On March 22, 1990, Ferrara was indicted on racketeering and related charges with six other alleged members and an associate of the Patriarca crime Family. More specifically, Ferrara, Raymond Patriarca Jr, J.R. Russo, Robert Carozza, Dennis Lepore, Carmen Tortora, Pasquale Barone and Angelo Mercurio, who was, significantly, a fugitive, were charged with violating the Racketeer Influenced and Corrupt Organizations Act (RICO), by conspiring to participate in the affairs of a racketeering enterprise, and doing so, through a pattern of racketeering acts that included murder, extortion, and other crimes, some of which were also charged as separate substantive offenses. Three years later, under a plea agreement with the government just as his case was about to go to trial, he pleaded guilty to ra