Fyre Festival scammer Billy McFarland is facing up to 115 years in prison on fraud charges
Billy McFarland, the founder of the infamous atrocity that was Fyre Festival, could see up to 115 years in prison due to his most recent charges. The scam artist was already staring roughly 40 years in federal prison in the face due to his guilty pleas for Fyre Festival. Adding fuel to the fire, McFarland pled guilty to more counts of fraud, which could add an additional maximum 75 years in prison.
McFarland pled guilty and ordered to reimburse the people he scammed
McFarland is one of those that knows how to run a faulty business. While he was awaiting trial for his Fyre Festival-related charges, he was running a fake ticket scheme. He was selling tickets to events like Coachella, Super Bowl LII, and Met Gala. Altogether, 30 people had $150,000 stolen from them. In addition, he made an attempt to pay an employee $25,000 with, you guessed it, a fraudulent check.
The plea McFarland made on Thursday, July 26 contained one count of wire fraud, one count of bank fraud, and one count of making false statements. Consequently, he’s been ordered to pay $26 million in damages to those 30 people he stole from. This is in addition to his $5 million civil lawsuit for two Fyre Festival attendees.
The master of fraudulent charges isn’t expected to sit behind bars for the full 115 years. Rather, he may see 11 to 14 years instead due to a plea deal he has. His scheduled hearing is for September 17.
