on corners in their underwear and high heels. Galeota examines a bruise from a prison fight in La Joya. Galeota is no angelic Andy Dufresne, the main character in Shawshank who serves two decades behind bars for a crime he didn't commit. Let me check.. The crew boarded the 165-foot Panamanian-flagged coastal freighter Hope II. This time, I'm innocent.". We had a $500,000 house, cars, and motorcycles. "My father wasn't in the mob, but his friends were," Tony 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 Porkys but they landed behind bars in Central America. He escaped with his life and went on the run, aiming to avoid the cartel, Interpol and US law enforcers. The submarine request, which came from Yester on behalf of the cartel, was not as outrageous as it now sounds. 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. I know its gonna be a strange question. As Shea tried to pull the panties off one of the dancers, he heard police sirens in the distance and bolted. Moreover, trafficking prostitutes and drugs and involvement in organized crime are some serious charges.". When Seidle died in 2008, Porky's political protection followed the 82-year-old to the grave. "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. Its impossible but only because its true. "We were like: 'We want to get the fuck out of here. It was a weeknight, and Porky's was washed in pale-pink neon light. Indeed, court records show that Seidle was a target of the federal wiretapping investigation. Galeota's enemies say that a life of sin has finally caught up with the flesh-peddler. Galeota is one of several Americans locked up here. "I want to go legit when I get out, but if the economy is bad, I might go back to the industry," he says. And when his mother was distraught over a broken washing machine, he filled the house with new appliances. He broke it off with the woman, but his problems were only beginning. "They knew some Russian guy named Tarzan who had just opened up a club in Miami called Porky's. "It is with tremendous heartfelt sadness to announce the passing of Michael James. 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. Like a concert pianist, Tony Galeota has spent his life honing a single skill since he was a teenager. Dancers with names like Baby Doll, Tipsie, Trixie, and Crme offered to have sex with the cops for as little as $150, court records show. 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. It continued at another local strip club, called Quarterbacks Playmates Lounge. "I used to have to patch Tony up all the time," Kristy says. People named Tony Galeta. "They would describe what they looked like," Galeota says. Everybody wanted to make money. Is this possible, to buy a military submarine - used one? And he said, What a question! source of local news and culture, Michael E. Miller But Galeota's problems aren't completely behind him. 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. Make a one-time donation today for as little as $1. 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. Inside the prison, the sign is a running joke. "Thank God I'm out," he tells New Times in his first interview since his release. Get started U.S. Yearbooks Name Index, 1890-1979. But the deal never happened. "The first month, we had $15,000 in gross sales. Miami's underworld may still be seedy, but it has outsourced much of its shadiness to nearby Third-World countries such as Panama. "I couldn't take all the people who wanted to come.". 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. ), 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. Then she'd charge my friends $50 each," he says. October 4, 2012 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. If only there were a place where prostitution was legal, he thought, a city full of beautiful women like Miami, but no rules. Indeed, Tony would turn Porky's into a moneymaking machine. But Monday morning, when it came time to walk out of La Joya, there was no vehicle waiting. "Anthony has been in jail for more than 15 months, and a judge hasn't even heard his case yet!" He answered only to property owner William Seidle, a U.S. Bankruptcy Court trustee who ran a chain of car dealerships. The gig introduced him to a lifelong vice. And last year, Yester was finally arrested in Rome on charges unrelated to the submarine while en route to a wedding. When he left to open a bona fide brothel in Panama, Galeota thought the country's lax prostitution laws would make him rich. A tattoo of an Italian Mafioso emerges from an extra-large sleeveless T-shirt. The 43-year-old is shaped like a mini refrigerator: short and squat, with a shaved head and wide-set emerald eyes. We break down the best movies and series to watch in November in theaters and streaming. When he discovered he was about to be subpoenaed, he withdrew $2,500 from the bank and boarded a two-week Caribbean cruise. 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. And then Russell got a text message out of the blue. When Galeota stood up, he checked his T-shirt for bullet holes, but found none. "Now I'm living in hell.". I had a friend of mine living in St. Petersburg, and I said, Misha, tell me something, Tarzan real name Ludwig Fainberg says in a heavy Russian accent. This story has been shared 173,716 times. (Panama passed harsher penalties for human trafficking during Galeota's incarceration, but Galeota can't be prosecuted under laws that weren't in place when he was arrested. Filthy and crowded cell block of La Joya Prison, Panama. People named Tony Goleta. He was 31. Finally, on May 23, the gate on Galeota's cramped cell swung open, and he was free to go. As he sweated in jail, Galeota's Panamanian empire crumbled. Tony Kaleta. "But I did it for my child.". But Tony had darker secrets. And she launched drunken tirades at Tony after baseball games, no matter how well the all-star shortstop performed. "My wife could have left me. Russian immigrant Ludwig Fainberg, a.k.a. 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. A kilo of cocaine in Panama costs much less - about $5,000 per. A tattoo of an Italian Mafioso emerges from an extra-large sleeveless T-shirt. For a while, Panama's pay-to-play culture suited Galeota just fine. Family members can also bring them food and clean water, however, and inmates bribe guards to smuggle in additional items. Sign Up. A large Russian man called Tarzan sits in an armchair against the backdrop of a cracked and stained wall, a pack of cigarettes, lighter and an ash tray on a table to his left, and he shrugs as he talks about a deal he tried to broker more than 20 years ago. local news and culture, Michael E. Miller 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. But instead of classical music, his specialty is sex. "I lived it up in Miami," he says. 16:56 GMT 13 Mar 2018 The club was very successful. "We were doing fantastic, but Tarzan got bored and started living the life," Galeota explains. ", "You hear that?" Galeota's enemies say that a life of sin has finally caught up with the flesh-peddler. His name was Tony Galeota, he said, and he had run Porky's for 18 years before being locked up in Panama's worst prison for a crime he didn't commit. Become a member to support the independent voice of South Florida Eventually, he moved two dozen ladies to Panama City. Rats, roaches, and beetles the size of Chihuahuas crawl over inmates at night. or. Find your friends on Facebook. "My family didn't care; they took it," Galeota says of the stolen goods. There is no rehabilitation here," he says. When he was 16, he knocked up his 15-year-old girlfriend at Hauppauge High School. 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. Sixteen months later, the two men have yet to appear in court. 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. Tarzan, got his first job in America as an enforcer for the Gambino crime family. "He never forced us to do anything. In the distance, La Cordillera de San Blas cuts through the Panamanian jungle like a serrated knife. It was February 2011, and he was preparing to open the Doll House, his own strip club in Panama. 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. 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 Join the New Times community and help support independent 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. His mother, Bonnie Gellilti, was "a bit of a criminal," Tony remembers. We travelled all the time. But instead of classical music, his specialty is sex. Get the latest updates in news, food, music and culture, and receive special offers direct to your inbox. Greed got the better of him. Marshals deported Ludwig Fainberg from Miami. One scammer stole from another scammer; of course I accept it, he says. "Keep your fucking hands off the girl!" His government protection would evaporate, the Doll House would be raided, his investments would be stolen, and he would be arrested. See also: "From Porky's to Panamanian Prison: Web Extra.". Photo courtesy of Josh Weiss - Giant insects infest the prison. "It was puppy love," he says. Galeota's sheer size and mob connections are the only things keeping him from getting shivved in the dark. Somewhere between his native Ukraine, Israel, and Russia, he'd shed his trademark long hair and changed his name to Alon Bar. It was a caper, for sure., He says: Tarzan was the lynchpin to it, because it was his story. Anywhere other than La Joya, this news would be shocking. 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. The year before, his father helped him land a job as a wedding DJ. Indeed, Havana Club has already reopened. 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. Santiago de Cali shone in the syrupy South American sunlight filling Colombia's Cauca River Valley. Anywhere other than La Joya, this news would be shocking. 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. He headed right to his beloved Miami, Florida. He might have sold them the submarine, taken the money and walked away with the money.. Galeota and his "girls" in the Doll House, before the bust. They arrested 18 suspects, including Galeota, several strippers, and most employees. 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. He was very serious and said he would look into it. We've been here for two years!' But Tony had darker secrets. Then they pushed play on a cassette deck. When the bartender told Shea it was last call, he became enraged. 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. There was nothing unusual about it. Within weeks of its April 2011 opening, the club was raking in $6,000 on good nights. Prisoners eat stale bread and a slice of cheese for breakfast; rice and sometimes beans is their lunch and dinner. 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. 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. The heavy-set Italian even signed a release. 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. Also read: Tony Galeota: From Running. Miami's independent source of 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. "There was no transportation, no cops, no nothing," he says. Tony Galeota's age is expected to be 52. The gig introduced him to a lifelong vice. 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. "It was so slow I couldn't take it," he says. He soon finds himself wanting to be a mobster, and starts running errands for them. 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. Galeota's wife Kristy comments "Porky's was definitely a place you could get killed." S10 E10 Miami Mobster Take Down. He and Kristy struck up an unlikely romance. Here, Galeota is just one of 500 prisoners crammed into a filthy cell block designed to hold 200 people. The heavy-set Italian even signed a release. 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. "He had that guido effect on me," she says. This time, I'm innocent.". But Galeota was convinced the cops were bluffing and refused to cooperate. Gunshots flashed like fireworks in the darkness. 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. "She would use shoe polish to change our driver's licenses so we could go to clubs and drink when we were 15. Even then, however, he couldn't sleep. 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 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. 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He raises his eyebrows and looks upwards to the left to emphasize just how flabbergasted he was with Mishas counter question. When a dancer clapped her ass cheeks like a maraca, a customer's hands instinctively rose to touch them. Everything here has a cost.". You could not mislead him in any way or you could tell that the consequences could be serious, but I loved him. I never got a straight answer [about why he was in jail there], says Russell. See Photos. the agent said. He was talking to Fainberg about a murder he'd witnessed in Porky's parking lot. 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.. "But I've always paid for everything, either with stitches in my head, concussions, or jail time. "She hasn't worked for 15 years. And like the Italian-American crooner, he loved women a little too much. 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. "It's not an easy choice," she says. Become a member to support the independent voice of South Florida When he was 16, he knocked up his 15-year-old girlfriend at Hauppauge High School. local news and culture, Michael E. Miller Furious and Busted Rick Cedar steals radios to support his family. By now, she knows of his many infidelities, including that he lived and slept with some of the girls at the Doll House. And multiple sources close to Fainberg say he was pressured to rat out Seidle but refused. 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.