Wodonga man admits to 191km/h collision and Wangaratta hotel drug trafficking

A Wodonga drug dealer who was caught trafficking ice and GHB from a Wangaratta hotel survived a collision with a truck while driving up to 198km/h moments before impact, a court has heard. Casey Ferrara, 30, faced the Wangaratta County Court on Friday to plead guilty to seven charges involving drug trafficking and conduct endangering life. The court heard Ferrara was driving in a stolen Subaru down the Hume Freeway near Springhurst about 6am on 12 October, 2024 when he lost control and hit the back right wheel of a truck’s trailer attempting a high-speed overtake. The 30-year-old’s Subaru collided into the roadside barrier before rolling several times, landing on the other side of the freeway and smoking on the roadside. Ferrara fled into a nearby paddock with his car extensively damaged and missing its roof. Major Collision Unit investigators estimated Ferrara’s vehicle to be travelling up to 198km/h seconds before colliding with the truck and at 191km/h on impact. In the car, police found a bottle of 1,4 butanediol and an Australia Post package with Chinese writing, clothes and car parts. Ferrara had run to a Benton Road property in Springhurst, about 1km from the collision scene, where he received assistance from the property owners and was picked up by a friend. He had cuts to his hands and bloodied clothing. A month later on 18 November, 2024, Ferrara and a 29-year-old woman co-accused were arrested at a Wangaratta hotel in a stolen Maserati. The Maserati had been one of two vehicles stolen from a Table Top address a week earlier and was affixed with stolen number plates. Police seized an alleged $10,000 worth of methylamphetamine and $12,000 worth of 1,4 butanediol from the Wangaratta hotel room. Messages on Ferrara’s phone indicated dealings of the drugs while a ‘tick list’ of names and number amounts in the hundreds was allegedly found on the phone of the co-accused. The 29-year-old Wodonga woman co-accused is set to face a committal hearing at the Wangaratta Magistrates’ Court on 19 March. Ferrara served 107 days in custody before making bail on 6 March, 2025. He found himself back into custody on 5 June and is serving a 12-month prison sentence handed down in the Magistrates’ Court for separate offending. Defence counsel Jonathan Barreiro said his client had “sunk his teeth” into rehab at prison and he was eager to make this his last time in prison. The court heard Ferrara had spent the past decade of his life “running amok” and has been in and out of prison on a long criminal history throughout his 20s. Mr Barreiro said Ferrara had hit rock bottom throughout this stint of offending and he had newfound motivation to turn his life around. “He’s not proud of who he is and where he is, but he wants to turn a corner,” he said. Prosecutor David O’Doherty said while Ferrara was no “big shot” in the drug dealing world, he was still an important dealer for his associates who were purchasing his product. Mr O’Doherty said rehab would be problematic for the 30-year-old who was a proven repeat offender. “You can’t look at it with any great deal of confidence in my view,” he said. “It’s completely up to him.” Judge Anne Hassan remanded Ferrara in custody to be sentenced at the Melbourne County Court on 27 February, indicating a prison term with a non-parole period was to be given.

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