Lamor Whitehead was accused of using $90,000 of a parishioner’s retirement savings to buy luxury goods and attempting to extort a businessman for $500,000.
Mr. Whitehead, 45, a Brooklyn preacher known as the “bling bishop” for his flashy luxury possessions, was convicted in Manhattan federal court on Monday of defrauding a parishioner and attempting to extort a businessman while boasting about his ties to Mayor Eric Adams.
Mr. Whitehead was found guilty on five counts, including wire fraud, attempted extortion, and lying to the F.B.I. Prosecutors stated that he, who had a prior conviction for identity theft, had lied and threatened to force his victims to give him money while misrepresenting his relationship with the mayor.
“He was lying about the access, he was lying about the influence, he was lying about all of it,” said prosecutor Derek Wikstrom during his closing argument.
The government argued that Mr. Whitehead persuaded parishioner Pauline Anderson to invest about $90,000 of her retirement savings with him, which he subsequently spent on car payments and luxury goods from Louis Vuitton and Foot Locker. Other charges relate to his interactions with Brandon Belmonte, who was operating an auto body shop in the Bronx. Prosecutors claimed that Mr. Whitehead tried to force Mr. Belmonte to lend him $500,000 while promising access to Mayor Adams.
In the defense’s closing arguments, attorney Declan Murray likened the criminal trial to buying a house, arguing that the government’s case was riddled with “termites.” However, the jury, which reached its verdict in about three hours, was not swayed by the defense’s attempts to shift blame for Ms. Anderson’s loss onto her son, Rasheed Anderson, an active church member.
Ms. Anderson, 58, became emotional as she recounted her first meeting with Mr. Whitehead, during which she entrusted him with $90,000 of her retirement savings, believing he would help her buy a house. She stated that she was unable to secure a conventional loan due to low credit.
“He was a man of God,” she said. “I believed him as the leader of his church.”
However, when her promised home never materialized, she texted him for a refund, only to be rebuffed as he claimed to be busy. She subsequently sued him for the money in 2021, leading Mr. Whitehead to file a countersuit.
Rasheed Anderson testified that he first encountered Mr. Whitehead at a New Year’s service in early 2020, coming to view him as a spiritual father. Mr. Whitehead presided over his wedding, held in a New Jersey backyard that he helped Mr. Anderson purchase. Mr. Anderson said that Mr. Whitehead had encouraged his mother to co-sign a loan for that home, which she did.
The plan for Ms. Anderson’s investment, according to Mr. Anderson, was that Mr. Whitehead would buy and renovate an investment property and return it to her within a year, but they never settled on a suitable home.
Mr. Whitehead declined to comment after the verdict, but one of his lawyers, Dawn Florio, vowed to appeal.
Mr. Anderson expressed in a text message that the experience had been a “painful journey for my mother and me, and we owe it to God for bringing justice, peace, and closure.”
Mr. Whitehead was the only witness in his defense. Dressed in a pink plaid three-piece suit, he shared his life story, detailing his difficult upbringing in Brooklyn and the murder of his father, Arthur Miller, by police in 1978, which sparked protests. However, his daughter has questioned whether Mr. Whitehead is indeed her half-brother.
During his testimony, Mr. Whitehead claimed that an FBI agent had asked him to help them get the mayor of New York, but he refused to become an informant. In his closing argument, prosecutor Derek Wikstrom accused Mr. Whitehead of lying during his testimony.
Mr. Whitehead’s sentencing before Judge Lorna G. Schofield is set for July 1. He could face decades in prison.
Mr. Whitehead had considered Mayor Adams, 63, a former Brooklyn borough president, a mentor. He sought to follow in Adams’ footsteps by launching a bid to become Brooklyn borough president in 2021, but Adams did not endorse him and even admonished Mr. Whitehead for using his name in a “misleading” campaign ad, according to text messages presented during the trial.
Mr. Murray contended that Mr. Whitehead had only stated he could arrange a meeting with Mr. Adams “faster than most people,” a claim he argued was true. However, prosecutors also presented messages from Mr. Whitehead to Mr. Adams in early 2022 that went unanswered.
Mr. Whitehead’s year had been eventful; in May, he made headlines when he reportedly tried to negotiate the surrender of a man who had fatally shot a Goldman Sachs employee on a Q train.
