tony galeota family

Make a one-time donation today for as little as $1. Its a great success overall. With dark hair and pale, wide-set eyes, teenage Tony resembled a stocky Frank Sinatra. (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. 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. 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. When he left to open a bona fide brothel in Panama, Galeota thought the country's lax prostitution laws would make him rich. But Fainberg wasn't in town to catch up. See Photos. Galeota's enemies say that a life of sin has finally caught up with the flesh-peddler. "My family didn't care; they took it," Galeota says of the stolen goods. Log In. And like the Italian-American crooner, he loved women a little too much. Miami's underworld may still be seedy, but it has outsourced much of its shadiness to nearby Third-World countries such as Panama. This business has been very good to me.". Tony Galeota Tony Galeota. 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). The nightmare deepened for Galeota. 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. State and local police launched an investigation in February 2009. Access is free so discover Tony Galeota's story today. "It was a very violent atmosphere," he says. "When you're in La Joya for two years, you get used to that environment," Galeota says. Tarzan, got his first job in America as an enforcer for the Gambino crime family. "That's the problem.". "I wouldn't leave a dog in that prison, let alone my husband.". Even then, however, he couldn't sleep. According to the Coast Guard: It first took place north of the Gulf of Uraba. It was a Foxtrot-class submarine, or Project 641 as the Soviets called it. "There was no transportation, no cops, no nothing," he says. Galeota tried going straight, opening a coffee shop in downtown Panama City. 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. Filmography (by Job) Trailers and Videos. Galeota's sheer size and mob connections are the only things keeping him from getting shivved in the dark. Anthony Galeota was born October 17, 1968, on Long Island. But when the house of cards tumbles, John . Anthony Galeota was born October 17, 1968, on Long Island. October 4, 2012 I got a piece of the action of every blowjob that my friends got," Galeota says. Cops had made several controlled buys of drugs. Indeed, Tony would turn Porky's into a moneymaking machine. Guards with machine guns man rusty metal towers. Its our mission down there besides search and rescue. "We were doing fantastic, but Tarzan got bored and started living the life," Galeota explains. 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. Instead, he's trapped in a labyrinthine legal system, alone and unable to speak Spanish. 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. If any official asks you to pay for anything, please report them.". South Florida's independent 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. she scoffs. He called me in two days and he asked me, do we want the submarine with missiles or without missiles? says Tarzan. Theyre nice guys [the cartel members], and I didnt ask what they needed the submarine for., If they woke up and were hungry, they would fly a private jet to Cancun for lunch, says Tiller Russell, director of Operation Odessa. Then theyd roll to Venezuela to check out a new casino. "They murdered a guy in here a couple of days ago," Tony Galeota says. This time, I'm innocent.". "A family type thing, like an ale house with wings and beer," he says. And when his mother was distraught over a broken washing machine, he filled the house with new appliances. 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. More than anything, Galeota is grateful that his family kept faith in him. We've been here for two years!' "When you go to prison, it's like dying, but you get to see your own funeral," Galeota says. I know its gonna be a strange question. "It is with tremendous heartfelt sadness to announce the passing of Michael James. "My father wasn't in the mob, but his friends were," Tony says. Thats why you have to do this kind of story as non-fiction., The initial meeting with Tarzan, however, was hampered by the fact that the Russian mob got wind of Russells visit, he says, and they threatened Tarzans life inside the jail if he shared his full story. "This case has had a big impact here," says Jos Otero, a reporter for Panamanian newspaper La Prensa. His father, Arnold, was a strait-laced sales manager but a distant and disapproving dad. Thanks to a successful appeal, Almeida served only 18 months for his part in the sub caper. 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. Then they pushed play on a cassette deck. Galeota and his "girls" in the Doll House, before the bust. A man deeply embedded with Escobar's Medelln cartel, Tony had a notorious reputation as "a really bad guy"he was once caught with 41 passports, and featured on his own 1999 episode of America's. The year before, his father helped him land a job as a wedding DJ. Two days later, he was transferred to La Joya a hellish cinder-block complex an hour outside of Panama City. Rats, roaches, and beetles the size of Chihuahuas crawl over inmates at night. and help keep the future of New Times, Use of this website constitutes acceptance of our, From Porky's to Panamanian Prison: Web Extra. The fear was well founded, considering what went down when Tarzan linked up with Cuban outlaws Juan Almeida and Nelson Tony Yester. MICHAEL GALEOTA OBITUARY. 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. 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. Furious and Busted Rick Cedar steals radios to support his family. A sign on the latter reads, "District Attorney for Drugs: Do Not Enter." Become a member to support the independent voice of South Florida The heavy-set Italian even signed a release. He told them he could get them the submarine for $35million, but said hes need the money in installments; when they gave him the first $10million, he kept the money for himself and disappeared. "Now I'm living in hell.". "There were beautiful girls, just walking the streets, giving blowjobs for $10 or $15.". In the distance, La Cordillera de San Blas cuts through the Panamanian jungle like a serrated knife. ", Coast Guard Offloads More Than $93 Million In Cocaine, Miami Beach. "Now I'm living in hell.". Police repeatedly raided the club, yet Galeota escaped unscathed every time. Facilitating it. He met with mobsters in Cali mansions full of women, and he knocked on random doors in search of dancers. 2023 NYP Holdings, Inc. All Rights Reserved, Texas man busted in death of DJ galpal found stuffed in suitcase in Colombia, Inside the luxe lives of El Chapo's sons including jailbird Ovidio Guzmn Lpez, Arizona officials say Mexican cartels control US border: 'Ticking time bomb', Passengers on Aeromexico flight crouch in fear as plane caught in cartel crossfire: video. New laws effectively outlaw brothels such as the Doll House, permit or not but if Galeota walks with no convictions, it will surely embarrass officials trying to make it look like they're cleaning up the industry. See Photos. Instead, they eat rice for lunch and dinner, drink dirty river water, and use a hole in the ground for a toilet. When Bill Seidle died, Galeota knew the club's days were numbered. 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. A year later, it was $115,000 per month.". Panama had gone from paradise to purgatory. Biography. By But he insists that, for once, he has done nothing wrong. The crew boarded the 165-foot Panamanian-flagged coastal freighter Hope II. A friend suggested Panama. "It is with tremendous heartfelt sadness to announce the passing of Michael James Galeota," Jan. 10, reads a statement on a Go Fund Me page, created by Galeota's family to raise money for his burial. Moreover, trafficking prostitutes and drugs and involvement in organized crime are some serious charges.". 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. 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. And I'm not asking her to. "But she's never going to forget. The gig introduced him to a lifelong vice. "My wife could have left me. "I thought I would kick up my heels together like 'Oh my God, I'm finally out,'" he says. S10 E10 - Miami Mobster Take Down Tony Galeota is framed for drug trafficking in Panama City. He offered protection and gave Galeota $200. Banks seized all seven of his apartments. Back in South Florida, Kristy Galeota vacillates between outrage and empathy for her husband. And, above all, selling it. Tony and Kristy were shocked and out of a job. Make a one-time donation today for as little as $1. Finally, on May 23, the gate on Galeota's cramped cell swung open, and he was free to go. "Everybody give me your money!" He and Fainberg were on their way to riches thanks to powerful friends and legalized prostitution. Inmates are fed bread and cheese for breakfast and rice (sometimes beans) for lunch and dinner. I hoped to walk away from the deal with $10 million.. But the man's paws were soon on her crotch again. The gig introduced him to a lifelong vice. His mother, Bonnie Gellilti, was "a bit of a criminal," Tony remembers. "It was puppy love," he says. So I was literally stepping over dead bodies of the people who had been shanked and stuff over the course of the night.. When Galeota stood up, he checked his T-shirt for bullet holes, but found none. "That's obstruction of justice.". "Running a club in that neighborhood, win or lose, you've got to fight.". Coast Guard members who seized the cocaine said this is what their jobs are all about. Also read: Tony Galeota: From Running. Use tab to navigate through the menu items. His attorney has warned him that prosecutors will likely appeal, so he plans to stay in Panama until his case is resolved. Create a free family tree for yourself or for Tony Galeota and we'll search for valuable new information for you. We asked them some questions and some of their information didnt quite add up, so we conducted a boarding.. "It was a real moneymaker. See Photos. With little oversight, military leaders acted as if they were independent of the government. 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. Days go by without water, and when it does arrive, it's turbid sludge from a nearby river. A tattoo of an Italian Mafioso emerges from an extra-large sleeveless T-shirt. His father, Arnold, was a strait-laced sales manager but a distant and disapproving dad. They put a hit out on him when he disappeared with the money, while Juan and Tarzan took the legal fall in Miami. 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. Anthony Galeota (right) poses with Ludwig "Tarzan" Fainberg inside the Doll House weeks before their arrest. 17:57 GMT 13 Mar 2018. Three weeks after the Doll House raid, Kristy was working the bar at Bongos when three teenagers walked into the restaurant. But Monday morning, when it came time to walk out of La Joya, there was no vehicle waiting. We didn't even have to have sex unless we wanted to," says a Colombian stripper named Catherine. 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. "I just watched Luis blow a guy away," Galeota heard himself say on tape. Michael Galeota, who starred on the Disney Channel's "The Jersey" died Sunday, according to Variety. 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.".