Fyre Fest’s Billy McFarland Placed In Solitary Confinement For Launching Podcast
Patrick McMullan via Getty Images
Billy McFarland, the disgraced Fyre Fest founder who is currently serving six years in federal prison for fraud, has been placed in solitary confinement. McFarland’s lawyer tells The New York Times that they believe he was put in solitary last week for launching a new podcast called Dumpster Fyre from prison.
Dumpster Fyre, which premiered its first episode on Tuesday, features McFarland talking about his crimes from a prison phone. Since a trailer for the podcast came out last week, featuring photographs of McFarland and other inmates in the prison yard, McFarland has been in 23-hour-a-day solitary confinement and may remain there for 90 days or more pending an investigation by the federal Bureau of Prisons.
“We believe the investigation stems from his participation in the podcast and the photographs that were taken and utilized in the trailer, which were all properly taken,” said McFarland’s attorney Jason Russo. “We don’t believe he’s violated any rule or regulation, and there can’t possibly be anything else. He’s been a model prisoner there.”
According to Russo, inmates at Federal Correctional Institution Elkton in Lisbon, Ohio, where McFarland is being held, are permitted to use the phones, and all calls are recorded and screened by the prison. Disposable cameras are also allowed and screened. “They absolutely should have already known” about the podcast, he says.
A spokesman for the Bureau Of Prisons declined to comment and said that they never discusses the housing arrangements of inmates for privacy reasons. McFarland’s cellmate, who also participated in the podcast, was placed in solitary too. McFarland was previously put in solitary at a different facility for possessing a flash drive.
In the first episode of Dumpster Fyre, McFarland told podcaster Jordan Harbinger that his previous three-month stint in solitary inspired the podcast. “Solitary led to this forced reflection on my mistakes and the people I hurt,” he explained. “The first thing I need to do is take responsibility for all of my actions.” He said that any proceeds from the podcast will go towards the $26 million in restitution he owes his victims.
