Background
Tashena Lavera Crump was convicted by a jury of wire fraud and conspiracy to commit mail fraud for her role in a nationwide scheme to defraud individuals through deceptive magazine subscription sales. The scheme involved telemarketers contacting existing subscribers and falsely representing that they were renewing or reducing the cost of current subscriptions, when in fact they were signing victims up for new subscriptions. Crump, who served as a telemarketer and later as general manager for the company Readers Club Home Office, oversaw operations, managed lead lists, and coordinated with other companies to share fraudulent customer data. She was aware of consumer complaints, state investigations, and the deceptive nature of the scripts but continued to manage the operation.
The court’s reasoning
The Eighth Circuit applied de novo review to the sufficiency of the evidence and abuse of discretion review to the jury instructions and discovery rulings. The court concluded that the jury could reasonably infer a scheme to defraud because the scripts were designed to actively conceal the company’s true identity and mislead customers. The court found sufficient evidence of Crump’s knowledge and intent based on her management role, her exchange of lead lists described as ‘fire’ or ‘good stuff’ with other conspirators, and her awareness of regulatory investigations and consumer complaints. Regarding jury instructions, the court held that the district court’s definition of materiality was consistent with Eighth Circuit precedent and Supreme Court guidance. Finally, the court affirmed the denial of discovery motions, finding the government had no duty to preserve emails it did not possess and that any incomplete production of seized devices did not result in prejudice warranting dismissal.
The jury could reasonably infer that because Crump oversaw the RCHO telemarketers and was once a RCHO telemarketer, she was aware of the misleading script.
United States v. Crump, 24-3453 (8th Cir. 2026)
What it means going forward
The decision reinforces that implied representations and active concealment in telemarketing can satisfy the elements of federal wire and mail fraud, even without explicit lies, and limits the scope of discovery remedies when the government lacks possession of specific evidence.