Louis Ferrante

Early life

Ferrante was born and raised in Queens, New York. As a teenager, he made his reputation as a gang leader. Ferrante and his crew hijacked delivery trucks all over New York and he soon gained the attention of the infamous Gambino crime family. By his early twenties, Ferrante headed a crew of older armed robbers within the family. Newspaper articles from the 1990s referred to Ferrante as "Gotti's pal" in reference to Gambino boss John Gotti, Senior. Another article referred to Ferrante as a "crony of John (Junior) Gotti." On one occasion, Ferrante and his crew flew from New York to California to hold up an armored car. His plans were foiled by the FBI, although there was insufficient evidence to charge Ferrante and his crew with a crime. During this time, he was suspected of masterminding some of the largest heists in U.S. history.

Arrests

The law caught up with Ferrante and he became the target of three separate investigations. He was eventually indicted by the FBI, the United States Secret Service, and the Nassau County Organized Crime Task Force. The main informant against Ferrante was entered into the Witness Protection program. Another informant against Ferrante was William Degel, now the host of Restaurant Stakeout on Food Network. By 1994, and facing a life sentence in prison, Ferrante wrote and distributed a rap song defending infamous Gambino Family Boss John Gotti. Ferrante hired controversial civil rights attorney William Kunstler to defend him. In court, Kunstler claimed that Ferrante's song aggravated law enforcement agencies who'd convicted Gotti and that the massive resources used to indict Ferrante multiple times were part of a government vendetta. Ferrante's defense was defeated in court by prosecutors and Ferrante was convicted. In Ferrante's second case, he was forced to plead guilty to a thirteen-year sentence, with his third case running concurrent with the first two cases. Ferrante refused to cooperate with the government and did not inform on former associates of the Gambino family. He was sent to the maximum security prison in Lewisburg, Pennsylvania to begin his sentence.

Prison

During Ferrante's incarceration, he read his first book. He subsequently immersed himself in the study of history, philosophy, and literature. He also learned the art of writing, and penned a historical novel, Aleesa, set in the antebellum South. At the time, Lewisburg Penitentiary was the scene of an ongoing race war which claimed the lives of several men who were brutally murdered inside the prison. Ferrante states in his memoir, Unlocked, that he wrote the novel to shield his mind from the racism around him.

While in prison, Ferrante hired and fired a number of attorneys before successfully appealing his own conviction, a case that is cited in courtrooms across the country. He was released in January 2003, after serving eight and a half years. In addition to law, Ferrante (who was raised Catholic) studied many religions and chose to convert to Judaism, becoming an observant Jew.

Books and Other Writings

In the U.S., the paperback edition of Ferrante's memoir is titled Unlocked: The Life and Crimes of a Mafia Insider. In the United Kingdom, the memoir is titled Tough Guy: The Life and Crimes of a Mafia Insider. The book has also been translated into Dutch.

Ferrante's second book is a non-fiction work, Mob Rules: What the Mafia Can Teach the Legitimate Businessman. The book was shortlisted for the 800-CEO-Read Awards and is an international bestseller. It has been translated into the languages of the following countries: Bulgaria, China, Holland, France, Germany, Hungary, Italy, Japan, Korea, Taiwan, Brazil, Russia, Spain, Portugal, and Serbia.

Ferrante's third book combines physics, psychology, personal experience, extensive research, and neuroscience to establish that the dreaming brain can see the future; it is titled, The Three Pound Crystal Ball: How the Dreaming Brain Can See the Future.

Ferrante has also contributed essays to Signed, Your Student: Celebrities Praise the Teachers Who Made Them Who They Are Today, and Bound to Last: 30 Writers on Their Most Cherished Book.

The book, Philosophy for Life and Other Dangerous Situations, by Jules Evans, contains a chapter about Ferrante titled, "Plutarch and the Art of Heroism."

United Kingdom

Ferrante contributed his time and efforts to promoting literacy in the UK, and has visited numerous prisons in an effort to help British prison inmates. As a result of his voluntary work, he was given the Celebrity Reading Hero Award, presented to him at Number 10 Downing Street. He has been a guest on numerous BBC radio programs and has appeared as a guest on the world-renowned news program BBC HARDTalk. Ferrante was also nominated for the United Kingdom's most prestigious documentary award; the list of nominees included Sir David Attenborough.

Awards

Ferrante was recognized at a ceremony at Number 10 Downing Street, where he received the Celebrity Reading Hero Award, given to him by Sarah Brown, wife of British Prime Minister Gordon Brown, in 2009.

Mob Rules was a 1-800-CEO-READ 2011 Business Book Award nominee, and was one of Forbes magazine columnist Marc Kramer's World's Best Business Books.

In 2013, Ferrante made the final shortlist of nominees for the Grierson Trust Documentary Television Awards in the United Kingdom. Ferrante was nominated for Documentary Presenter of the Year for his show, Inside the Gangsters' Code.

Inside the Gangsters' Code Television Series

Ferrante's television series, Inside the Gangsters' Code, premiered on February 27, 2013. Each hour-long episode follows Ferrante as he explores different gang cultures around the world. Inside the Gangsters' Code aired on Discovery Channel in over 195 countries and in multiple languages. Ferrante wrote, hosted, narrated, and co-produced the series.

The Philippines

The 2013 episode "The Commandos" which exposed the luxurious prison cells owned by gang leaders controlling the Philippines' largest maximum security prison became the subject of a drug smuggling and bribery scandal and investigation at the House of Representatives of the Philippines.

Philippine President Rodrigo Duterte used the episode as a propaganda tool to gain and maintain power in the country. Time Magazine's World Desk interviewed Ferrante and covered the story on August 10, 2017.

Television Work

Ferrante is an award nominated TV host who also works behind the camera. He is co-creator and executive producer for the television series, The Diamond Collar, which aired on Oprah Winfrey's OWN Network in early 2014. Ferrante appeared with actors Al Pacino and James Caan, and director Francis Ford Coppola in the anniversary documentary, The Godfather Legacy.

Ferrante's television appearances include:

Radio Interviews