Promoter of failed Fyre Festival gets 6 years in prison

NEW YORK – A federal judge has given the creator of the highly publicized, failed Fyre Festival in the Bahamas a six-year prison term.

Billy McFarland was sentenced Thursday in Manhattan federal court. Judge Naomi Reice Buchwald called him a “serial fraudster.”

He admitted defrauding investors of $26 million in the 2017 music festival and over $100,000 in a fraudulent ticket-selling scheme after his arrest in the festival scam.

Buchwald says McFarland deserved a long prison term because he disrespected the criminal justice system by lying to law enforcement agents when they learned about the ticket-selling business.

Speaking in a courtroom packed with friends and family and at least one victim, McFarland apologized as family members cried behind him.

He says he hit rock bottom and plans to become a better person.