Then she'd charge my friends $50 each," he says. local Journalism in South Florida. By the time he was 18, he had been arrested seven times for armed robbery and assault, he says. Tony Galeota Age And Family. By the mid-'90s, Galeota had turned Porky's into a one-stop shop for strippers, sex, and serious drugs. Inside, the bar is still littered with half-empty bottles of Chivas Regal. When Bill Seidle died, Galeota knew the club's days were numbered. "The investigation was so poorly handled and rushed," says Otero, the journalist. He and Kristy struck up an unlikely romance. 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. They had girls in every city. His mother, Bonnie Gellilti, was "a bit of a criminal," Tony remembers. Galeota was hit with felony drug and prostitution charges. He paid for her to secretly get an abortion. "I was just numb.". local news and culture, Michael E. Miller But Tony had darker secrets. But the deal never happened. "But I've always paid for everything, either with stitches in my head, concussions, or jail time. Use tab to navigate through the menu items. 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. 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. He broke it off with the woman, but his problems were only beginning. Prostitution was so common at Porky's that the club had fixed places and prices, Galeota says. Back in South Florida, Kristy Galeota vacillates between outrage and empathy for her husband. "A family type thing, like an ale house with wings and beer," he says. Now the stranger-than-fiction story is brought to life in new documentary Operation Odessa, a film thats closer to a roller-coaster ride than anything else and premieres on Showtime March 31. And like the Italian-American crooner, he loved women a little too much. But when the house of cards tumbles, John . He faced nine years in prison, but because he provided evidence against Almeida, he served just three years before being deported to his adopted homeland of Israel. MICHAEL GALEOTA OBITUARY. 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. Days go by without water, and when it does arrive, it's turbid sludge from a nearby river. As the authorities closed in, they picked up Juan and Tarzan, but they couldnt find Tony and neither could the cartel. Advertisement. When he heard that his old partner in crime from Porky's had moved to Panama, he flew in to meet with Galeota. Tarzan, Almeida and Yester had previously teamed on multimillion-dollar deals for Colombian cocaine barons, snagging motorcycles and Kamov 32 military helicopters (with two rotors and capable of transporting 5,000 kilos of cocaine via hook). 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. 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. Even then, however, he couldn't sleep. "We were like: 'We want to get the fuck out of here. "Luis pulled out a .38 and shot the guy in the chest. But this was Hialeah.". 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. When crews were launched to investigate, the suspected smugglers threw several packages into the water. "It was puppy love," he says. Within weeks of its April 2011 opening, the club was raking in $6,000 on good nights. A tattoo of an Italian Mafioso emerges from an extra-large sleeveless T-shirt. Galeota is no angelic Andy Dufresne, the main character in Shawshank who serves two decades behind bars for a crime he didn't commit. "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. The 43-year-old is shaped like a mini refrigerator: short and squat, with a shaved head and wide-set emerald eyes. 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. "I just watched Luis blow a guy away," Galeota heard himself say on tape. source of local news and culture, Michael E. Miller Log In. A poster on the wall advertises "Lesby Show: 2 Girls per Person" for $350. 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. "Another night at Porky's, another shooting," he remembers now from his prison cell in Panama. For two decades, Galeota managed Porky's, a Hialeah dive notorious for drugs, prostitution, and violence, where he was part pimp, part bouncer, and completely untouchable. During the Doll House raid, they found marked bills in the register and several grams of pot on a promoter. All he needed now were the prostitutes. So looking back on it and all the hijinks, from being smuggled in to a Panamanian prison to crossing paths with the FSB in Moscow to being met in a Porsche Cayenne by Tony Yester and driving away thinking: Okay, the CIA, DEA, FBI and US Marshals have been looking for this guy for 25 years, and Im in his car by myself with no notion of where were going or when were coming back. In retrospect, its like, Im a moron, but at the time I was full-throttle chase the story., Of the finished product Operation Odessa, he says: Hopefully, its a rocknroll thrill ride into the underworld, where you get a passport to a life and lifestyle and characters that you didnt even imagine existed much less having a ringside seat with them., The comments below have not been moderated, By SO I started with the cops and I had been kind of circling the others without knowing if it was really possible or not. A judge eventually dropped the human trafficking charge, but Galeota still rotted in his sordid cell alongside insects the size of small dogs. "It was puppy love," he says. Photo courtesy of Josh Weiss Surrounded by Colombian strippers, Galeota gives a toast during a party at the Doll House. Tony Goleta. The FBI swooped in January 21, surrounding the club and arresting Fainberg. The offload is a result of two successful drug interdictions in the Caribbean since August 23. Facilitating it. It was 1990, and Galeota transformed the place by wiring in subwoofers and bringing in New York dancers. 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. "She would use shoe polish to change our driver's licenses so we could go to clubs and drink when we were 15. He called me in two days and he asked me, do we want the submarine with missiles or without missiles? says Tarzan. Galeota is no angelic Andy Dufresne, the main character in Shawshank who serves two decades behind bars for a crime he didn't commit. But when he opens a new club in Panama City, the competition isn't happy and frames him for drug dealing. Find your friends on Facebook. Follow this journalist on Twitter @MikeMillerMiami. We break down the best movies and series to watch in November in theaters and streaming. Tony Galeota Tony Galeota. 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. Make a one-time donation today for as little as $1. But Galeota's problems aren't completely behind him. "My family didn't care; they took it," Galeota says of the stolen goods. "No one can tell us how long he will be in there," she says. 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. In this real life Goodfellas tale, New York teen John Alite gets a job at his local Deli, a hangout for 'wise guys'. "Their connections were bigger than ours," he says. TV-14 | 06.05.2013. 8:00AM. This story has been shared 173,716 times. 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. "I'm used to getting my water from a rain bucket, not hot from the tap." Just not a strip club. The gig introduced him to a lifelong vice. Prisoners eat stale bread and a slice of cheese for breakfast; rice and sometimes beans is their lunch and dinner. Log in or sign up for Facebook to connect with friends, family and people you know. "I was always looking for their approval," he says, "but I never got that. "There was no transportation, no cops, no nothing," he says. Its impossible but only because its true. Then they pushed play on a cassette deck. "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. "My wife can say she has regrets, but that's bullshit," he says. In retrospect, when you tell the stories aloud, its like, Thats insane and you, Tiller, are an insane person for having done that. Its funny; I was just like, this is too good of a story to let go. The Coast Guard said the eight-member crew cooperated and was taken into custody. Miami's underworld may still be seedy, but it has outsourced much of its shadiness to nearby Third-World countries such as Panama. 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. "He never forced us to do anything. His attorney has warned him that prosecutors will likely appeal, so he plans to stay in Panama until his case is resolved. One scammer stole from another scammer; of course I accept it, he says. "It was a very violent atmosphere," he says. We both understand that.". "They murdered a guy in here a couple of days ago," Tony Galeota says. "The worst part of being in here is being in here for nothing. one of the kids shouted as he pulled a handkerchief over his face and wildly swung a revolver. See also: "From Porky's to Panamanian Prison: Web Extra.". The 43-year-old is shaped like a mini refrigerator: short and squat, with a shaved head and wide-set emerald eyes. Police repeatedly raided the club, yet Galeota escaped unscathed every time. But he insists that, for once, he has done nothing wrong. Anthony Galeota was born October 17, 1968, on Long Island. Next time, I will steal it back from him., Tarzan (left) at the site of the submarine. or. They also discovered the club was registered as a massage parlor, not a brothel. People named Tony Galeta. He was soon promoted from DJing weddings to robbing delivery trucks for the Paccione clan (which federal court records tie to the infamous Gambino crime family). Its a lot of f- -king paper. Russell did as he was told and flew to the appointed city in Africa; as soon as he walked into his hotel room, the phone rang and he was instructed to be downstairs in five minutes, where Tony whisked him off in a Porsche Cayenne and they spent several surreal days together; Tony showed the director his Russian fighter jet, which had $5million in the cockpit as the fugitives getaway plan, and told his part of the story. Prostitution is legal in Panama," he complains. 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. He bought seven properties pretty much sight unseen.". "Their connections were bigger than ours," he says. Through the air plane window, Tony Galeota could see the city's colonial churches glow like polished gold. These interdiction's were part of Operation Martillo, an international operation to fight illegal trafficking. Finally, on May 23, the gate on Galeota's cramped cell swung open, and he was free to go. The Doll House couldn't expand fast enough to meet the influx of sex tourists. Sheila Flynn For Dailymail.com 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. 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 Tony Galeta. But Fainberg wasn't in town to catch up. The heavy-set Italian even signed a release. "I used to have to patch Tony up all the time," Kristy says. 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. Instead, he's trapped in a labyrinthine legal system, alone and unable to speak Spanish. And, above all, selling it. For two decades, Galeota managed Porky's, a Hialeah dive notorious for drugs, prostitution, and violence, where he was part pimp, part bouncer, and completely untouchable. State and local police launched an investigation in February 2009. "My father wasn't in the mob, but his friends were," Tony says. Then once he sent me this crazy email like, Holy s***! But their courtship was cut short. There was a spate of murders, several police raids, and a federal drug-trafficking trial.