A federal judge in Manhattan has sentenced Fyre Festival founder Billy McFarland to six years in prison on multiple counts of fraud in connection to the event, which promised music and opulence but instead went viral over its sensational collapse.
"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," the 26-year-old reportedly said during Thursday's hearing.
Hyped as "the cultural experience of the decade," the first-ever Fyre Festival was set for two consecutive weekends last spring on a remote island in the Bahamas that was once home to Pablo Escobar.
The young entrepreneur tapped rapper Ja Rule to craft the perfect event to lure millennials with lots of disposable income _ ticket packages ranged from $1,500 to $250,000 _ and active Instagram feeds.
Blink-182, Disclosure, Kaytranada, Migos, Rae Sremmurd, Tyga, Desiigner, Pusha T., Major Lazer and two dozen other acts were booked; more than $1 million in jewelry, cash and other goodies would be up for grabs in a treasure hunt; and organizers got Kendall Jenner, Bella Hadid and a bevy of supermodels to promote the festival.
Yet guests arrived to unfinished grounds, mass disorganization, no luggage, no beer, food better suited for an elementary school sleep-away camp and the cancellation of headliner Blink-182, with other artists _ some of whom had yet to be paid _ pulling out right after.
The plush villas that had been promised were actually the same type of tents the Federal Emergency Management Agency uses to bring relief to disaster-stricken areas. Shipping containers were strewn about the property; there wasn't a single item for purchase inside the on-site general store. And flights into the island were canceled due to overcapacity, leaving guests stranded and seeking aid from the U.S. Embassy.
"It looked like the set of 'Outbreak.' There were hundreds of tents. Beds everywhere. Nothing was finished," attendee William Finley, whose real-time documentation of the chaos went viral, told The Times. "We figured it was for [general-admission ticket holders]. It would be crazy to treat people who paid the most like this."
Shortly after Fyre's collapse last year, McFarland was arrested on charges that he defrauded investors who poured $1.2 million into two companies associated with the ill-fated event and more than a dozen lawsuits alleging fraud, breach of contract and other claims were filed against him.
In March, he pleaded guilty to two counts of wire fraud over the Fyre scheme, which resulted in $24 million in losses, and in July he pleaded guilty to two more counts of fraud related to a different company he ran while he was out on bail from the Fyre charges that sold counterfeit tickets to concerts and events like Coachella, Burning Man and the Super Bowl.
The fake ticket company, NYC VIP Access, sold $150,000 in tickets to 30 people according to the United States Attorney's Office.
McFarland was facing up to 20 years for convictions on three counts of wire fraud, one count of bank fraud and one count of lying to investigators.
The judge, who called McFarland a "serial fraudster," has allowed the promoter to serve his sentences concurrently. He will face an additional three years of supervised release and has been ordered to forfeit more than $26 million.
