Founder of Fyre Festival faces six year jail sentence

Entrepreneur Billy McFarland has been sentenced to six years in prison, having pleaded guilty to three counts of wire fraud, one count of making false claims and one count of bank fraud.

The main man behind the disastrous Fyre Festival has been accused of sharing fraudulent documents and making false statements to overstate the company’s financial stability to potential investors.

The luxury festival on a private island in the Bahamas descended into chaos after attendees turned up to what looked like a half-finished building site.

The festival was organised by Ja Rule and was set to feature performances from Blink-182SkeptaRae Sremmurd and more. The event has since been likened to a disaster zone following fans reports surfacing online.

Fyre Festival was advertised online as a hyper-glamorous getaway and was endorsed by supermodels including Kendall JennerEmily Ratajkowski, and Bella Hadid. Tickets for the festival were priced between $4,000 and $12,000.

In 2017, while out on bail, he also ran a scam that sold fake tickets to various exclusive events, scamming buyers out of hundreds of thousands of dollars.