Almeida was a specialist in obtaining black-market goods for status-crazed drug dealers. His father, Arnold, was a strait-laced sales manager but a distant and disapproving dad. He paid for her to secretly get an abortion. 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. People named Tony Goleta. "My father wasn't in the mob, but his friends were," Tony says. Next time, I will steal it back from him., Tarzan (left) at the site of the submarine. Michael Galeota, who starred on the Disney Channel's "The Jersey" died Sunday, according to Variety. Galeota is one of several Americans locked up here. 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. . When his dad lost his job, Tony paid the bills. But Porky's was just a Hialeah dive bar on the corner of SE 14th Street and Ninth Avenue, surrounded by cheap motels and buzzed by flights taking off from Miami International Airport. 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. October 4, 2012 Galeota's sheer size and mob connections are the only things keeping him from getting shivved in the dark. The gig introduced him to a lifelong vice. "There was no transportation, no cops, no nothing," he says. I got a piece of the action of every blowjob that my friends got," Galeota says. 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. Galeota was hit with felony drug and prostitution charges. I know its gonna be a strange question. Photo courtesy of Josh Weiss A prisoner poses with a gun smuggled into La Joya with help from guards. 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 a dancer clapped her ass cheeks like a maraca, a customer's hands instinctively rose to touch them. As the couple drove south on I-95, they thought they were leaving the worst behind them. "I'm used to getting my water from a rain bucket, not hot from the tap." The irony is not lost on Galeota that after a life of crime in Miami, he was arrested in Panama just as he was going legit. While Kristy was still in the States, he lived with five of his Colombian prostitutes. He was, after all, working with an American playboy in Miami and a fugitive Cuban spy to procure this submarine. ", McDonald has succeeded, however, in chipping away at the case, persuading a judge three weeks ago to drop the trafficking charge on a technicality. Both Juan and Tarzan shared with Russell how they had graduated from buying helicopters, motorcycles and cars for the cartel from Russia to pursuing a submarine for the drugrunners. And she launched drunken tirades at Tony after baseball games, no matter how well the all-star shortstop performed. Sixteen months later, the two men have yet to appear in court. He turned himself in a few days later, but the lounge's owner decided to close the cursed club. When his younger brother was molested, he beat the suspected perpetrator to a pulp. And she launched drunken tirades at Tony after baseball games, no matter how well the all-star shortstop performed. Moreover, trafficking prostitutes and drugs and involvement in organized crime are some serious charges.". When crews were launched to investigate, the suspected smugglers threw several packages into the water. They arrested 18 suspects, including Galeota, several strippers, and most employees. 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). 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. His father, Arnold, was a strait-laced sales manager but a distant and disapproving dad. He escaped with his life and went on the run, aiming to avoid the cartel, Interpol and US law enforcers. This time, I'm innocent.". And when his mother was distraught over a broken washing machine, he filled the house with new appliances. Michael Galeota, who starred on the Disney Channel's "The Jersey" died Sunday, according to Variety. State and local police launched an investigation in February 2009. Galeota believes that his arrest has little to do with a renewed commitment to the law in Panama. A friend suggested Panama. For the most part, Doll House dancers agree. "They shot him in the middle of the night," Galeota continues quietly, "and buried his body behind the pavilion.". Police repeatedly raided the club, yet Galeota escaped unscathed every time. That didnt stop Russell from trying to get them on board with doing a film about the submarine deal. Prosecutors charged Galeota and Fainberg with not only drug dealing but also human trafficking. They tried to squeeze Fainberg to get Seidle. "The investigation was so poorly handled and rushed," says Otero, the journalist. If any official asks you to pay for anything, please report them.". He ogled the women standing on corners in their underwear and high heels. "Whenever there is an American businessman involved in crime here in Panama, it becomes an important case. 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. ", "You hear that?" "This country is corrupt. "Bill was one of the most influential people in Miami," Galeota says. 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. Follow Miami New Times on Facebook and Twitter @MiamiNewTimes. MIAMI BEACH (CBSMiami) The Coast Guard offloaded about $93 million of cocaine Thursday afternoon on Miami Beach. It was February 2011, and he was preparing to open the Doll House, his own strip club in Panama. 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. We've received your submission. See Photos. Then once he sent me this crazy email like, Holy s***! Rising swiftly through the ranks, John buries his conscience to become a notorious Mafia hitman. 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. 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. "Maybe we didn't have the permits we were supposed to have, but we're foreigners who didn't understand the rules.". Most of them were robberies gone wrong or simple revenge. The year before, his father helped him land a job as a wedding DJ. (A New York Police Department spokesman says records from that far back aren't available.) Panamanian police had been casing the Doll House, Moulin Rouge, and another joint, called Havana Club, for weeks. As he contemplates the question, Galeota watches his fellow inmates kick a soccer ball across La Joya's putrid playground. Ludwig Fainberg a Russian-speaking Ukrainian nicknamed "Tarzan" for his flowing locks had opened it a few months earlier but ran it like a private club for Eastern Europeans. "My wife is never going to completely trust me. The Doll House couldn't expand fast enough to meet the influx of sex tourists. "If you like to eat chocolate and you live in a chocolate factory, you're going to eat chocolate," he says. Although he knows he could receive the death penalty, the money is too tempting to resist. "They shot him in the middle of the night," Galeota continues quietly, "and buried his body behind the pavilion.". And, above all, selling it. He broke it off with the woman, but his problems were only beginning. See Photos. But Monday morning, when it came time to walk out of La Joya, there was no vehicle waiting. Then an old friend showed up. They'd use their connections with immigration officials to obtain visas and prostitution licenses and then give Tarzan and Tony 40 percent of the profits to run a new club, called the Doll House. 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.. Tony and Kristy were shocked and out of a job. Making the documentary, he says: I found the story so compelling and so riveting that I was just relentlessly magnetized to it. 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. 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.. According to Yester, the cartel provided an initial payment of $10 million. Running an underworld operation in Cocaine Cowboys-era Miami wasn't an easy gig. Galeota jumped at the deal. By the mid-'90s, Galeota had turned Porky's into a one-stop shop for strippers, sex, and serious drugs. And I'm not asking her to. We travelled all the time. 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. 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. It was a Foxtrot-class submarine, or Project 641 as the Soviets called it. 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. Juan felt like he had no choice, says Russell. See Photos. The last one locked the door. A dozen plainclothes cops poured in with pistols drawn. Within weeks of its April 2011 opening, the club was raking in $6,000 on good nights. Instead of celebrating, he walked through the scuzzy neighborhood until he found a shabby motel. 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). 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. "That's the goal," is all he'll offer. In the meantime, he's spending time with his wife and kids. I hoped to walk away from the deal with $10 million.. 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. This looks great. . We break down the best movies and series to watch in November in theaters and streaming. Girls charged $150 or more for sex. South Florida's independent He was recently sentenced to serve around six years in federal prison. Galeota is one of several Americans locked up here. When Galeota stood up, he checked his T-shirt for bullet holes, but found none. Galeota's enemies say that a life of sin has finally caught up with the flesh-peddler. Tarzan, got his first job in America as an enforcer for the Gambino crime family. the agent said. He raises his eyebrows and looks upwards to the left to emphasize just how flabbergasted he was with Mishas counter question. Guards with machine guns man rusty metal towers. 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. "The worst part of being in here is being in here for nothing. His father, Arnold, was a strait-laced sales manager but a distant and disapproving dad. "We just meshed," she says. After that, Kristy closed Bongos. Greed got the better of him. 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. But when the house of cards tumbles, John . When he was 16, he knocked up his 15-year-old girlfriend at Hauppauge High School. Instead, Galeota admits he's done bad things, such as. 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. There was nothing unusual about it. "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. He decked out the Doll House with five upstairs rooms equipped with king-size beds, mirrors, lube, condoms, and showers, and brought in dozens of Colombian women, who could earn $120 split with the club for an hour of sex. or. 4:00AM. Tony Galletta. "I've done a lot of shady things in the States," he admits. His government protection would evaporate, the Doll House would be raided, his investments would be stolen, and he would be arrested. They were very compliant to everything we asked of them, said McElhaney. Galeota's enemies say that a life of sin has finally caught up with the flesh-peddler. "I'm in survival mode now," Galeota says, adding that he agonizes over being imprisoned for what he believes are unjust charges. "They murdered a guy in here a couple of days ago," Tony Galeota says. Police repeatedly raided the club, yet Galeota escaped unscathed every time. Galeota's sheer size and mob connections are the only things keeping him from getting shivved in the dark. We both understand that.". "I've done a lot of shady things in the States," he admits. Garrulous and bearish, the dentist-turned-hood (practicing the former in the Soviet Union and training for the latter in Brighton Beach) routinely carried two pistols and operated out of his. "I've been in this business my whole life. When the bartender told Shea it was last call, he became enraged. 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? Twice, American authorities had investigated Galeota. When he left to open a bona fide brothel in Panama, Galeota thought the country's lax prostitution laws would make him rich. So the translator said she couldn't take a shower, didn't show up, and the case was delayed. He was a loan shark: generously offering money but punishing those who didn't pay back. Panamanian newspapers put "Operation Fiesta" on the front page as prosecutors alleged Galeota was part of an international crime ring. Guards with machine guns man rusty metal towers. Marshals deported Ludwig Fainberg from Miami. local news and culture, Michael E. Miller Photo Gallery. Michael Galeota, who starred on the Disney Channel's "The Jersey" died Sunday, according to Variety. "Many times, I worried about him getting killed. "It was so slow I couldn't take it," he says. 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. ", Instead, he found another, tighter-knit family: the mob. But his mind was on another kind of riches. 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. He was 31. She's forgiven me, for the most part. "Now I'm living in hell.". Prostitution was so common at Porky's that the club had fixed places and prices, Galeota says. Family members can also bring them food and clean water, however, and inmates bribe guards to smuggle in additional items. He left, but returned with a gun. Days go by without water, and when it does arrive, it's turbid sludge from a nearby river. document.getElementById( "ak_js_1" ).setAttribute( "value", ( new Date() ).getTime() ); Thanks for contacting us. He might have sold them the submarine, taken the money and walked away with the money.. "He never forced us to do anything. Find your friends on Facebook. The club was very successful. "I thought I would kick up my heels together like 'Oh my God, I'm finally out,'" he says. Tony Galeota lived in 1954, at address, Massachusetts. His mother, Bonnie Gellilti, was "a bit of a criminal," Tony remembers. Catherine says she slept with customers because she needed the money to support her family. Everybody wanted to make money. Galeota says the police had already gotten what they wanted: Porky's demise. As for his career, his only oath is that he won't let his sons follow his example. And multiple sources close to Fainberg say he was pressured to rat out Seidle but refused. Somewhere between his native Ukraine, Israel, and Russia, he'd shed his trademark long hair and changed his name to Alon Bar. "He had that guido effect on me," she says. And theyre like, F*** yeah, lets do it. 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 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. There is no rehabilitation here," he says. Instead, they eat rice for lunch and dinner, drink dirty river water, and use a hole in the ground for a toilet. Michael Galeota, who starred on the Disney Channel's "The Jersey" died Sunday, according to Variety. In this real life Goodfellas tale, New York teen John Alite gets a job at his local Deli, a hangout for 'wise guys'. 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. source of local news and culture, Michael E. Miller Kristy was a self-described "firecracker" who had also escaped from an abusive home and wanted attention. Inside, the bar is still littered with half-empty bottles of Chivas Regal. So we met with a realtor, got high, and Tony got stupid with money. For 18 years, Galeota ran Porky's with the same punishing justice he learned from the mob and transformed it into Miami's most notorious whorehouse, where Russian gangsters and Cuban criminals spent millions on sex and drugs. Moreover, trafficking prostitutes and drugs and involvement in organized crime are some serious charges.". Its about 2,800 kilos, about a ton and a half of contraband. Facilitating it. And, above all, selling it. Sign Up. She's forgiven me, for the most part. A judge eventually dropped the human trafficking charge, but Galeota still rotted in his sordid cell alongside insects the size of small dogs. 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. "Thank God I'm out," he tells New Times in his first interview since his release. "Anthony has been in jail for more than 15 months, and a judge hasn't even heard his case yet!" 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. ", http://www.miaminewtimes.com/2012-10-04/news/tony-galeota-from-running-porky-s-miami-s-most-notorious-strip-joint-to-rotting-in-a-panamanian-jail/full/. 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. We've been here for two years!' With Fainberg locked up, Porky's was Galeota's plaything. "Whenever there is an American businessman involved in crime here in Panama, it becomes an important case. Then she'd charge my friends $50 each," he says. The Dolls House, Via Espaia Road, Panama City, Panam, "They murdered a guy in here a couple of days ago" Tony Galeota, Tony Galeota: From Running Porky's, Miami's Most Notorious Strip Joint, to Rotting in a Panamanian Jail. And that's why drug traffickers are in the business - take something that starts off with a value of $5,000 and when you're done selling it at the retail level the value has skyrocketed. Then my friend got back to me a couple days later and said there was just one question: Do you want a sub with missiles or without? , For all their camaraderie, though, the criminals opinions of one another were mixed. "Then they'd tell me: 'They are as good as dead.'". Indeed, Havana Club has already reopened. "It is with tremendous heartfelt sadness to announce the passing of Michael James Gal Its Colombian dancers were in Panama on six-month tourist visas, weren't licensed as prostitutes, and weren't getting required weekly health checkups. He was 31. Galeota is one of several Americans locked up here. "It is with tremendous heartfelt sadness to announce the passing of Michael James. And he hopes to open a place in Fort Lauderdale when he's back. 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. Like a concert pianist, Tony Galeota has spent his life honing a single skill since he was a teenager. But their courtship was cut short. Just not a strip club. Finally, on May 23, the gate on Galeota's cramped cell swung open, and he was free to go. Miami's independent source of Over the course of three months, undercover detectives made dozens of visits, tallying up a vivid snapshot of the club: "15 purchases of cocaine, four purchases of MDMA, one purchase of Xanax, one purchase of marijuana, 18 solicitations for prostitution, [and] 20 lewd acts.". "I want to go legit when I get out, but if the economy is bad, I might go back to the industry," he says. "It was puppy love," he says. Biography. 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. Explore More. The offload is a result of two successful drug interdictions in the Caribbean since August 23. "Last week we were supposed to have a hearing, but there was no running water in Panama City. And like the Italian-American crooner, he loved women a little too much. 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. The two ran Porky's for another decade after Fainberg's deportation. He also owned the Russian restaurant Babushka, which was a magnet for snowbirding criminals from his homeland. It was coke or pimping or messing with the wrong people.. Galeota was crammed into a sweltering holding cell with 150 others. "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. A deep bass line rattled customers' chests as they downed overpriced drinks. Tony Galeota Age And Family. In the second interdiction, a Customs plane spotted another suspicious boat off the coast of Panama on August 28th.