At least for one day, Craig Carton returned to the New York City airwaves Thursday morning for the first time in nearly a year.
Two months away from his date in federal court, facing charges in a $5.6 million Ponzi scheme, the former WFAN host joined WABC’s “Bernie and Sid in the Morning” and reaffirmed his innocence.
“It’s very scary, it’s the fight of my life,” Carton said. “But I’ll tell you what I’ve said to everyone … and that is I’m not guilty and I look forward to my opportunity to lay it out for everybody. I wish I could have. I regret that I didn’t early on, but when you hire good lawyers and they tell you what to do, there are times you shut your mouth and do what the lawyers tell you to do.
“I’m not pleading to anything because I firmly believe that when the facts come out, you’ll see I was running a legitimate, legal business.”
Carton was arrested Sept. 6 last year, caught by the FBI for allegedly ripping off investors for millions in a fraud concert-ticket-reselling business. The former co-host of “Boomer and Carton” was suspended from WFAN that night and resigned a week later, eventually replaced by Gregg Giannotti.
He doesn’t seem a fan of the new show.
“Take any show on FAN and bring them here [WABC], they’re not gonna beat anyone over there [on WFAN] anyway,” Carton said. “You can put an intern on the air, which it seems like [WFAN] kinda did. While ratings have dropped 40 percent, they’re still going to do reasonably well.
“The show [‘Boomer and Gio’] is not as good as it was. … When I left, it opened up a void on morning radio in New York City.”
Carton also took a jab at Mike Francesa after Sid Rosenberg told him he was fat but “not Francesa fat.”
“No, very few people live to see 65 when you’re that big,” Carton said.
Post-arrest, Carton unveiled his own website and interview podcast called, “Hello, My Name Is Craig,” but he is itching for a bigger return after the trial.
“Ego-wise I believe I will have multiple people come to me, and I hope they do,” he said. “But when it comes out that I’m exonerated and the jury says not guilty, why wouldn’t you want to bring back the guy that was the most listened to morning show in New York?
“Do I want to be back on New York radio? You bet your ass I do.”
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