A reality-TV couple turned the language of the faith community into a $30 million pyramid scheme aimed at Black believers. Their 40-year sentences close the legal case and open a harder one for the church.

By EEW Magazine Online News Staff

LaShonda Moore and Marlon "DJ ASAP" Moore at the studios of The Breakfast Club radio show in a photo posted to social media in May 2020. Prosecutors said the couple leveraged media appearances to build credibility with potential recruits. (Photo: via DJ ASAP/Facebook)

Marlon and LaShonda Moore of Frisco, Texas, were each sentenced to 40 years in federal prison on June 9 for running a $30 million pandemic-era pyramid scheme that prosecutors said deliberately targeted the African American community.

U.S. District Judge Amos L. Mazzant III in Sherman, Texas, also ordered the couple to pay more than $4.3 million in restitution and to serve three years of supervised release after their prison terms, according to the Department of Justice.

Marlon Moore, known as DJ ASAP, and LaShonda Moore pose together in front of a PeopleTV backdrop — Marlon "DJ ASAP" Moore and LaShonda Moore in an undated photo. The Frisco, Texas couple was sentenced June 9 to 40 years each in federal prison for running the Blessings in No Time pyramid scheme. (Photo: via DJ ASAP/social media)

A federal jury convicted the Moores in January on conspiracy, wire fraud and money laundering charges tied to a program called "Blessings in No Time," or BINT.

Prosecutors said the scheme drew in more than 10,000 victims and caused more than $30 million in losses between June 2020 and June 2021. The Moores promoted it through weekly livestream broadcasts that reached thousands of viewers during pandemic shutdowns.

Marlon Moore, 39, was better known online as DJ ASAP. He and LaShonda Moore, 38, had appeared together on the Oprah Winfrey Network's "Family or Fiancé." Prosecutors said the couple used that fame to build trust with the people they then defrauded.

Marlon Moore, known as DJ ASAP, whispers to LaShonda Moore as they stand together in an elevator — Marlon "DJ ASAP" Moore and LaShonda Moore in a photo posted to social media in May 2020, weeks before the launch of their Blessings in No Time scheme. (Photo: via DJ ASAP/Facebook)

"The Moores used a polished image and a reality TV appearance to build trust, but behind the scenes, they orchestrated a deceptive pyramid scheme built on fake 'playing boards' and false promises of 800% returns," said Special Agent in Charge Christopher J. Altemus Jr. of IRS Criminal Investigation's Dallas Field Office. "This scheme deliberately targeted the African American community, exploiting cultural trust and community ties."

According to court documents, BINT was structured around so-called "playing boards" with four positions: eight Fires at the bottom, four Winds, two Earths, and one Water at the top.

New recruits paid $1,400 to enter as Fires and were promised an 800 percent return within weeks, plus a refund if they were unhappy. Once a board filled, each of the eight Fires paid at least $1,400 to the participant in the Water position, who collected more than $11,000.

Prosecutors said the Moores placed themselves and family members in Water positions across multiple boards and diverted additional payments to their own accounts.

LaShonda Moore stands outside a Louis Vuitton store window display on a New York City street — LaShonda Moore poses outside a Louis Vuitton storefront in New York City in an undated photo. Prosecutors said the couple used participant payments to fund a lavish lifestyle while more than 10,000 people absorbed losses. (Photo: via DJ ASAP/Facebook)

The scheme used the vocabulary of the sanctuary. Payments were called "blessings." Collecting a payout was getting "blessed out." Recruits were told they were joining what early members described in court filings as a "Godly, All-Black, socially conscious gifting community."

The Federal Trade Commission's 2021 complaint against the Moores distinguished BINT from the sou-sou, the rotating savings circle long practiced in Black communities, in which members receive back only what they pay in.

In BINT, every payout at the Water position required eight new recruits at the bottom, a structure prosecutors said would inevitably collapse and leave most participants in losses.

LaShonda Moore and Marlon Moore pose with two young girls in white gowns on their wedding day at an elegant venue with floor-to-ceiling windows and floral arrangements — LaShonda and Marlon "DJ ASAP" Moore on their wedding day, Aug. 9, 2019, at Knotting Hill Place in Little Elm, Texas, with LaShonda Moore's two daughters. The couple was sentenced to 40 years each in federal prison on June 9, 2026. (Photo: IcedUp Photography, Jeremy Plemel Photography, and Stephon Latham Photography)

BINT's membership rules barred participants from posting negative comments about the program in any forum, on penalty of losing their membership and any claim to a refund. Texas Attorney General Ken Paxton's 2021 lawsuit argued that this gag provision was central to the scheme's survival. By January 2021, prosecutors said, the couple was privately admitting on a Zoom call that the refund account was empty.

The livestreams continued.

Texas secured a $10.76 million civil judgment and a permanent injunction against the Moores in 2023. The FTC and the state of Arkansas reached a separate settlement that banned the Moores from multi-level marketing. Federal charges followed in November 2023.

The Moores initially agreed to plea deals, but those agreements were withdrawn after the court found they had violated pretrial release conditions. A jury convicted them on all counts in January 2026.

"At the peak of the pandemic, LaShonda and Marlon Moore launched an investment fraud scheme and cheated struggling Americans out of $30 million," said Assistant Attorney General A. Tysen Duva of the Justice Department's Criminal Division. "This fraud scheme exploited people out of their hard-earned money at a time when they needed it most."

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