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        <title><![CDATA[Fyre Fest’s Billy McFarland petitions for early release, citing coronavirus]]></title>
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            <media:title type="html">Fyre Fest’s Billy McFarland petitions for early release, citing coronavirus</media:title>
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        <content:encoded><![CDATA[<p>You can&#8217;t blame a guy for trying.</p><p>Imprisoned <strong>Fyre Festival</strong> founder <strong>Billy McFarland</strong> has reportedly requested an early release from prison, citing fears of <strong>the novel coronavirus COVID-19</strong> — less than two weeks after <strong>telling the Post</strong> exclusively he &#8220;wasn&#8217;t worried&#8221; about catching the disease, which is ravaging America&#8217;s prison population.</p><p><strong>According to The Wrap</strong>, McFarland&#8217;s lawyers petitioned New York Judge Naomi Reice Buchwald, claiming that McFarland, 28, suffers pre-existing medical conditions. These include asthma, being diagnosed &#8220;on the &#8216;extreme&#8217; scale of the allergy spectrum for issues related to breathing and his cardiovascular system&#8221; and heart issues &#8220;he has experienced since his early 20s.&#8221;</p><p>McFarland&#8217;s team claim that at least 24 inmates and 14 staff members at Elkton — the low-security Ohio facility where McFarland is serving his six-year sentence — have tested positive for coronavirus, including the prison&#8217;s warden and assistant warden, who are both apparently in the hospital. Via his lawyers, McFarland said that he is being kept in a large room with 140 inmates and that 30 of them have gotten sick and been relocated. (<strong>The Columbus Dispatch reports</strong> six inmates at Elkton have died from the coronavirus.)</p><p>The lawyers argue that McFarland should be released to home confinement, which they suggest he was already a candidate for beginning in 2021. “Mr. McFarland is not a risk to the community nor a threat to public safety,” the letter reads. “The crime to which he pled guilty for was the non-violent financial crime of wire fraud. However, he is a low risk of recidivism for such financial crimes as he has explained that he has a supportive family that has attested to providing for his basic needs.”</p><p>Earlier this month, <strong>the Post exclusively reported</strong> that McFarland was attempting to launch a new initiative to crowd-fund phone calls for &#8220;in-need inmates and their families who are affected by coronavirus.&#8221; At the time, he said he was not worried about catching the coronavirus, saying “Elderly people who are at the greatest medical risk should definitely be considered for release.”</p>]]></content:encoded>
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