Lamor Whitehead, a Brooklyn preacher often called the “bling bishop” for his flashy luxurious possessions, was convicted in Manhattan federal court docket on Monday of defrauding a parishioner and making an attempt to extort a businessman whereas boasting about his ties to Mayor Eric Adams.
Mr. Whitehead, 45, was pronounced responsible on 5 counts, together with wire fraud, tried extortion and mendacity to the F.B.I. Prosecutors mentioned that Mr. Whitehead, who had a earlier conviction for identification theft, had lied and threatened to drive his victims to provide him cash, and had misrepresented his relationship with the mayor.
“He was mendacity concerning the entry, he was mendacity concerning the affect, he was mendacity about all of it,” Derek Wikstrom, a prosecutor, mentioned in his closing argument.
The federal government mentioned that Mr. Whitehead had persuaded the parishioner, Pauline Anderson, to speculate about $90,000 of her retirement financial savings with him — and had then spent the cash on automotive funds and items from Louis Vuitton and Foot Locker. Different costs relate to his interactions with Brandon Belmonte, who was working an auto physique store within the Bronx. Mr. Whitehead tried to drive Mr. Belmonte to lend him $500,000, whereas promising entry to Mr. Adams, prosecutors mentioned.
Within the protection’s closing arguments, Declan Murray, considered one of Mr. Whitehead’s legal professionals, likened felony trials to purchasing a home. He charged that the federal government’s case — the home, on this analogy — was riddled with termites.
However the jury, which reached its verdict in about three hours, was not swayed by the protection try to position the blame for Ms. Anderson’s loss on her son, Rasheed Anderson, 30, an energetic member of the church.
Ms. Anderson, 58, had sobbed as she described how she first met Mr. Whitehead and got here to provide him $90,000 of her retirement financial savings and trusted him to purchase her a home. She mentioned she couldn’t get a traditional mortgage due to low credit score.
“He was a person of God,” she mentioned. “I believed him because the chief of his church.”
However when her new residence by no means materialized, she texted him asking for her a refund, and he berated her that he was busy. She sued him for the cash in 2021. Mr. Whitehead then filed a countersuit.
Rasheed Anderson testified that he first met Mr. Whitehead at a New Yr’s service in the beginning of 2020 and got here to see him as his non secular father. Mr. Whitehead presided over his wedding ceremony, held within the yard of a New Jersey residence he helped him buy, Mr. Anderson testified. He mentioned that Mr. Whitehead had inspired him to get his mom to co-sign a mortgage for that residence, which she did.
The plan for his mom’s personal funding, he mentioned, was that Mr. Whitehead was going to purchase an funding property, renovate it after which give it again to her inside a 12 months. However they by no means settled on an appropriate residence, he mentioned.
Mr. Whitehead declined to remark after the decision, which considered one of his legal professionals, Daybreak Florio, vowed to enchantment.
Mr. Anderson mentioned in a textual content message that the episode had been a “painful journey for my mom and I, and we owe it to God for bringing justice, peace and closure.”
Mr. Whitehead served as the one witness in his protection. Sporting a pink plaid three-piece go well with, he delved into his life story, saying he had grown up “on the tough facet of Brooklyn” and that his father, Arthur Miller, was killed when he was an toddler. Mr. Miller was killed by the police in Crown Heights in 1978, resulting in protests. However his daughter has questioned whether or not Mr. Whitehead is definitely her half brother.
He testified that throughout the investigation, an FBI agent instructed him, “We wish you to assist us get the mayor of New York,” however that he responded that he “wasn’t going to be an informant.”
In his closing argument, Mr. Wikstrom, the prosecutor, accused Mr. Whitehead of getting lied in his testimony.
Mr. Whitehead’s sentencing earlier than Decide Lorna G. Schofield is ready for July 1. He might face a long time in jail.
Mr. Whitehead had thought-about Mr. Adams, 63, a former Brooklyn borough president, a mentor. The youthful man sought to comply with in his footsteps, launching a bid to turn out to be Brooklyn borough president in 2021. However Mr. Adams wouldn’t endorse Mr. Whitehead — and even admonished him for utilizing his title in a “deceptive” marketing campaign advert, in keeping with textual content messages prosecutors confirmed throughout the trial.
Mr. Murray shot again that Mr. Whitehead had solely mentioned that he might get a gathering with Mr. Adams “sooner than most individuals” — and that assertion, he contended, was true. However prosecutors additionally confirmed messages from Mr. Whitehead to Mr. Adams in early 2022 that went unanswered.
That was an eventful 12 months for Mr. Whitehead. In Could, he was within the information when he reportedly tried to barter the give up of a person who had fatally shot a Goldman Sachs worker on a Q prepare.
In July, three masked gunmen robbed Mr. Whitehead and his spouse of costly jewellery throughout a service at his church, Leaders of Tomorrow Worldwide Ministries, which was above a Haitian restaurant in Canarsie, Brooklyn. The service was being livestreamed, and the video made information across the nation.
Then in December, he was arrested. The U.S. legal professional for the Southern District of New York mentioned on the time that the case was being investigated by the workplace’s public corruption unit.
A superseding indictment in 2023 added a cost stemming from a $250,000 mortgage that Mr. Whitehead took out for his enterprise, Anointing Administration Companies LLC. Prosecutors mentioned he had falsified financial institution paperwork for the applying, claiming the enterprise had $6 million in annual income. The indictment mentioned that Mr. Whitehead had additionally used falsified financial institution statements to buy his spacious residence in Paramus, N.J.
“The numbers had been made up,” Mr. Wikstrom mentioned.
Susan C. Beachy contributed analysis.
