Where ‘damning’ Craig Carton case goes from here
September 12, 2017
Greg Joyce
Where ‘damning’ Craig Carton case goes from here
While the Craig Carton saga is just getting underway, it may be only the start of a long haul toward a resolution. The WFAN morning radio co-host, who was arrested Wednesday by the FBI on charges that he was behind a $5.6 million Ponzi scheme to repay his own gambling debts, could face trial by mid to late-2018, according to Richard Roth, a white-collar crime attorney at the Roth Law Firm in New York.
While the Craig Carton saga is just getting underway, it may be only the start of a long haul toward a resolution.
The WFAN morning radio co-host, who was arrested Wednesday by the FBI on charges that he was behind a $5.6 million Ponzi scheme to repay his own gambling debts, could face trial by mid to late-2018, according to Richard Roth, a white-collar crime attorney at the Roth Law Firm in New York.
“[The indictment] is pretty damning,” Roth said Tuesday by phone.
Carton is facing both a civil lawsuit from the Securities and Exchange Commission and a criminal lawsuit from the Manhattan U.S. Attorney’s Office.
Roth, who has represented athletes such as Warren Sapp and Peyton Manning, said in most cases, the civil lawsuit gets put off while authorities move forward with the more severe criminal lawsuit, “a whole different animal.”
Carton and Michael Wright were charged with conspiracy, securities fraud and wire fraud for allegedly taking money from investors for a sham ticket-reselling operation that promised them huge returns.
The three counts combined carry a maximum sentence of 45 years in prison, according to the complaint.
As part of the criminal case, the federal government has the obligation to deliver Carton “anything and everything it used in connection with the trial,” Roth said, including documents, emails and affidavits. Based on the documents, Carton and his lawyer would then have to figure out their best defense.
“This case rides and falls in the documents,” Roth said. “If they have emails, documents of false agreements, money that was invested to pay his debts and not to investments, that’s a problem.”
Carton’s lawyer, Robert C. Gottlieb, has called the government’s allegations “a gross misunderstanding of what happened.”
Carton broke his silence Tuesday in a statement released through a publicist, thanking his family, friends, fans and co-host Boomer Esiason for their support during “one of the greatest battles of my life.”
“As you can imagine, it’s been incredibly hard to be silent while there is an endless stream of vitriol being hurled my way, but I’m confident that when the facts come out, you’ll see that I am not guilty of these charges,” Carton said in the statement. “My fight has only just begun and I know when this strange episode is over, I’ll be back, stronger than ever.”
Roth said that may be true, citing “a celebrity effect” (with Martha Stewart as an example), but it’s an uphill battle.
“If he did what they say he did, he has some tough punishment coming,” Roth said. “We’re not talking days and we’re not talking months, if he is convicted.”
