Born in
Gabella, Catanzaro,
Italy on June 22, 1959, very little is known about the early years of his life, aside from when he was a young man, he and his family emigrated to Canada in February 1967. His family settled in
Toronto, Ontario. In 1970, he was worked as an extra during the production of a low budget exploitation film
The Proud Rider. Many of the extras in
The Proud Rider were members of
Satan's Choice Motorcycle Club who were essentially playing themselves. Raso greatly admired the Satan's Choice national president
Bernie Guindon as he stated in a 2016 interview: "I met Bernie in the early 1970s. I always looked up to him. I thought he was a cool guy, a very smart man. Bernie's Bernie. Bernie doesn't take shit from anybody...He didn't have to carry a gun. It was different back then". At some point he became involved in organized crime and by the 1970s, when he was old enough his admiration of Guindon would lead Raso tho join the Choice. There he would meet future Loners co-founder
Frank "Cisco" Lenti, they had both joined the
Satan's Choice Motorcycle Club, however their chapter was among those that were later "Patched-Over" to the
Outlaws Motorcycle Club in 1977. They both left and started the only Ontario chapter of the
Rebels Motorcycle Club, not too long after Raso and Lenti decided to form the Loners Motorcycle Club, which was founded in
Woodbridge, Ontario in 1979. In 1981, Lenti was removed from the club for a period, it was alleged that Lenti had stolen from the club, and was caught, at which point he decided to flee the country to Italy. Where he lived for the next two years, this was also due
Cecil Kirby being a prominent member of the Satan's Choice, turned police informer in 1980. In 1981, Kirby told Lenti that he should leave Toronto for a while as he was about to reveal a large amount of incriminating evidence to the Crown. During this period Raso would gain full leadership over the club. Lenti officially rejoined the Loners Motorcycle Club upon his return to Canada in 1983, with Raso's blessing. When Lenti was removed from the club he travelled to Italy, he continued to use the Loners name despite his removal from the club in 1981, while in Italy he persuaded other motorcycle clubs to join the Loners, he also opened several new chapters. These chapters were not associated with the Official Loners MC until Lenti's return to the club in 1984 when all new chapters were officially recognized by Raso. Raso would also eventually begin expand the club overseas officially, establishing chapters in the United States as well as additional countries in Europe. With his first European chapter opening on 24 December 1985. By the 1990s, the Loners had chapters in
Woodbridge,
Toronto,
Vaughan,
Richmond Hill,
Windsor,
London,
Amherstburg,
Lindsay and
Chatham-Kent(which became the London chapter in 1990s). Unusually for a Canadian outlaw biker club by the mid-1980s, the Loners had chapters abroad with one in Portugal and several in Italy, having chapters in
Naples,
Messina,
Salerno,
Reggio Calabria,
Brolo,
Avellino and
Isernia. ==LMC World President==