Craig Carton Used Gambling To Cope With Childhood Sexual Assault

BERGEN COUNTY, NJ — Craig Carton used gambling to help cope with childhood sexual assault. He and his wife are separated, he is scared of going to jail, and he admitted, is a gambling addict.

Carton, a Chester resident, formerly of WFAN and NJ 101.5, spoke out about his gambling addiction and what has happened in his life since getting arrested on "The Michael Kay Show" on ESPN Radio Monday.

"Blackjack did a few things for me. It provided a cocoon of safety for me. Blackjack was a drug for me. I've been hiding and running from demons of childhood sexual assault for 40 years. I didn't cope well with that and I didn't tell anybody," Carton said. "If you have ever been victimized by sexual assault at any point in your life, pick up the phone and call someone. Hopefully, you'll reach out to someone who can get you the help to need."

Carton chronicled the highs and lows of his gambling that played a major role in a ticket-reselling Ponzi scheme that led to him being sentenced to 42 months in federal prison Friday. He also admitted his guilt.

"I was found guilty, and I am guilty," Carton said. "The ticket business I had was very real. I didn't lie about it. I used the money for gambling."

Carton would gamble all the time, any way he could. He went in the bathroom at a cocktail party and played 20 hands of blackjack on his phone. Or he would take a helicopter to the Golden Nugget in Atlantic City in the middle of the night and hope he would be back in time to host his No. 1-rated morning show.

"My family knew I like to gamble, they had no idea of the extent I would gamble," Carton said. "My kids are my priorities and I put them aside to gamble."

And like so many other gambling addicts, Carton had his highs and lows. He won $4 million in three days. Two weeks later, he lost $700,000. He was not boastful about the win, nor was he openly upset about the loss.

"It wasn't about enjoyment. I just needed to play," Carton said. "I'm a compulsive gambler. I can't gamble responsibly."

Carton has been attending Gamblers Anonymous meetings and checked himself into an Arizona rehabilitation facility.

Related: Ex-NJ Radio Host Craig Carton Gets 42 Months For $4M Ponzi Scam

Carton, Michael Wright of Upper Saddle River, and Joseph Meli worked together to get investors to provide them with millions of dollars with the idea the money be used to purchase blocks of tickets to concerts, which would then be resold on the secondary market, authorities said.

Related: Bergen Man, N.Y. Radio Host Accused Of Running Ponzi Scheme To Pay Debts

The three used the millions they fleeced investors out of to pay off personal debts, including some to casinos, authorities said.

Carton reportedly wired $133,000 to several casinos after having access to $700,000 from a hedge fund that he and Wright allegedly defrauded.

Carton resigned as co-host of the "Boomer and Carton" show in September 2017 after he was arrested. He launched a podcast called, "Hello, My Name Is Craig" in November 2017.

The show paid Carton $2 million a year and was the No. 1 radio show in the country in all male demographics, according to a New York Daily News report.

Carton said he was blessed to have had the job and thanked the listeners for the opportunity to have the lifestyle he did for so long.

"I took great pride in being No. 1," Carton said.

Carton once called the "legal issues" that plagued him "unfounded." He was found guilty of securities fraud, wire fraud, and conspiracy to commit those offenses after a one-week trial before Chief U.S. District Judge Colleen McMahon. McMahon imposed the sentence on Carton.

Carton faced a maximum of 45 years in prison, according to the New York Post. He revealed in the ESPN interview, he was not offered a plea deal by authorities. He must also repay $4.8 million.

Carton and his wife are legally separated. He continues to spend time with his children and is very involved in their lives still. He told his three oldest children the truth about his gambling and about the charges filed against him.

"I don't know how [my marriage] will end," Carton said. "I want the best for her, I want the best for my children."

Ex-New Jersey Gov. Chris Christie, actor Joe Piscopo, and Carton's former WFAN co-host Boomer Esiason, backed Carton's request for leniency in the case, the New York Daily News reported.

Carton hopes there is a second life to his radio career.

"I know that I'm more than capable of tomorrow, hopefully 42 months from tomorrow, being as compelling as anyone else on the radio," said Carton, who noted that he has already paid some of his money back. "I want apologize to the listeners, to the audience, that for 10 years turned on the radio station that I was doing a show on and allowed me to broadcast into their cars and homes and believed in what I said and believed in who I was."

Email: daniel.hubbard@patch.com