Fyre Festival founder asks for early prison release
Billy McFarland, the creator of the failed 2017 . McFarland admitted to defrauding investors out of $26 million for the notorious Fyre Festival and more than $100,000 in a ticket-selling scheme following his arrest.
"It took me longer than it should've, but your message has come through. It'll be a long road, but I can finally report, everything feels right," McFarland wrote in the letter. "I'm living with a level of peace and acceptance that I lost in the events leading up to my arrest. I'm working harder than ever, in furtherance of a mission I truly know is right. I know that by living every day with the dedication of helping those I let down, and by doing it within the rules and regulations, I will slowly but surely continue down the path so I badly needed to regain."
Prisons across the U.S. continue to see cases of coronavirus, following weeks of warnings from activists and experts that the nearly 2.3 million people incarcerated across the U.S. are especially vulnerable to the pandemic. The close proximity of inmates, compounded with lack of proper treatment, can lead to the rapid spread of disease in prisons — where products like soap and even warm water can be difficult to access.
McFarland is far from the first public figure to request a compassionate release or home detention amid the coronavirus pandemic. Figures including the former head of the Cali drug cartel and Bernard Madoff have been pleading their cases in recent months.
Justin Carissimo contributed reporting.
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