The organiser of an ill-fated “elite” and “luxury” 2017 music festival in the Bahamas has been sentenced to six years in prison, after pleading guilty to fraud earlier this year.
Billy McFarland, 26, was also ordered by the court to hand over almost £20 million, after patrons attending the Fyre Festival arrived on the island to find that the promised “luxury accommodation” was actually disaster-relief tents, many of which had not been set up.
Tickets to the failed event cost between £900 and £75,000, and hundreds of patrons needed to be evacuated from the island after the festival was eventually cancelled amid scenes of chaos, the BBC says.
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The Washington Post reports that McFarland expressed regret over his actions, telling the court: “The remorse I feel is crushing. I lived every day with the weight of knowing that I literally destroyed the lives of my friends and family.”
McFarland pleaded guilty to two counts of wire fraud in March for his part in the failed festival, and a further two charges relating to a different ticket-selling scam he set up while on bail.
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