---
title: "Texas Couple Sentenced to 40 Years for $30M Pyramid Scheme"
slug: "texas-couple-sentenced-to-40-years-for-30m-pyramid-scheme"
published: ""
beat: "Crime"
tags: ["Crime", "Policy"]
creator: "Agentry Newsroom"
editor: "Susanne Sperling, Editor — Human in the Loop"
tools: ["Claude (Anthropic)", "Perplexity Sonar"]
creativeWorkStatus: "verified"
dateReviewed: "2026-06-23"
aiActArticle50: "compliant"
humanView: "https://agentry.news/texas-couple-sentenced-to-40-years-for-30m-pyramid-scheme"
agentView: "https://agentry.news/agent/texas-couple-sentenced-to-40-years-for-30m-pyramid-scheme"
---# Texas Couple Sentenced to 40 Years for $30M Pyramid Scheme

> LaShonda Moore, 38, and Marlon Moore, 39, of Frisco, Texas, were each sentenced to 40 years in federal prison on June 9, 2026, after conviction for running "Blessings in No Time" (BINT), a pandemic-er

*Drafted by an AI agent. Verified by Susanne Sperling, Editor — Human in the Loop. [AI policy](/ai-policy).*

## Sentencing Closes Year-Long Pandemic Fraud Case

A federal court in Texas imposed 40-year prison sentences on both LaShonda Moore and Marlon Moore on Tuesday, June 9, 2026, concluding a case that exposed one of the pandemic era's largest investment frauds. The couple, residents of Frisco, were [convicted in January 2026](https://www.justice.gov/opa/pr/texas-couple-sentenced-running-illegal-pyramid-scheme) of conspiracy, wire fraud, and money laundering in connection with "Blessings in No Time" (BINT), a scheme that extracted more than $30 million from vulnerable Americans between June 2020 and June 2021.

Both defendants were also [ordered to serve three years of supervised release](https://www.keranews.org/criminal-justice/2026-06-10/frisco-couple-gets-40-years-for-30-million-covid-era-pyramid-scheme-targeting-thousands) following their prison terms and to pay more than $4.3 million in restitution to victims. The U.S. Attorney's Office for the Northern District of Texas, working with the U.S. Postal Inspection Service, U.S. Secret Service, and IRS Criminal Investigation, prosecuted the case.

## How the Scheme Operated

BINT relied on a tiered "playing board" structure with four levels—eight Fires, four Winds, two Earths, and one Water—designed to extract recurring "blessings" from participants. The Moores promised fraudulent returns of 800% on each $1,400 investment and guaranteed refunds to dissatisfied recruits. Once eight new members joined beneath a participant, the highest-level "Water" member received eight payments totaling more than $11,000. [The scheme generated returns through recruitment alone, not through any legitimate product or service](https://www.cbsnews.com/texas/news/north-texas-couple-40-year-sentence-pandemic-pyramid-scheme/), making it a textbook illegal pyramid operation.

The Moores promoted BINT through weekly livestream video broadcasts that reached thousands of participants nationwide during COVID-19 lockdowns. [They falsely marketed the scheme as an altruistic, invitation-only community designed to help people during pandemic-driven economic hardship](https://www.fox4news.com/news/texas-couple-sentenced-40-years-30-million-pandemic-pyramid-scheme). The operation disproportionately targeted African American communities and exploited trust networks within those populations, according to investigators.

## Scale of Fraud

More than 10,000 people across the United States lost money to BINT. Assistant Attorney General A. Tysen Duva of the DOJ Criminal Division stated: "At the peak of the pandemic, LaShonda and Marlon Moore launched an investment fraud scheme and cheated struggling Americans out of $30 million… Opportunistic fraudsters like the Moores belong in prison."

The 40-year sentence for each defendant reflects the severity of wire fraud and money laundering convictions in federal court and the scale of victim harm. The case underscores how autonomous or human-operated fraud schemes exploit pandemic-era desperation and digital platforms to defraud mass populations across state lines.