NYC Radio: Craig Carton Facing Up-To-45 Years In Prison

Craig Carton

A Manhattan federal jury has convicted sports radio personality Craig Carton of fraud — setting the fallen “Boomer and Carton” co-host up for some hard prison time when he is sentenced next year.

After less than a day of deliberations, a jury of three men and nine women found Carton guilty on all three counts against him, including securities fraud, wire fraud and conspiracy to commit fraud.

According to The NYPost, Carton looked straight ahead as the guilty verdicts were read while his wife, who was sitting in the courtroom with other supporters, held back tears.

His lawyer, Robert Gottlieb, said he will appeal the verdict.

Carton, 49, was released on bail but ordered to return for sentencing on Feb. 27. He faces as much as 45 years in prison based on the sentencing guidelines but will likely get far less.

Carton was one of the biggest names in sports radio when he was arrested last year and charged with defrauding investors of a bulk ticket business he had been running with Michael Wright, who has pleaded guilty.

“As a unanimous Manhattan jury has found, Carton was all talk,” Manhattan US Attorney Geoffrey Berman said. “Carton fabricated contracts for blocks of tickets and spent the almost $7 million he collected from investors on gambling and personal expenses,” Berman added.

At trial, the feds called a hedge fund executive who said his firm gave Carton more than $5 million at various points in 2016 to invest in tickets to Metallica and Barbara Streisand concerts.

In order to win the money, Carton fabricated contracts and emails, including one email presented at trial that was doctored by Carton to look like it had come from Fred Mangione, chief of staff of Brooklyn Sports & Entertainment, which owns the Barclays Center and the Nassau Veterans Memorial Coliseum, the evidence showed.

At the time of the fraud, Carton was spending big bucks at casinos — even borrowing money from loan sharks to fund his casino trips, according to witness testimony.

Carton resigned from WFAN’s top-rated “Boomer and Carton” radio program a week after his arrest and has repeatedly asserted his innocence up until trial, including in chats with the press and on his new radio show on the FNTSY Sports Network called “Carton & Friends.”