NEW YORK (CelebrityAccess) – Billy McFarland, age 31 and the creator of the infamous Fyre Festival who served nearly four years in prison for fraud and lying to the FBI, is facing a new civil lawsuit that claims he took advantage of and ripped off an investor who gave him $740,000 for his new PYRT venture.
The summons was filed in the New York Supreme Court on Tuesday (October 17) by an attorney for 54-year-old Jonathan Taylor. Taylor met McFarland while they were both in jail serving time at Elkton Federal Correctional Institute in OH, as reported by Billboard. The summons states that McFarland must appear in court and agree to replay Taylor or face legal action for fraud, conversion, civil conspiracy, breach of contract and unjust enrichment.
According to the summons, Taylor struck an agreement with McFarland and his business partner, Michael Falb (also named as a defendant), in which they allegedly offered him one-third equity in the venture, PYRT Technologies, in exchange for a $740,000 investment. Taylor claims McFarland and Falb are now refusing to grant him the equity they promised or to return the money despite his demands that they do so.
Taylor is asking for monetary damages of $740,000, statutory damages, punitive damages and attorneys’ fees. CelebrityAccess has reached out to McFarland for comment; as of press time, there has been no response.
Taylor began serving time in 2016 at the Elkton Federal Correctional Institute after pleading guilty to a single count of child sex trafficking stemming from his relationship with a 15-year-old prostitute in FL. Taylor met and bonded with McFarland after he arrived at the low-security prison following being kicked out of a prison in Otisville, NY, for contraband violations, reports Billboard.
Taylor and McFarland’s first project was a podcast about McFarland’s life in prison recorded from behind bars, which landed McFarland in solitary confinement for six months. It was during that half-year stretch in “the hole” that McFarland wrote out a 50-page document — obtained by Billboard — of how he would harness continued interest in Fyre Fest and launch PYRT, a post-prison project to repair his image and “make the impossible happen.”
After McFarland was released from solitary confinement in April 2021, he sent the plan to Taylor, who transferred money to McFarland and Falb and gave McFarland access to debit cards and accounts. However, that quickly turned sour as McFarland wrote to his attorney, Harlan Protass, in September 2022 – alleging Taylor had misrepresented his criminal charges to McFarland when the men became friends in prison and alleged that McFarland had only recently learned about the true nature of Taylor’s crimes.
“I am uncomfortable associating with Mr. Taylor,” McFarland wrote in the email obtained by Billboard. “After receiving the documents from his attorneys on Saturday, I acted swiftly and scheduled a meeting with Mr. Taylor on Monday. I proceeded to meet with him yesterday (Monday), and I notified him that we must sever ties.”
Taylor demanded the repayment of the money he had paid to McFarland. Still, McFarland explained that the money had already been spent, according to an email from Taylor to his attorney obtained by Billboard.
On October 27, 2022, lawyers for McFarland offered to pay Taylor $1 million to buy out his equity interest in PYRT by making “payments in the amount of 5% of its gross revenues up to $1 million,” wrote McFarland attorney Craig Effrain in a document obtained by Billboard. Taylor rejected the offer.
In addition, Taylor’s business partner Eric Bratcher, a former McFarland fan now says his goal is to be “known as the person who brought down Billy McFarland.” BillboardPro reports that Bratcher put his life on hold to help McFarland publish his memoir and launch PYRT. Bratcher then invested with a businessman, Taylor – who put the money into PYRT, primarily via wire transfers and checks made out to McFarland or Falb.
After McFarland learned about Taylor’s reasons for being in prison, he kicked him out of PYRT, which Taylor had been helping manage as one of three partners alongside Bratcher. McFarland then let Bratcher go because of his connection to Taylor.
Whatever arrangements come of McFarland paying Taylor back, he already owes $26M to the former investors involved with the Fyre Festival.
