In a related civil case, the Securities and Exchange Commission said Carton in mid-2016 solicited investments in ticket reselling enterprises after he accrued millions of dollars' worth of gambling-related debts to casinos and other third parties.

The SEC said he provided fabricated and forged documents to investors, claiming access to large quantities of face-value tickets to upcoming concerts by artists including Adele, Katy Perry, Justin Bieber, Roger Waters, Metallica, and Barbra Streisand.

Federal prosecutors said Carton, 48, teamed up with Michael Wright, 41, of Upper Saddle River, New Jersey, to carry out a fraud on investors by posing as power brokers in the concert ticket business.

Manhattan Acting U.S. Attorney Joon H. Kim said in a release that Carton and Wright deceived investors, raising millions of dollars "through misrepresentation and outright lies."

"Behind all the talk, the Wright and Carton show was just a sham, designed to fleece investors out of millions ultimately to be spent on payments to casinos and to pay off other personal debt," Kim said.