Billy McFarland

Billy McFarland's bail revoked pending new fraud charges

Fyre Festival founder Billy McFarland was arrested last week for allegedly selling fake event tickets while out on bail, awaiting sentencing for the wire fraud charges connected to Fyre that he pled guilty to. His bail has now been revoked by a Manhattan judge, and his sentencing delayed until late July. Page Six reports that Manhattan federal judge Naomi Reice Buchwald called McFarland a flight risk because of the new charges, saying, “I do think that with the new charges combined with the forthcoming sentencing, there’s a serious risk of flight as well as a danger in a non-violent sense to the community.”

McFarland’s sentencing will now happen on July 26, instead of later this week as originally scheduled. The time he spends incarcerated between now and then will count towards his sentence, which is expected to include jail time.

The most recent charges against McFarland are that he sold fake and nonexistant tickets to events like Coachella, Burning Man, and The Met Gala through a company called NYC VIP Events. That’s on top of the two counts of wire fraud he pled guilty to concerning Fyre Festival, about which he told Judge 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.”

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