Craig Carton Verdict Is In And He's Facing A Lot Of Jail Time
NY Post – A Manhattan federal jury has convicted sports radio personality Craig Carton of fraud — setting the fallen “Boomer and Carton” co-host up for as much as 45 years in prison. After less than a day of deliberations, the jury of three men and nine women found Carton guilty on all counts, including securities fraud, wire fraud and conspiracy to commit fraud. Carton looked straight ahead as the jury read the verdict. The roughly one-week trial included testimony from hedge fund executives who said they gave Carton millions as an investment in bulk event tickets, including a national tour by Metallica and two Barbra Streisand concerts.
Documents showed that the money instead went to pay Carton’s personal expenses, including his gambling loans. At the time, Carton was spending big bucks at casinos — even borrowing money from loan sharks to fund his casino trips, according to witness testimony. One of those loan sharks was Desmond Finger, a general manager of Upper East Side strip club Sapphire 39, who told the jury he gave Carton several short-term, high-interest loans to finance his casino trips in 2016 and 2017. Finger lost money in 2017, however, when Carton failed to make good on a $500,000 loan, the strip club manager testified.
The men held a sit-down at the jiggle joint — along with Michael Wright, who has pleaded guilty to helping Carton’s fraud — but it went nowhere, Finger said. “He yes’d me and yes’d me and yes’d me,” he said. The feds also submitted as evidence doctored emails by Carton, including one he pretended was from Fred Mangione, chief of staff of Brooklyn Sports & Entertainment, which owns the Barclays Center and the Nassau Veterans Memorial Coliseum. The allegedly fake Mangione email included minor mistakes in Mangione’s signature section of his email, including listing his title as “Chief of Staff” instead of “Chief Of Staff,” the government’s evidence showed. Carton resigned from WFAN’s top-rated “Boomer and Carton” radio program a week after his arrest. He currently has a show on the FNTSY Sports Network called “Carton & Friends.”
Yikes. Cuncel Da Carton. I dunno how the sentencing will work but if its maximum 45, its gonna be at least like 5? 10? I mean if they go half way Craig is gone for multiple decades. Thats wild, man. Gambling is a motherfucker. But he made his bed and he stole from those people so its pretty open and shut. Once the case went to the jury like immediately with no witnesses and basically zero defense, it was clear things werent going Craig’s way.
Craig and I have talked here and there and he’s actually helped me professionally and personally and I hate to see what he and his family are going through. Not that it excuses his actions but for a long time he was a big part of people’s lives as a staple of New York radio. We became pretty friendly and after he was let go from WFAN we briefly talked about him landing here at Barstool. One of those “If you’re innocent, lets do and if you’re not, good luck” sorta things. Nothing ever fully materialized obviously and as time went on it became clear his optimism to avoid a guilty sentence and escape jail time was either wildly misguided or he was just flat out lying.
Some of the details are wild. Like bits from a movie. Feels like I’m reading part of the script for a movie like Rounders or something. The strip club loan sharks and back room meetings and fake emails and what not. Some salacious stuff. Feel like it could be its own movie chronicling the rise and fall of one of NY Sports Radio’s most successful personalities.
I still wish Craig the best. I know its fucked up. I know he stole from those people, and I feel bad for them and they deserve justice. I guess its not really possible to feel bad for those who were robbed but also still wish Craig the best, but I dont know – thats where I’m at. Sometimes this white collar crime stuff is easy to dismiss or diminish. It really shouldnt be, but when you sorta know someone on the surface or liked someone and dont know the victims and mitigate it as “its only money!” its only natural. Again, I know thats not really fair or right, but I’m just being honest. As a guy thats listened to Carton and talked with him about professional stuff and my own personal struggles, I was really hoping it wasnt true. And even though it is, I still hope for the best for him and his family.