DEDHAM – A former New England mob boss who was based out of Revere has been cleared of a gambling charge that could have sent him back to prison.Vincent Ferrara, nicknamed “The Animal,” was acquitted by a Norfolk Superior Court judge on Tuesday of a charge of conspiracy to use a telephone in the furtherance of a gambling operation.Ferrara, a North End native and former capo for the Patriarca crime family, was caught by wiretaps talking to a reputed bookmaker, but said in a published report that the calls were about his restaurant.Ferrara has been on federal probation since his 2005 early release from a 1985 racketeering sentence. He served 16 years but was released after judge found prosecutors withheld evidence in a case which implicated Ferrara and associate Pasquale Barone in the slaying of Vincent “Jimmy” Limoli.Ferrara says when he was released, he promised a judge he would not get into further trouble. Prosecutors say they were disappointed by the acquittal.