Ray Ferritto

Ray Ferritto (c.1929 - May 10, 2004) was a mob hitman for the Cleveland Mafia, and is most famous for admitting to have killed Irish gangster Danny Greene in 1977. He died of congestive heart failure at the age of 75.

In the 70s, an Irish gangster named Danny Greene began competing with the Cleveland Mafia for control of union rackets. This resulted in a violent mob war between the Mafia and Danny Greene's gang, during which there were almost 40 car bombings in Cleveland. After eight failed attempts to kill Greene, boss Jack "Jack White" Licavoli and Angelo "Big Ange" Lonardo contracted Ray Ferritto to assassinate him.

When Greene was at the dentist on October 6, 1977, Ferritto and Ronald "The Crab" Carabbia parked their car, with a box bomb in the side door, next to Danny’s car. When Greene was about to enter his car, Caribbia set off the bomb and Greene was killed instantly.

A witness saw Ferritto drive away from the scene and a few days later he was arrested. The state of Ohio indicted Licavoli, Lonardo, Ferritto, Carabbia and 15 other members of the Cleveland Family for the murder. Ferritto later learned that the Cleveland mafia wanted him dead, so he flipped and turned state's witness and testified in the 1978 trial.

Ferritto also claimed responsibility for the 1969 killing of Cleveland gangster Julius Anthony Petro. He served less than four years in prison for both murders. He retired in 2000, and moved to Florida where he died four years later.

References

Crime Inc. (1984). The True Story of The Mafia (DVD). Thames Television.

External links

• Danny Greene - Plus 25 by Rick Porrello