60-year-old John Ferreyra and his wife Lisa finally have some peace of mind.

A man they once considered a friend, for nearly 20 years, started a 51-month-prison sentence on Thursday for cheating the couple out of nearly $1 million.

What You Need To Know

  • On Thursday, Gustavo “Gus” Vila reported to a federal prison to serve a 51-month sentence for stealing approximately $1 million that the 9/11 Victim’s Compensation Fund awarded to his former friend, retired NYPD Officer John Ferreyra

  • Ferreyra told NY1 that he asked Vila to help him file his claim because he’d been hospitalized and was in grave condition after being diagnosed with non-Hodgkins Lymphoma

  • Ferreyra suffered from numerous health issues as a result of working in Lower Manhattan following the 2001 terror attacks but is currently in good health and has been in remission for several years

  • After Ferreyra was awarded more than $1 million from the fund, Vila only handed over about $100,000 and kept the rest for himself

“Based on what he put us through, I’m happy he’s going to jail,” said Ferreyra.

Ferreyra was awarded a little over $1 million from the 9/11 Victim Compensation Fund but still hasn’t seen 90% of that settlement.

During his 20-year career with the NYPD, Ferreyra spent months working in lower Manhattan following the 2001 terrors attacks.

Years later, he would be diagnosed with non-Hodgkin’s Lymphoma and only then decided he should apply to the fund to ensure his wife and two daughters would be taken care of if he died.

“I thought I was on my death bed, so I had started the process,” said Ferreyra. “I did the application online and then I wasn’t sure what was going to happen. It was right around the time my stem cell transplant began, so that’s when I reached out.”

Ferreyra reached out to his former NYPD colleague Gustavo ‘Gus’ Vila.

Ferreyra knew his friend had become an attorney and might be able to help him file the claim as he fought for his life.

What Ferreyra didn’t know was that Vila had been disbarred a year earlier after being convicted for stealing funds from another client in another jurisdiction.

“I went to my computer, I googled his name, you know, slash disbarment and there it was,” Ferreyra said.

The problem was that Ferreyra didn’t learn about the disbarment until early 2020.

By then, Vila had filed a claim on behalf of Ferreyra to the Victim Compensation Fund.

Years earlier, Ferreyra was awarded just over $1 million but Vila only gave Ferreyra about $100,000 and kept the rest for himself.

“As a lawyer who has practiced for 40 years, I’ve never seen this kind of betrayal before,” said Michael Barasch, Ferreyra’s attorney.

Ferreyra is now in good health and has been in remission for several years, but his attorney is skeptical Vila will ever be able to pay Ferreyra the $800,000 he’s been ordered to pay in restitution.

With that in mind, Barasch worked with other attorneys to create a separate fund to help Ferreyra and his family.

“The [NY] Lawyers Fund gave John $400,000 to make up for his over $900,000 loss,” said Barasch.

Barasch also provided his legal services to Ferreyra pro bono.