Billy McFarland, the promoter of the failed Fyre Festival, leaves federal court after pleading guilty to wire fraud charges in New York.

A lawyer for the organizer of last year's disastrous Fyre Festival is claiming that mental health issues are behind his client's spate of criminal behavior, according to new court documents.

In a recent letter, the attorney for Fyre Festival founder Billy McFarland asked the judge for leniency in McFarland's upcoming sentencing, citing two psychiatrists' reports that surmise that his client has been diagnosed with some type of mood disorder, "bipolar related disorder," ADHD, and alcohol abuse, which altered his behavior and resulted in "delusional beliefs of having special and unique talents that will lead to fame and fortune."



McFarland pleaded guilty in March to defrauding investors and vendors in connection to the bogus music festival he hosted in the Bahamas, scamming them out of $26 million. Then, while he was out on bail this past summer, McFarland was charged in connection to another scam, which involved selling nearly $100,000 in fake tickets to marquee events such as the 2018 Met Gala, Burning Man, Coachella, and the Grammy Awards.

The 26-year-old entrepreneur pleaded guilty to those charges as well and is scheduled to be sentenced Oct. 11 in Manhattan federal court. He could face up to 14 years in prison.

"Nothing in this case speaks to any malicious intent on his part, just a sea of bad judgment, poor decisions, and the type of core instability that can only be explained by mental illness," McFarland's attorney Randall Jackson wrote to US District Judge Naomi Buchwald on Friday, citing two psychological reports.



According to the psychiatrists' analysis, McFarland was experiencing "mania or hypomania," had trouble sleeping, was exhausted and overwrought, and thus "had a diminished capacity to foresee the consequences of his actions."

"The combination of ADHD and hypomania resulted in his pattern of undertaking on multiple projects accompanied by unrealistic appraisals of success," one part of the summary noted.



The reports, conducted in August, stated that McFarland was also "overwhelmed" by the daunting task of having to pay back the millions of dollars he ripped off from people he'd convinced to attend his music festival, which had been billed as a luxurious music experience on a remote island. Instead attendees arrived to find disaster relief–style tents, unfinished stages, and meager cheese sandwiches.