Billy McFarland, the mastermind behind last summer’s luxury Fyre music festival in the Bahamas that ended up being canceled amid leaky tents and cheese sandwiches, pled guilty to two counts of wire fraud this week.
McFarland admitted to a federal Manhattan court that he had defrauded 80 of the festival’s investors and falsified documents related to the festival’s funding, NPR reports.
McFarland promoted the music festival as a “life-changing” event where festival goers would stay in plush accommodations and see big-name acts while eating gourmet food. In fact, it was anything but, with many attendees left marooned at the event after the promised musical acts including Blick 182 canceled their appearances.
“I grossly underestimated the resources that would be necessary to hold an event of this magnitude,” McFarland told U.S. District Judge Naomi Rice Buchwald. “In an attempt to raise what I thought were needed funds, I lied to investors about various aspects of Fyre Media and my personal finances. Those lies included false documents and information.”
McFarland admitted to a federal Manhattan court that he had defrauded 80 investors in the festival, and falsified documents in order to attempt to put on the festival, NPR reports.
McFarland’s sentencing, which could be up to 10 years in prison, is expected on June 21.