Man pleads guilty to attack on Boardman woman

May 11, 2017 at 12:02a.m.

YOUNGSTOWN

A 46-year-old Boardman man has pleaded guilty as charged to felonious assault in an Aug. 28, 2015, attack on a 45-year-old Boardman woman, who said he inflicted permanent injury to her right hand and threatened to kill her.

Thomas P. Ferrara, of Huntington Drive, pleaded guilty to the second-degree felony Tuesday before Judge Lou A. D’Apolito of Mahoning County Common Pleas Court, who will sentence him at 10:30 a.m. July 12.

Although the law allows a sentence up to eight years in prison and a fine up to $15,000 for this offense, the prosecution is recommending five years’ probation for Ferrara and that he be required to pay $25,000 in restitution to the victim in full for her medical bills before he is sentenced.

In a separate civil lawsuit, which is pending, the victim said Ferrara had marketed himself on a Christian dating site “as a good and peaceful person,” but he attacked her at her residence after she told him their dating relationship was over.

The victim said Ferrara struck her in the face and head, began choking her, threw her to the ground and fractured her right hand, making it impossible for her to fully straighten her fingers.

Ferrara was sentenced to probation in another felony case.

Judge John M. Durkin of Mahoning County Common Pleas Court, sentenced him to two years’ probation in December 2014 after he pleaded guilty to arson and inducing panic, then added six months to his probation in June 2016 after finding he violated terms of his supervision.

In the March 2013 arson, Ferrara was accused of torching his wife’s clothes in their Boardman apartment bathtub and causing smoke damage throughout the building, after he accused her of cheating on him.

The apartment building had to be evacuated, and damage to it was listed at $15,000.

Police said Ferrara smelled of alcohol and told them he had consumed a bottle of vodka, and that he passed out in the booking room.

At the time of the fire, Ferrara was on probation in a February 2013 disorderly conduct case.