He was a member of the Brooklyn-based Coney Island gang in New York City, serving as the right-hand man of Pellegrino Morano.
[1] Paretti received a death sentence for his part in the killing of Nicholas Morello and Charles Ubriaco on September 7, 1916, during the Mafia–Camorra War.
Notably, several of the witnesses who were called to testify against him "suddenly developed a surprising lack of memory," replying, "I cannot remember" to all questions asked of them.
[2] However, the prosecution was able convince a fellow gangster, Alphonso Sgroia, to return to New York from Italy and testify against Paretti.
One of his last visitors was future Mafia boss, Vito Genovese,[4] and his brother Aniello who had spent 8 months on death row himself before being released.