The Fyre music festival, planned for last spring, was to be an experience of unparalleled opulence. Held on a private island in the Bahamas, the festival would feature luxury suites, gourmet meals and a series of musical performances headlined by Blink-182.

But instead of the extravagant odyssey they had been promised, hundreds of concertgoers were greeted by a disorganized mess. Soggy tents. Cheese sandwiches in foam containers.

And not only did Blink-182 never perform; the band’s equipment ended up stuck in customs.

On Tuesday afternoon the festival’s main organizer, William McFarland, pleaded guilty to two counts of wire fraud related to the festival and to his media company that prosecutors said had cost investors $26 million in losses.

He told the judge, Naomi Reice Buchwald, of Federal District Court in Manhattan, that he had begun organizing the festival with good intentions but had “greatly underestimated the resources” it would take.