Fyre Festival fraud on his way to freedom

Billy McFarland, the fraudster behind the illfated Fyre Festival, was sprung from prison this spring after serving less than four years of a sixyear sentence in connection with his disastrous 2017 island retreat.

McFarland, 30, was released on March 30 and transferred to community confinement, where he was expected to remain through August, TMZ reported Wednesday.

The Short Hills, NJ, native pleaded guilty to two counts of wire fraud in March 2018 for using bogus documents to entice investors into giving him money for the sham festival he planned with Ja Rule. He originally faced up to 20 years in prison.

As part of his plea deal, McFarland agreed to a forfeiture order of $26 million to reimburse his many victims.

Just months later, McFarland also pleaded guilty to selling fake tickets to events like the Met Gala and Burning Man, swindling more victims out of about $100,000.

McFarland had duped about 80 investors and thousands of festivalgoers who paid up to $12,000 to attend what was billed as a luxury music festival on the Bahamas island of Great Exuma.

Customers were promised an extravagant all-inclusive experience featuring performances from dozens of musical acts like Pusha T and Blink 182, gourmet food and luxury accommodations.

The jet-setters arrived at the Fyre Festival to instead find no musical entertainment, prison-grade cheese sandwiches and FEMA disaster tents.

In a 2021 jailhouse interview, McFarland blamed the dire situation on the “unrealistic time frame” he set for the festival.