He’s the Air Jordan bandit, prosecutors claim.
A man accused of orchestrating a check-cashing scheme that ripped off more than $100,000 from New York banks used the cash to fund a rabid sneaker obsession, prosecutors suggested at his arraignment Thursday in Manhattan Supreme Court.
“He had approximately 300 pairs [of Air Jordans],” Assistant District Attorney Elise Roecker said of what cops found when they searched 30-year-old Carlton Carter’s home in Hackensack, NJ.
“It was described to me as a wall of shoes,” Roecker told the judge of Carter’s Nike collection.
“Maybe he has a big family,” Justice Laura Ward quipped.
But Carter’s defense lawyer, Anthony Mayol, objected to prosecutors’ implication.
“Perhaps 300 pairs of sneakers reflects he’s a collector,” Mayol argued.
“There could be a completely appropriate and legitimate reason. Certainly a collection of sneakers isn’t criminal.”
Carter was busted with 14 others in a 27-count indictment involving a cocaine, prescription-pill and check-fraud operation. He is implicated in only the check-fraud scheme. He and his accomplices allegedly stole bank information from a check-cashing store and used it to fraudulently withdraw cash.