Metro

Man wrongly convicted of killing rabbi celebrates first night of freedom with ‘a big steak’

The man who spent more than two decades locked up for a murder he didn’t commit celebrated his first night of freedom with a steak after a judge wiped out his conviction, his family said.

David Ranta, 58, is “doing great,” his sister, Beverly Maccheroni, said yesterday. “He had a big steak, a manly meal.”

Ranta was chowing down just hours after Brooklyn Supreme Court Justice Miriam Cyrulnik vacated his 1991 conviction in the 1990 killing of Williamsburg rabbi Chaskel Werberger, who was shot in the head during a jewelry heist. Ranta was cleared after the Brooklyn District Attorney’s Office determined the case was riddled with errors and false testimony.

After a joyful courthouse reunion, Ranta’s family gathered at a relative’s home. “It’s just crazy how different he looked,” said nephew Jonathan Fraschilla, 17. “This has 100 percent brought our family closer together.”