Former sports radio co-host Craig Carton was convicted of fraud in a New York court on Nov. 7. Carton told reporters after leaving the Manhattan federal court that while he was disappointed in the verdict, he respected it. Carton’s lawyers are planning to appeal the verdict.
Carton was convicted on charges of wire fraud, securities fraud and conspiracy. He allegedly went to investors and told them that he was able to get premium tickets to popular live concerts, such as Barbara Streisand and Metallica. Carton told investors that he could help them grow their wealth by reselling the premium tickets at a higher cost. Carton allegedly fabricated contracts for the tickets and collected approximately $7 million from investors. Opposing counsel said that Carton spent all of the money on himself and that the scheme was reminiscent of a Ponzi scheme.
The defense attorneys said that Carton was a victim of the crime and was set up by his former business partner, who pleaded guilty to fraud after he allegedly made $100 million in the fraudulent reselling tickets scheme. The business partner was sentenced to over six years in prison. Carton is set to be sentenced at a later date. Though he could be sentenced to up to 45 years in prison, experts believe he will serve far less time for the white-collar crime.
White-collar crimes are nonviolent crimes that typically have financial motivation. Though most theft crimes involve stealing money from a business itself, money may also be fraudulently obtained from investors or customers. Getting representation from a lawyer as soon as possible may help protect an individual accused of a white-collar crime. In this case, the lawyer tried to show that Carton was a victim in the crime, and this may help reduce the sentence that he will receive.