Former NJ101.5 host arrested by FBI — Did Chris Christie know?

To those of us who worked with Craig Carton, the news Wednesday morning was not a total shock.

Craig was arrested at his Manhattan home early Wednesday and charged with duping investors out of $5.6 million in an alleged phony ticket scam. He was a schemer who always had his eye on "side businesses" and ways to make an extra buck.

I even went in on a short lived real estate deal with him over a dozen years ago. It worked out fine. Nobody lost money. Everything was legit.

He's shrewd, clever and ambitious. He can sometimes be astonishingly arrogant and crude, and at times surprisingly generous and kind. He's the P.T. Barnum of radio. He always had something going on. Sometimes it was fun to join in and sometimes you just knew it was smarter to watch from the sidelines.

There were TV news trucks out in front of the radio station at least once a month for a long time because of something Craig may have said or done on the air. We're all scratching our heads wondering why a guy with such skill, talent and obvious success would head down such a dark road.

Blame it on his gambling problems or his struggle with Tourette Syndrome, he clearly had the world by the balls and seems to have blown it. What some of us in the media are wondering about is Gov. Chris Christie.

What did he know and when did he know it?

I'm not suggesting he had anything to do with the scheme, however weeks ago, he abruptly pulled out of the running for a job at the same sports talk station his buddy Craig Carton worked for.

Some said the management there didn't think he was good enough, but the governor said he just wasn't interested. Reeeeaaallllly?!

His personal lawyer through the Bridgegate scandal, Christopher Wray, is now the director of the FBI. Hmmmm. Maybe he mentioned to his friend Gov. Christie to get out of the building and away from Carton before the whole thing blows up in a few weeks. Smart move. Good friend.

It pays to have good friends in important positions, especially when you pal around with unpredictable edgy guys like Craig Carton. Nothing wrong with that, just curious timing and an interesting twist.

I haven't talked to Craig in at least five years, but if I ever needed to talk to him he would answer the phone and probably offer to help. None of us who know him are offering any excuses for what he's accused of doing, but we all wish the best for his family and hope he can find his way back from the dark side he's put himself into.

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Dennis & Judi are on the air weekdays from 10 a.m. to 2 p.m. Tweet them @DennisandJudi or @NJ1015.