Fyre Festival Founder Sentenced To Six Years In Prison

TRIBECA, NY — Fyre Festival founder Billy McFarland was sentenced to six years in prison Thursday on several counts of fraud, including for last year's disastrous music festival where the 26-year-old lured hundreds with the help of celebrity investors including models Kendall Jenner and Bella Hadid.

McFarland, whose company was headquarter in Tribeca, has admitted to swindling investors out of $26 million for the festival and more than $100,000 in a fraudulent ticket scheme that was discovered after his initial arrest.

Federal judge Naomi Reice Buchwald sentenced McFarland Thursday, calling him "a serial fraudster" and "not simply a misguided young man," according to the Associated Press.

McFarland operated his sham business from 2013 to 2017, staging fraudulent events to con 20 investors. He used false claims about his company to tempt 80 investors to pour $24 million into the Fyre Festival. He also admitted to defrauding a ticket vendor, which sunk $2 million into the fake festival, according to the Manhattan U.S. Attorney's office.

Some $13 million of investors' cash was diverted to McFarland's personal accounts and spent on luxury trips, apartments and cars, according to prosecutors. McFarland has been ordered to forfeit more than $26 million, but it's unclear how much, if any, of the funds are in his possession.

McFarland’s attorneys claimed in court filings that he had launched the ticket scam to reimburse investors of the Fyre Festival, which prosecutors argued against, pointing out that McFarland reinvested the majority of the money back into his fake business and pocketed $20,000 for himself.

Speaking to a packed courtroom, McFarland repeatedly apologized as family members wept behind him and said he had "been awakened and hit rock bottom by the gravity of incarceration," according to the Associated Press.

McFarland could have faced decades in prison, but was sentenced to just six years. He remains the subject of a multimillion-dollar class action lawsuit, filed by ticket holders, that is still working its way through the courts.

Photo courtesy of AP Photo/Mark Lennihan