| abstract | - Ferritto got involved in criminal activities in his youth. In 1942, at the relatively young age of 13, he was convicted of burglarizing two gas stations and was sentenced to two years of probation. One year later, while Ferritto was working at a bronzing factory, an accident caused the amputation of two of his toes. Ferritto left high school at the age of 17 and joined the Marine Corps, but was honorably discharged a month later because of the injuries sustained to his foot. During his twenties, Ferritto was a bookmaker and vending machine route man in Erie. He got married in 1948, and fathered three children before he divorced in 1956. He remarried in 1957 and had one child. By that time Ferritto had moved to Warren, Ohio where he met Ronald Carabbia and Anthony Delsanter. In 1958, at age twenty-nine, Ferritto was arrested for burglary. He pled 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 "Butchie" Pasquale Cisternino. By the late sixties, Ferritto had moved to Los Angeles where he was associated with a group of Cleveland mobsters, including Julius Petro. In the forties, Petro wriggled free from a death sentence on a retrial in a murder case. Ferritto and Petro were associates of Aladena Fratianno, who was closely associated with the Los Angeles crime family. Likewise, Ray 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, just for the ride, was Julius Petro. The accomplice wheeled the car into an airport parking garage spot. Ferritto waited for a plane to take off, thrust a gun to the back of Julius Petro's head and pulled the trigger. The single fatal report was muffled by the roar of the jet. 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 disliked Petro. Prior to the hit at the airport, Ferritto tried to plant a bomb on 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. Aladena Fratianno also happened to be doing 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 which was owned by a cousin. By that time, Ray 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.
|
