United States v. Marshall G. Peters and Linda Peters

Overview

Marshall and Linda Peters appeal from the ruling of the United States District Court for the Central District of California. Marshall Peters appeals from his sentence following convictions for ten counts of mail fraud, 18 U.S.C. § 1341 , and one count of using a fictitious name to carry out a scheme to defraud, 18 U.S.C. § 1342 . Linda Peters appeals from her convictions of five counts of mail fraud, and from her sentence resulting from those convictions. The Peters were indicted and tried before a jury together. Their appeals are consolidated before this court.

Facts

In 1987, Marshall Peters contrived a scheme to defraud members of the public by soliciting funds for “pre-approved” credit cards from individuals having poor credit histories. In early 1988, Marshall Peters and his wife, Linda Peters, began doing business under the fictitious business name of “Credit America.”

The Peters operated Credit America from their home. To facilitate the scheme, Credit America purchased a mailing list from a mailing list brokerage firm. The list was called “Credit Problem Names” and gave the names and addresses of approximately 40,000 individuals having credit difficulties.…