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Billy's back! Jailed Fyre Festival fraudster Billy McFarland posts rambling IG message from prison as he launches a NON-PROFIT to help inmates but admits: 'If I were you, I'd think this is a scam and I'm full of s**t'(7 Pics)

Jailed Fyre Festival fraudster Billy McFarland says he has launched a non-profit from his prison cell, but admitted that: 'If I were y...

Jailed Fyre Festival fraudster Billy McFarland says he has launched a non-profit from his prison cell, but admitted that: 'If I were you, I'd think this is a scam and I'm full of s**t'.  
The inmate at Elkton Federal Correctional Facility in Ohio announced his latest business venture Project-315 in a rambling Instagram post Friday.
Project-315 is a non-profit helping to connect inmates with their families during the coronavirus outbreak, claims McFarland, who is currently serving six years behind bars for fraud after he conned people out of millions to fund fake music festival Fyre Festival.
'Today I'm launching Project-315, an initiative to help bring together and connect in-need federal inmates and their families who have been affected by the Coronavirus,' he wrote in the long letter, also posted on the non-profit's website.
Jailed Fyre Festival fraudster Billy McFarland (pictured) has launched a non-profit from his prison cell, but admitted that: 'If I were you, I'd think this is a scam and I'm full of s**t'
Jailed Fyre Festival fraudster Billy McFarland (pictured) has launched a non-profit from his prison cell, but admitted that: 'If I were you, I'd think this is a scam and I'm full of s**t'
He claims the scheme takes donations to pay for inmate phone calls so that they can speak to loved ones amid the crisis, after prisons up and down the country have gone into lockdown and banned visitors to reduce the risk of outbreaks among inmate populations.
But McFarland admitted he expects people to be sceptical of his latest venture, because of his track record. 
'Many of you only know me from the Fyre Festival. If I were you, I'd think this is a scam, and that I am full of s**t,' he wrote in the post.
'I'd also question anything I read that tried to convince me otherwise.'
The inmate at Elkton Federal Correctional Facility in Ohio announced his latest business venture Project-315 in a rambling Instagram post Friday (above). The non-profit aims to help to connect inmates with their families during the coronavirus outbreak
The inmate at Elkton Federal Correctional Facility in Ohio announced his latest business venture Project-315 in a rambling Instagram post Friday (above). The non-profit aims to help to connect inmates with their families during the coronavirus outbreak
The convicted con-artist publicly addressed the infamous debacle in the post, admitting he knows he 'messed up' and saying that his actions 'make [him] sick'.
'I'd like you to know that I know how badly I messed up. I lied, deceived, and ultimately hurt many people in pursuit of what I thought would be successful business ventures,' he wrote in the post, the first from the newly-created account. 
'What I did was absolutely despicable, and the responsibility for the damages caused starts and ends with me. There's absolutely no excuse for my actions. There's not a day that goes by that my reflection of these choices doesn't make me sick.' 
However he insisted he didn't set out to scam anyone and had 'legitimately tried to execute the festival'.
McFarland is currently serving six years behind bars for fraud after he conned people out of millions to fund fake music festival Fyre Festival
McFarland is currently serving six years behind bars for fraud after he conned people out of millions to fund fake music festival Fyre Festival 
The felon went on to reassure readers that he will not be handling any donations. 
'To clarify a few parameters: I am not touching any of the money. I don't have access to the funds. I'm not getting paid,' he wrote.
'And I'm not receiving any financial benefit.' 
McFarland added that 'I don't want to come back to jail' and insisted that weekly accounting will be published and any questions on funds will be answered publicly to give donors 'extreme transparency'. 
He says he set up the non-profit because it is his 'source of inspiration to help those I've wronged' and that he wanted to help the 180,000 incarcerated men and women across the US after seeing 'what's happening to inmates and their families' because of the pandemic. 
'As I experience and participate in the usual jail-house conversations, it’s clear they’ve turned to a singular theme: "What-if" scenarios -- what we'd all trade and give up, the additional punishments and pain we'd voluntarily put ourselves through just to help our families not be alone during this crisis,' he wrote. 

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
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 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
He praised the actions of the prison system for increasing the number of phone calls inmates can now make because of visitations being canceled.
'When the ultimate sentence of distance and separation is imposed, and a family is struggling through sickness, economic challenges, and other hardships as a result of this invisible enemy, just the sound of hearing a loved one's voice can help a distraught family through the hardest of days,' he wrote. 
However, much of the prison population and their families - many of whom have lost their jobs overnight through the fallout from the outbreak - cannot afford the cost of phone calls which comes in at $3.15 for a 15-minute call, McFarland said. 
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 two weekends in April and May 2017. 
The lavish music festival was to be hosted by rapper Ja Rule and was billed as 'the cultural experience of the decade' touting plush villas and gourmet food. 
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. 
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 admitted lying to investors and falsifying documents in a bid to raise funds for the event and pleaded guilty to two counts of wire fraud and two counts of fraud.  
The scheme takes donations to pay for inmate phone calls so that they can speak to loved ones amid the crisis, after prisons up and down the country have gone into lockdown and banned visitors to reduce the risk of outbreaks among inmate populations
The scheme takes donations to pay for inmate phone calls so that they can speak to loved ones amid the crisis, after prisons up and down the country have gone into lockdown and banned visitors to reduce the risk of outbreaks among inmate populations

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