Fyre Festival founder Billy McFarland released from jail
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Billy McFarland, the man who organized the notoriously disaster-filled Fyre Festival, has been granted an early prison release.
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His release comes more than two years before the end of the six-year sentence he received in 2018 — but he’s not free just yet.
The 30-year-old was transferred from a low-level federal prison in Michigan on March 30, the Bureau of Prisons said in a statement to NBC News.
His lawyer, Jason Russo, told the outlet that McFarland was in custody there before he was moved to a halfway house in New York City on Wednesday.
McFarland is expected to remain there until August, according to TMZ, which first reported the news.
Russo said his early release is due to good time credit McFarland had earned.
In 2018, McFarland pleaded guilty to wire fraud and other crimes related to the music festival he promoted as a luxurious, glamorous event in the Caribbean.
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Festival-goers soon discovered that no one was having a good time after reports surfaced of refugee camp-like conditions, terrible food and difficulties getting flights out of the Bahamas.
“Chaos” was a word heard frequently surrounding the 2017 event.
McFarland owes millions in restitution over the event and plans to “put together a team of good people for a solid plan to make amends and pay” what he owes, Russo said.
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McFarland apologized for his crimes, according to the Associated Press, telling a judge a “legitimate festival” was the plan but he “grossly underestimated the resources that would be necessary to hold an event of this magnitude.”
He said, “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.”