The value then triples to $100,000 per kilo at the street level when it's busted down for individual use. Galeota also found himself in the back of an unmarked FBI car. We've been here for two years!' "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. Then she'd charge my friends $50 each," he says. 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. "I was always looking for their approval," he says, "but I never got that. Michael Galeota, who starred on the Disney Channel's "The Jersey" died Sunday, according to Variety. Instead, he's trapped in a labyrinthine legal system, alone and unable to speak Spanish. "Luis pulled out a .38 and shot the guy in the chest. By the time they returned to Long Island later that night, a pimp was born. The domestic bliss lasted only a couple of weeks. 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. He was 31. "My father wasn't in the mob, but his friends were," Tony says. Two agents told him that they'd been tapping his phone for months. 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. 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. "Then they'd tell me: 'They are as good as dead.'". "I'm used to getting my water from a rain bucket, not hot from the tap." If he didnt give them the information, he was afraid that he would have gotten killed, and he was probably right., In the meantime, Yester may have been too in love with his eight-figure haul to really care and there was ultimately no retribution against his family. Its about 2,800 kilos, about a ton and a half of contraband. October 4, 2012 "Everybody give me your money!" Sixteen months later, the two men have yet to appear in court. It had been ten years since U.S. When youre rolling with the criminal underworld, its always weird; its really weird in Russia.. Years later, Tarzan again found himself behind bars, this time in Panama; in fact, he was serving time in 2011 when Russell first approached him for the documentary. "My wife could have left me. , updated 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. On Friday, May 17, Galeota got word that the judge had also dismissed the drug charge because of lack of evidence. We have a lot of laughs about it now," he says. The two ran Porky's for another decade after Fainberg's deportation. 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.". "It is with tremendous heartfelt sadness to announce the passing of Michael James. 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. In the meantime, he's spending time with his wife and kids. Panama had gone from paradise to purgatory. "But I've always paid for everything, either with stitches in my head, concussions, or jail time. Anthony Jr. was taken to a juvenile detention center that wasn't much better. "There were beautiful girls, just walking the streets, giving blowjobs for $10 or $15.". 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. He was a loan shark: generously offering money but punishing those who didn't pay back. Sheila Flynn For Dailymail.com Guards with machine guns man rusty metal towers. He might have sold them the submarine, taken the money and walked away with the money.. If anything, Galeota's life got even more out of control after Fainberg's arrest. This looks great. . The fear was well founded, considering what went down when Tarzan linked up with Cuban outlaws Juan Almeida and Nelson Tony Yester. More than anything, Galeota is grateful that his family kept faith in him. "Now I'm living in hell.". "But I've always paid for everything, either with stitches in my head, concussions, or jail time. Tony Goleta. I'm kind of stuck with it. Galeota jumped at the deal. Luckier still, a powerful Colombian inmate named Mauricio Ramrez recognized Galeota from his restaurant. Controlling it. local news and culture, Michael E. Miller But he insists that, for once, he has done nothing wrong. "My wife is never going to completely trust me. But Monday morning, when it came time to walk out of La Joya, there was no vehicle waiting. His father, Arnold, was a strait-laced sales manager but a distant and disapproving dad. document.getElementById( "ak_js_1" ).setAttribute( "value", ( new Date() ).getTime() ); Thanks for contacting us. "But I've always paid for everything, either with stitches in my head, concussions, or jail time. "Many times, I worried about him getting killed. Galeota saw an opportunity. When he was 16, he knocked up his 15-year-old girlfriend at Hauppauge High School. "It was home to a lot of shrewd and nefarious characters.". Bonnie also shoplifted booze to sustain her hard drinking habit. View Tony Galeota's 1940 US census record to find family members, occupation details & more. He hired 'Fat Tony' Galeota as Porky's manager. Police again surrounded Porky's in the early hours of May 9, 2009. While out of sight, he phoned his guy and lied about being in a particular taxi cab. He ogled the women standing on corners in their underwear and high heels. The drugs will be turned over to the DEA. But Galeota's plan would soon go catastrophically wrong. 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. It is not known when he was born or his current age. "You see who wants to fuck your wife, who wants to rob you, and who your real friends are.". 17:57 GMT 13 Mar 2018. "It was a nightmare in there. Galeota is no angelic Andy Dufresne, the main character in Shawshank who serves two decades behind bars for a crime he didn't commit. A kilo of cocaine in Panama costs much less - about $5,000 per. Galeota is one of several Americans locked up here. He'd already invested in seven apartments in Panama City and rented a storefront on the capital's seediest street, where prostitution was legal. He could convince you that the sky was green." "My family didn't care; they took it," Galeota says of the stolen goods. He also owned the Russian restaurant Babushka, which was a magnet for snowbirding criminals from his homeland. His father, Arnold, was a strait-laced sales manager but a distant and disapproving dad. Tony Galeota has a wife named Kristy Galeota, with whom he lives. The charismatic teenager sold the stolen suits or electronics at strip clubs or used-car lots. "We treated the women well.". Nearly 300 feet long with 10 torpedo tubes (empty in this case), it was diesel but could be converted to electric for silent running. 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. Anywhere other than La Joya, this news would be shocking. Director Tiller Russell Stars Ludwig Fainberg Juan Almeida Nelson Yester See production, box office & company info Add to Watchlist 44 User reviews 9 Critic reviews Awards 1 nomination Videos 2 Trailer 1:46 Become a member to support the independent voice of South Florida Russian immigrant Ludwig Fainberg, a.k.a. Police repeatedly raided the club, yet Galeota escaped unscathed every time. Become a member to support the independent voice of South Florida Galeota already lived according to a gangster's code. 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. As he contemplates the question, Galeota watches his fellow inmates kick a soccer ball across La Joya's putrid playground. If only there were a place where prostitution was legal, he thought, a city full of beautiful women like Miami, but no rules. 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. At the entrance to La Joya, ant hills and wasp nests surround a wooden sign. In the distance, La Cordillera de San Blas cuts through the Panamanian jungle like a serrated knife. But he insists that, for once, he has done nothing wrong. "There was no transportation, no cops, no nothing," he says. Sixteen months later, the two men have yet to appear in court. Filmography (by Job) Trailers and Videos. We are no longer accepting comments on this article. The year before, his father helped him land a job as a wedding DJ. Controlling it. "They had what seemed like a dynamite case, but it has ended up in pieces.". He was a big, big fish.". But Monday morning, when it came time to walk out of La Joya, there was no vehicle waiting. While Galeota avoided testifying, Fainberg faced 30 counts including racketeering and conspiracy to traffic cocaine and heroin. Tony Kaleta. 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. Girls charged $150 or more for sex. And she launched drunken tirades at Tony after baseball games, no matter how well the all-star shortstop performed. 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. Photo courtesy of Josh Weiss Surrounded by Colombian strippers, Galeota gives a toast during a party at the Doll House. "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. 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. When a dancer clapped her ass cheeks like a maraca, a customer's hands instinctively rose to touch them. one of the kids shouted as he pulled a handkerchief over his face and wildly swung a revolver. 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. The Coast Guard said each one of the kilos is worth $33,000. He created a souped-up cigarette boat that went for $2 million and was presumably used to transport cocaine. "I lived it up in Miami," he says. "When you're in La Joya for two years, you get used to that environment," Galeota says. Become a member to support the independent voice of South Florida A dozen plainclothes cops poured in with pistols drawn. When he left to open a bona fide brothel in Panama, Galeota thought the country's lax prostitution laws would make him rich. See Photos. Finally, on May 23, the gate on Galeota's cramped cell swung open, and he was free to go. 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. Facebook Email or phone Password Forgot account? Miami's independent source of But instead of classical music, his specialty is sex. The goods came from sources in the freshly fallen Soviet Union, a place where everything seemed to be up for grabs at ridiculously low prices. 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. 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. 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 tattoo of an Italian Mafioso emerges from an extra-large sleeveless T-shirt. "My father wasn't in the mob, but his friends were," Tony says. She is cute and curvy with dark hair and a button nose. Find your friends on Facebook. 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. "Like me, he was a black sheep who could do nothing right.". Here, Galeota is just one of 500 prisoners crammed into a filthy cell block designed to hold 200 people. Catherine says she slept with customers because she needed the money to support her family. "Anthony has been in jail for more than 15 months, and a judge hasn't even heard his case yet!" I never got a straight answer [about why he was in jail there], says Russell. They tried to squeeze Fainberg to get Seidle. 4:00AM. The submarine request, which came from Yester on behalf of the cartel, was not as outrageous as it now sounds. All the services here are free. The last one locked the door. Tarzan eventually testified against Juan and was deported to Israel, where he recanted his testimony meaning Juans conviction for conspiracy to traffic cocaine was overturned and he went free.
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