Fyre Festival fraudster Billy McFarland could be moved to a higher security prison after he was reportedly caught with a recording device in his cushy Club Fed cell.
The 27-year-old conman is currently being held in the federal correctional facility in Otisville, New York after he was sentenced to six years for two counts of wire fraud and two counts of fraud.
Once ranked by Forbes as one of ‘America’s 10 Cushiest Prisons,’ it boasts recreational amenities like tennis courts, horseshoes and cardio equipment as well as a vegetable garden and a greenhouse producing organic goods.
But officials told The Daily Beast McFarland may soon be sent a more secure facility after he was found with the banned recording device, a ‘greatest severity level prohibited acts’ according to the Bureau of Prisons.
Fyre Festival conman Billy McFarland could be moved to a higher security prison after he was reportedly caught with a recording device in his cushy Club Fed cell in Otisville, New York
McFarland is currently being held in the federal correctional facility in Otisville, New York
He is understood to have already been moved to the prison’s special housing unit where he faces a small cell containing a sink and a toilet.
McFarland, who is understood to already be writing his memoir, may already be being held there for 23 hours a day, with one hour of recreation, according to The Daily Beast.
Former prisoners say there is little sunlight in the rooms, saying: ‘If you are claustrophobic, it’s not great.’
The failed festival organizer is understood to have also been forced to work in the sewage-treatment plant, known to fellow prisoners as the ‘s***house’.
McFarland was blamed for the failure of the highly-anticipated Fyre festival which was set to take place in the Bahamian island of Exuma over the course of two weekends in April and May 2017.
He previously pleaded guilty to separate fraud charges after swindling millions from investors and vendors in the bungled 2017 music festival venture hosted by rapper Ja Rule.
Once ranked by Forbes as one of ‘America’s 10 Cushiest Prisons,’ Otisville boasts recreational amenities like tennis courts, horseshoes and cardio equipment as well as a vegetable garden and a greenhouse producing organic goods
The medium-security prison facility is fenced off from the camp and has its own enclosed exercise yard. The prison camp has a series of open dorms arranged around a lawn, and access to the recreational and sporting facilities
McFarland admitted to lying to investors and falsifying documents in a bid to raise funds for the lavish event.
‘I deeply regret my actions, and I apologize to my investors, team, family, and supporters who I let down,’ he told the court.
Packages to the event ranged from $1,200 to 100,000 and promised performances by A-list artists such as Migos, Blink-182, and Disclosure.
The festival was heavily promoted on social media and billed as ‘the cultural experience of the decade’ touting plush villas and gourmet food.
Celebrities including Bella Hadid, Kendall Jenner, and Emily Ratijkowski were also paid to promote the event on Instagram.
However, the project completely fell apart due to lack of funds, and guests arrived at a barren island with inadequate food, water, or shelter, leading them to believe they had been scammed.
McFarland’s memoir is set to include details of Donald Trump Jr. and Tiffany Trump, Dave Chappelle, Kris Jenner, and Jay-Z, according to a prison source.
A Bureau of Prisons spokesman said: ‘For privacy and safety and security reasons, the Bureau of Prisons (BOP) does not release information on an individual inmate’s conditions of confinement such as an inmate’s housing quarters or whether the inmate is the subject of allegations, investigations, or sanctions in prison.’
In Otisville about 115 inmates sleep in bunks lined up in barrack-style halls, instead of individual or two-man cells like in higher-security facilities.
There are lockers to store personal belongings, washers and dryers for laundry, microwaves to heat up food and ice machines to keep cool.
McFarland was sentenced to six years for two counts of wire fraud and two counts of fraud
Celebrities including Elsa Hosk, Emily Ratajkowski, Bella Hadid, Lais Ribeiro, Gizele Oliveira and Rose Bertram, pictured left to right, were also paid to promote the event on Instagram
Fyre festival was heavily promoted on social media and billed as ‘the cultural experience of the decade’ touting plush villas and gourmet food. However, the project completely fell apart due to lack of funds, and guests arrived at a barren island with inadequate food, water, or shelter
McFarland was blamed for the failure of the highly-anticipated music festival which was set to take place in the Bahamian island of Exuma over the course of two weekends in 2017
McFarland is joined there by President Donald Trump’s former lawyer turned fixer Michael Cohen. Mike ‘The Situation’ Sorrentino of Jersey Shore was released from there earlier this month.
Alums also include accountant Kenneth Starr, who was accused of bilking celebrities like Uma Thurman with bad investments, and former Cendant chairman Walter Forbes and ex-Connecticut Governor John Rowland.
New York Ponzi schemer Bernie Madoff wanted to go to Otisville, but the Bureau of Prisons sent him to North Carolina instead.