By NAN News Editor
News Americas, NEW YORK, NY, Fri. Oct. 12, 2018: The founder of the ill-fated Caribbean Fyre Festival will have to spend the next six years of his life in jail.
A judge on Thursday described Billy McFarland, 26, as “a serial fraudster” who had been dishonest for “most of his life” before delivering the sentence.
McFarland had pleaded guilty to fraud in March this year to two counts of wire fraud related to the festival. But then in July admitted two more counts of fraud relating to another ticket-selling scam that he had set up while on bail.
McFarland had promised rich partygoers a luxury event in the Bahamas. Tickets had cost between $1,200 and $100,000 a pop.
Instead the partygoers were stranded on an island in April 2017 without enough food, water or accommodation. The event was eventually cancelled and hundreds of people had to be evacuated.
“Today, McFarland found out the hard way that empty promises don’t lead to jet-setting, champagne and extravagant parties – they lead to federal prison,” said US Attorney for Manhattan, Geoffrey Berman.
McFarland said the sentencing was an “extremely bitter reality.”
