US Marshals selling apparel from failed Fyre Festival

The U.S. Marshals Service is selling 126 items that were seized from Billy McFarland, who was arrested in June 2017 and charged with fraud for his role in organizing and marketing the highly-anticipated and failed Fyre Festival.

The Fyre Festival was to be a large-scale music festival hosted in the Bahamas by McFarland and rapper Ja Rule. Elite attendees were to experience a luxury event with some of the most popular models and performers -- at least that’s what hopeful attendees believed after seeing promotional videos on social media.

Ticket-purchasers who arrived on the island instead found subpar security, sleeping and food accommodations, including FEMA tents in place of villas and packaged sandwiches instead of gourmet meals. Blink-182, Major Lazer and Migos were among the 30-plus musicians who were advertised as booked artists, but no one ended up performing.

Eventgoers paid tens of thousands of dollars for tickets.

The festival was postponed indefinitely.

Now, the U.S. Marshals Service is selling festival-branded hats with bids up to $300 each and a hoodie bidding for $345. Wristbands, sweatshirts, sweatpants and T-shirts are also being auctioned.

“This Fyre Festival-branded clothing and other items that were seized from Billy McFarland were originally intended to be sold at the Fyre Festival itself but were kept by McFarland, with the intent to sell the items and use the funds to commit further criminal acts while he was on pretrial release,” said U.S. Marshal Ralph Sozio of the Southern District of New York. “The proceeds from the sale of these items, all traceable to McFarland’s $26 million fraud, will go toward the victims of his crimes.”

McFarland was officially charged with wire fraud and sentenced to six years in federal prison. He will be 31 years old when he is released in 2023.

Fyre Festival merchandise can be purchased here.

Cox Media Group