A New York-based sports radio personality convicted in November 2018 of securities and wire fraud and conspiracy following a federal jury trial was sentenced on April 5, 2019 to 42 months' imprisonment. The defendant, Craig Carton, was also sentenced to three years' supervised release following his prison sentence, and was ordered to pay $4,835,186.56 in restitution and to forfeit $4,590,000. Carton was previously charged by the Securities and Exchange Commission for related civil violations of the federal securities laws.

The criminal charges against Carton arose from the same conduct alleged by the SEC. In September 2017, the SEC charged Carton and another New York City man, Joseph Meli, along with six of their companies, with stealing millions of dollars from investors who were allegedly promised their funds would be used for the purchase and resale of concert tickets. Meli was also separately charged by the SEC in January 2017 with fraud for running a Ponzi scheme, which raised money from investors to fund businesses purportedly created to purchase and resell tickets to such high-demand shows as Adele concerts and the Broadway musical Hamilton. Meli, who was criminally charged for the same conduct in a parallel criminal case, previously pled guilty and was sentenced to more than six years' imprisonment. Meli was also ordered to forfeit over $104 million and pay over $56 million in restitution.

The SEC's litigation against Carton, Meli, and others in both SEC cases is ongoing. The SEC's cases are being handled by Dahlia Rin, John McCann, Martin Healey, and Celia Moore of the Boston office. The SEC appreciates the assistance of the Federal Bureau of Investigation and the U.S. Attorney's Office for the Southern District of New York.