Fyre Festival’s Billy McFarland Pleads Guilty to Wire Fraud: Report
Billy McFarland, the entrepreneur behind last year’s ill-fated Fyre Festival, has pled guilty to two counts of wire fraud, as TMZ reports. McFarland initially pled not guilty back in October. He was arrested in June following an FBI investigation into Fyre Media and the widely publicized namesake festival. At the time, U.S. Attorney Joon H. Kim stated McFarland was accused of making false statements to overstate Fyre’s financial stability to potential investors, making false claims about festival insurance policies, sharing fraudulent documents claiming that a bank approved a $3 million loan to Fyre, and more.
McFarland’s sentencing is reportedly set for June; TMZ states that each fraud charge carries a potential sentence of up to 20 years in prison. In addition to the criminal charges, McFarland and Fyre associate Ja Rule were hit with numerous civil suits in the wake of the festival debacle.
Read “Even After the Fyre, Festivals Still Aren’t Learning” over on the Pitch.
