Craig Carton ‘Not Paying Restitution’ Despite Career Revival, Claims Fraud Victim

Posted on: March 16, 2021, 08:53h. 

Last updated on: March 16, 2021, 11:59h.

Philip Conneller @casinoorgphilc Read More
Expertise: Gaming Business, Regulation, Tribal Gaming.

Sports radio host Craig Carton’s career is back on track after a stint in prison, but one of his fraud victims is asking why his lucrative new job has not yielded court-ordered restitution.

Craig Carton
Craig Carton hosts his drivetime WFAN show, above, prior to his imprisonment for wire and securities fraud in 2019. Carton is back to his old gig after a recent prison stint. (NJ.com)

In 2019, Carton was sentenced to 42 months in prison for wire and securities fraud. That’s after a federal jury found him guilty of bilking investors out of $5.6 million in a bogus ticket-reselling pyramid scheme.

Carton used investors’ money as his “own personal piggy bank,” in the words of prosecutors, to fund a high-stakes gambling lifestyle that was spiraling wildly out of control.

The self-confessed problem gambler was $3 million in debt to bookmakers when he launched the scheme, which flaunted his showbiz contacts to attract investment.

Carton Gets Second Chance

Carton was released after serving roughly a year of his sentence. He has since been rehired by his old employer, New York City’s WFAN sports radio station, where he co-hosts the afternoon drive show.

He also hosts the confessional My Name is Craig podcast, where he helps people work through their addiction problems. Last year, he was the subject of an HBO documentary that examined his gambling problem.

But according to a letter filed in court Monday by medical supply company Dukal Corp and its owner Gerry LoDuka, Carton has not paid any restitution money since his release from prison in June, despite landing on his feet spectacularly.

This, despite a judge’s order that he repay $4.8 million to his victims. Carton is required to give 15 percent of his earnings towards this restitution.

Lawyer Denies Claim

But Carton’s lawyer, Derrelle Janey, told the Associated Press her client has been meeting installments since his release and has so far paid off about $30,000 of the $435,000 owed to LoDuka.

Most criminal defendants don’t have the opportunity to return to a place where they’re back at the starting line,” Janey said.

Carton has said his gambling addiction may have stemmed from sexual abuse trauma suffered as an 11-year-old at the hands of former assistant Penn State football coach Jerry Sandusky.

In 2012, Sandusky was sentenced to 30 to 60 years in prison after being charged with 52 counts of abuse of young boys over a 15-year period. Carton felt the publicity surrounding Sandusky’s trial may have triggered his problematic behavior.