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If the powers that be who organized the disastrous and failed Fyre Fest thought their drama would end once they issued refunds and a few public apologies, they were sadly mistaken. Last month Billy McFarland, the CEO of Fyre Media — the company that organized the festival — was formerly charged with fraud by the US Attorney for the Southern District of New York. Now, according to Billboard, McFarland is looking to reduce that possible sentence by entering a plea deal.
The report says Assistant U.S. Attorney Kristy Greenberg filed a motion for continuance this week, looking to push back the case to give all parties more time to negotiate a plea bargain. Magistrate Judge Gabriel W. Gorenstein granted the motion, giving both sides 30 days to continue to hammer out a deal while McFarland remains free on $300,000 bond.
The 25-year-old allegedly provided false financial information to at least two investors who invested upwards of $1.2 million toward the Fyre Fest. McFarland is accused of doctoring brokerage statements he showed investors to make it appear that he owned $2.5 million in shares of one stock for which he actually only owned about $1,500 worth of shares. He also allegedly claimed to have secured millions of dollars in revenue after booking “thousands” of acts for the festival, when in reality he’d only booked 60 acts and secured about $60,000.
If convicted, McFarland faces a maximum 20 years in prison.
