Former WFAN athlete Craig Carton sentenced for complicity in Ponzi scheme

Craig Carton, a well-known and influential 10-year-old voice on sports-loving New Yorkers, was sentenced in a Manhattan federal court on Wednesday for a multi-million dollar Ponzi scheme designed to induce investors in error so that they invest in his resale ticket business.

The verdict was handed down on the second day of deliberation after a week – long trial on the charge that Carton reportedly used more than $ 4 million to raise more than $ 4 million in order to avoid the crime. buy blocks of tickets to resell at a profit, then use them to pay personal expenses and gambling debts and previous investors.

Carton, 49, of Manhattan, long-time partner of former Jets quarterback Boomer Esiason on WFAN's morning show, left the station after being indicted last year. Opinion and never short of words on the air, he did not testify at the trial and did not react to the reading of the verdict.

In brief brief remarks in court, Mr. Carton, convicted of conspiracy, securities fraud and wire fraud, said he was "disappointed" but respected the decision.

"I have to let it run now," he told reporters. "I will have nothing else to say than my plans. … I will go home and kiss my children and let my lawyers take care of the rest. "

Carton was released pending the delivery of his sentence and his lawyer announced that he was considering appealing. The jurors declined to comment after the verdict, but the Manhattan US prosecutor, Geoffrey Berman, in a statement, criticized Carton for his "blatant lies."

"Craig Carton has solicited investments for his ticket purchase system by touting his contacts in the entertainment world and his ability to buy blocks of tickets for live events," said Berman. ". . . As concluded by a unanimous jury in Manhattan, Carton made everything speak.

Although the sentence imposed on Mr. Carton is probably much shorter, he faces a maximum penalty of 45 years in prison. The sentence was set for February 27th.

A veteran of the radio stations in New Jersey and elsewhere, Carton joined WFAN in 2007. He created a Frankish character – captured in the title of a later autobiography, "Loudmouth" – while he was there. was engaged in a morning conversation with Esiason, who declined to comment after the verdict but said that he would talk about it on the air on Thursday.

Esiason continues to host a morning show on WFAN.

When the charges were laid last year, Carton was confident. He told reporters that he was running a legitimate ticket sales business and that he would come back "stronger than ever". As recently as September, he had predicted, on a podcast, a return to the radio. I am exonerated and the jury says not guilty.

According to the evidence at trial, he had been using his relationship for years to buy and sell small blocks of notes. In 2016, he began working with two alleged co-conspirators – Michael Wright, who pleaded guilty, and Joseph Meli, who is currently in jail. prison for a separate Ponzi scheme – to expand the model.

He raised $ 7 million in total and his main investor was Brigade Capital, a $ 4.6 million hedge fund. A brigade official stated that the money was only used for banknotes and that Carton claimed to have entered into agreements to buy large blocks of banknotes with a promoter and arena operator.

But two officials from Brooklyn Sports and Entertainment, the Nassau Coliseum operator and Barclays Center, testified that Carton's emails to Brigade had been altered or invented, and that a so-called arena agreement provided for purchase of $ 2 million tickets for Barbra Streisand and Metallica concerts. made.

CEO, Brett Yormark, and former chief of staff, Fred Mangione, said Carton was harassing them relentlessly and that they were willing to help with small purchases. Because he was an important voice on WFAN, they never thought he was mastering the ticket market well. accepted the type of agreement that he told the brigade that he had.

The records presented by the prosecutors also showed millions of dollars of Brigade and other investors had not bought tickets, but instead had examined the accounts of Carton and his co-conspirators and paid casinos, gambling debts , a landscaper who worked for Carton's house. investors.

Carton's defense was multifaceted. His defense team claimed that he was fooled by Meli, accused Yormark and Mangione of having driven him, and that his strong personality and his "anxiety" about his company led him to lie, whereas he should not have done it.

Defense attorney Robert Gottlieb told the jury that Carton did not ultimately intend to pay everyone back, and that he was free to divert money where he wanted. it seemed to him, in so far as he fulfilled his obligations.

But Brigade and other investors said he was not paying what he owed. Prosecutors and US District Judge Colleen McMahon told the jurors that lying to get people to give up control of their money was fraud.