Ray Ferritto

Raymond W. Ferritto (April 8, 1929 − May 10, 2004) was an Italian-American mobster from Erie, Pennsylvania. Ferritto is best known for the 1977 assassination of Irish mob boss Danny Greene. He served as hitman and soldier for the Cleveland and Los Angeles crime families.

Career

Raymond Ferritto was born April 8, 1929, in Erie, Pennsylvania, to Michael and Rose ( Fracassi) Ferritto. He was the fourth of five children, and the second of three sons.

Ferritto was arrested, along with four other men, of attempting to rob a gas station in Erie, in August 1957. Ferritto pleaded guilty, and was sentenced to three to six years in state prison.

In Warren, Ferritto met Ronald "The Crab" Carabbia and Tony "Tony Dope" Delsanter. Carabbia and his three brothers were all known as "the Crab", which was a play on their last name, and had become prominent in the organized crime scene in Youngstown. Delsanter was a made man in the Cleveland crime family. He managed the family's gambling interests in the Mahoning Valley.

In 1958, at age twenty-nine, Ferritto was arrested for burglary. He pleaded guilty and served three years of a three- to five-year sentence. Once out, Ferritto spent some time in the Cleveland area where he committed several burglaries with his childhood friends, Allie Calabrese and Pasquale "Butchie" Cisternino.

By the late 1960s, Ferritto had moved to Los Angeles where he was associated with a group of Cleveland mobsters, including Julius Petro. In the forties, Petro avoided a death sentence on a retrial in a murder case. Ferritto and Petro were associates of Jimmy Fratianno, who was closely associated with the Los Angeles crime family. Likewise, Ferritto was trying to make a name for himself.

In 1969, Ferritto booked a flight from Los Angeles to Erie. He was driven to the airport by another burglar, originally from Cleveland. Accompanying the two to the airport was gangster Julius Petro. An accomplice wheeled the car into an airport parking garage spot. Ferritto waited for a plane to take off, put a gun to the back of Julius Petro's head and fired a shot, killing him. The single fatal shot was muffled by the jet engines. The murder resulted from a conflict with a well-known and successful bookmaker in Los Angeles who used Petro as muscle. Ferritto and his accomplice were likely candidates for the contract since they both also disliked Petro. Fratianno confirmed the facts of Petro's murder after Fratianno became a government witness in 1977.

Prior to the murder hit at the airport, Ferritto tried to plant a bomb in Petro's car. While assembling the explosive, Ferritto accidentally detonated the blasting cap, causing a minor injury to his leg. He opted for the ''"one-way ride"'' method of execution next. Petro's killing went unsolved for years until a dramatic turn of events began to unfold.

In 1971, Ferritto was convicted of burglary, this time with explosives. He was sentenced to fifteen years and incarcerated at the California Institution for Men in Chino, California. Fratianno also was doing prison time at Chino and the two became friends. In 1974, Ferritto was released from Chino, and returned to Erie. He started booking again and also worked for a vending company that was owned by a cousin. By that time, Ferritto developed a peptic ulcer serious enough to require partial removal of his stomach. To calm his nerves, he took handfuls of antacid tablets and even smoked marijuana.

In the 1970s, Danny Greene began competing with the Cleveland crime family for control of union rackets, resulting in a violent mob war. During this period, there were almost 40 car bombings in Cleveland and eight failed attempts to kill Greene. Finally, Cleveland family bosses Jack "Jack White" Licavoli and Angelo "Big Ange" Lonardo contracted Ferritto to assassinate Greene.

On October 6, 1977, Greene was at his dentist's office. Ferritto and Ronald Carabbia parked a car containing a bomb in the side door, next to Greene's car. When Greene started entering his car, Carabbia detonated the bomb and killed Greene instantly.

The two witnesses to the murder scene were Greg and Debbie Spoth. Debbie Spoth, the daughter of a suburban policeman, was a sketch artist who drew an amazing likeness of Ray Ferritto for authorities. She took the sketch to her father, who in turn, took it to Cleveland police, who identified Ferritto from a police file.

When a search warrant was executed at Ferritto's house in Erie, police found the registration papers for the bomb car and arrested him. The search of Ferritto's house also turned up a copy of ''Cleveland Magazine'' with a picture of Greene in it. Upon hearing of Ferritto's arrest, Licavoli put out a hit contract on Ferritto. When Ferritto learned that the Cleveland family wanted him dead, he became a government witness and testified against his co-defendants in the 1978 trial. The State of Ohio indicted Licavoli, Lonardo, Ferritto, Carabbia and 15 other members of the Cleveland family for the Greene murder.

Ferritto also admitted responsibility for the 1969 killing of Cleveland gangster Julius Anthony Petro. He served less than four years in prison for both murders. Ray Ferritto left the witness protection program after one year and continued to stay in Pennsylvania.

In 1992, Ferritto was convicted of criminal conspiracy and bookmaking charges. He was sentenced from six to 23-and-a-half months' imprisonment, three years on probation, and fined $10,500.

Post-prison life and death

Ferritto died in Sarasota, Florida, on May 10, 2004, at the age 75.

Personal life

Raymond married Wilma Rose Tochluk on August 10, 1947. The couple had three children, and divorced in 1956. He married Bernetta Della Curti in September 1957, and they had one child.

In popular culture

In the 2011 film ''Kill the Irishman'', Ferritto was portrayed onscreen by actor Robert Davi.

References

References

*Porrello, Rick. ''To Kill the Irishman: The War that Crippled the Mafia''. Novelty, Ohio: Next Hat Press, 2004.
*Ferritto, Susan. "Ferritto: An Assassin Scorned" Erie, Pa Ragpaper Press,2012

External links

Danny Greene - Plus 25
by Rick Porrello

{{DEFAULTSORT:Ferritto, Ray
1929 births
2004 deaths
American people convicted of murder
Cleveland crime family
American gangsters of Italian descent
Los Angeles crime family
Mafia hitmen
People who entered the United States Federal Witness Protection Program
People convicted of murder by Ohio
United States Marines