NEW ROCHELLE, NY (June 27, 2026) — Craig Carton, a 1987 New Rochelle High School graduate who served federal prison time after a 2018 conviction for securities and wire fraud, was inducted into the school’s Hall of Fame on June 12, marking the program’s first induction ceremony after a five-year hiatus.
Radio Talk Show Host Craig Carton Sentenced To 42 Months In Prison For Securities And Wire Fraud (4/5/2019)
Carton, a longtime sports radio personality, was honored along with attorney and philanthropist Charles Douglas Dixon (Class of 1966), educator Luis Gabriel “Gabe” Sanchez Rose (Class of 2010) and Iona University administrator Matthew Ricker (Class of 2014). According to a letter from the school, the Distinguished Alumni Hall of Fame returned this year following a complete renovation and redesign of the Hall of Fame space, with a newly appointed committee of students, teachers, staff, parents and one administrator selecting honorees from community nominations. The ceremony brought the school’s total number of Hall of Fame inductees to 100, spanning six decades of graduating classes.
According to the U.S. Attorney’s Office for the Southern District of New York, Craig Carton, working with co-defendant Joseph Meli, induced investors to hand over millions of dollars by falsely claiming he had agreements with a major concert promotion company and a company operating two New York-area arenas to buy and resell blocks of tickets to concerts. Prosecutors said neither company had ever entered into such agreements, and Carton, Meli and a third co-defendant, Michael Wright, fabricated contracts and forged signatures to support the scheme, including a purported agreement signed by an arena operator’s CEO that the executive never actually signed. Carton was convicted after a one-week trial before Chief U.S. District Judge Colleen McMahon of securities fraud, wire fraud and conspiracy. Rather than buying tickets, prosecutors said, Carton and his co-conspirators ran a Ponzi-like operation, using new investor funds to pay off prior investors and cover personal debts, including hundreds of thousands of dollars wired directly to casinos. He was sentenced to 42 months — three and a half years — in prison, along with three years of supervised release, and ordered to forfeit $4.59 million and pay more than $4.8 million in restitution. After serving 12 months, Carton was released to home confinement in 2020 and completed his sentence in 2021.
At New Rochelle High School, Carton got his start doing televised play-by-play commentary for Huguenots basketball and football games in 1986 and 1987. He went on to Syracuse University, where he called play-by-play for the Orange women’s basketball team and hosted a Sunday night call-in show.
After college, Carton worked at radio stations in Buffalo, Cleveland and Philadelphia before becoming, for a decade, the most-listened-to sports talk radio host in the country and the second most influential host and show in America, according to the school. He was inducted into the New York Radio Hall of Fame in 2024 and was hired by Fox Sports to host a national television show. He currently hosts “The Carton Show” on WFAN.
Dixon, a 1966 graduate, is an attorney, entrepreneur and philanthropist who chairs the Arthur S. Dixon Family Foundation, which has awarded more than $400,000 in grants, scholarships and community support. A graduate of the University of Cincinnati and Georgetown University Law Center, Dixon has supported organizations including the Charles Hamilton Houston Legal Institute at Georgetown, the Boys & Girls Clubs of America in New Rochelle and Mount Vernon, Eagle Academy, Bedford Stuyvesant Restoration Corporation, the Bronx Children’s Museum and the National Museum of African American History and Culture.
Sanchez Rose, a 2010 graduate, was active in the Hispanic Youth Leadership Institute at NRHS and earned bachelor’s and master’s degrees in Latin American, Caribbean & Latino Studies and Globalization Studies from the University at Albany, graduating Phi Beta Kappa. He has presented more than 26 academic papers on topics including decoloniality, Indigenous history and Latino/a/x identity, now teaches history at Manhattan’s Brearley School, and lives in New Rochelle, where he has returned to NRHS to speak at youth leadership conferences.
Ricker, a 2014 graduate, is Assistant Director for Student-Alumni Engagement and an adjunct professor at Iona University, where he leads the Gaels Go Further Mentoring Programs and teaches career readiness. A two-time Iona alumnus with a bachelor’s in broadcast media and a master’s in public relations, Ricker was his master’s commencement speaker and received NRHS’s Leonard Talner Award at graduation.
“One of the highlights about the Distinguished Alumni Hall of Fame is having the opportunity to celebrate the intergenerational excellence we have within our community,” said Devon Shanley, House 4 principal at New Rochelle High School, in a statement. “The four individuals we honored this year represent the true spirit of New Rochelle in their steadfast dedication to supporting the community, creating meaningful impact for others, and bringing a sense of purpose and joy to their life work.”
Talk of the Sound has submitted questions to the high school principal, the staff member overseeing the Hall of Fame program, and the City School District of New Rochelle’s public information officer, with a response deadline of 2 p.m. Monday. This article will be updated if responses are received. The questions submitted were:
- Why did the Hall of Fame go on a five-year hiatus, and why is it returning this year?
- The Hall of Fame’s web page lists only nomination instructions. Is there a plan to publish a full list of inductees with photos and biographies?
- Can a list of the roughly 100 inductees referenced on the web page be provided?
- The Hall of Fame’s nomination criteria require candidates to “model high standards of excellence in personal and professional life.” How did the committee weigh Carton’s fraud conviction against that criteria in selecting him?
- Is the Distinguished Alumni Hall of Fame the same program as the “Wall of Fame” displayed in a high school corridor?
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Ray Rice’s photo and plaque were removed in 2014, along with his Baltimore Ravens jersey from the gymnasium, following the release of a video showing him assaulting his then-fiancée, now wife. His retired #5 New Rochelle High School jersey remained on display. Rice was controversially inducted into the New Rochelle Walk of Fame by the City government as part of a 12-member class on May 12, 2017. Rice served as grand marshal of the New Rochelle Thanksgiving Parade in November 2024, an honor bestowed by the New Rochelle Chamber of Commerce,
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This article was prepared with the assistance of AI tools under the direction and editing of Robert Cox.
Have information about this story? Email robertcox@talkofthesound.com (preferred) or contact via WhatsApp: +353 89 972 0669.