The Guy Behind The Clusterfuck Fyre Festival Has Been Sentenced To Six Years In Prison

Fyre Festival Founder Billy McFarland has been sentenced to six years in prison for four counts of wire fraud. He has also been ordered to forfeit more than $26 million.

The charges are over the fraudster’s shit-show/sad attempt at making a festival (Fyre), and his NYC VIP Access scam he ran whilst he was out on bail late last year. Earlier this year McFarland was ordered to pay a $5 million settlement to two Fyre Festival attendees for “mental anguish, pain, and suffering”.

Vice News reports Mcfarland told the courtroom :”The remorse I feel is crushing, I’ve lived every day with the weight of knowing that I literally destroyed the lives of my friends and family.”

He begged U.S. District Court Judge Naomi Buchwald for leniency due to the McFarland reportedly being diagnosed with untreated bipolar disorder earlier this month.

Fyre Festival took place in April last year, billed as “the culture experience of the decade.” Punters forked out up to $12,000 USD to attend the luxury festival which was promoted by multiple celebrities including Kendall Jenner, Emily Ratajkowski and Bella Hadid. However, the festival ended up being more like a live remake of Lord Of The Flies with audience participation.

During sentencing, Buchwald told the court: “It is my conclusion based on all the submissions that the defendant is a serial fraudster and that to date his fraud, like a circle, has no ending.” She added that a diagnosis of bipolar does not excuse his behaviour.

It’s not the end of McFarland’s legal woes: there are a number of class action lawsuits against himself and Fyre Media that are currently waiting to be heard.