‘Bling Bishop’ Lamor Whitehead is sentenced to nine years in jail for fraud crimes after scamming nurse out of $90K retirement fund

Brooklyn’s “bling bishop” Lamor Whitehead will spend nine years behind bars for a litany of crimes, including defrauding and extorting his own parishioners.

The 46-year-old church leader was found guilty in March of five charges, including wire fraud, attempted extortion and lying to the FBI – stemming from three separate schemes.

Whitehead — who became infamous for the luxury suits he wore and the Rolls Royce he drove while leading the Leaders of Tomorrow International Ministries in Canarsie — has been in custody since Judge Lorna G. Schofield revoked his bail last month.

She warned him at the time about making false statements about law enforcement officers and his victims on social media, and attacked Whitehead again on Monday after he begged for her mercy. reports the New York Times.

“I don’t see any remorse for your behavior,” Schofield said, adding that he did not appear to realize the effects his crimes had on his victims — or even the basic facts of the case.

One of the crimes Whitehead was found guilty of was defrauding Pauline Anderson, an elderly single mother, of $90,000 from her pension fund.

He had promised to help her achieve her lifelong goal of buying a house, but prosecutors said he instead spent the money on shopping at Polo and Louis Vuitton and on payments for a BMW.

When the victim’s son eventually tried to get the money back from his mother, Whitehead said in a text message that he asked God to “take revenge” on the man.

Two other schemes targeted a money lending company and a Bronx businessman.

Prosecutors said Bishop prepared false bank statements to secure a $250,000 loan, claiming he had millions in a business account that actually contained less than $6.

He was also accused of attempting to extort $5,000 from Brandon Belmonte, the owner of a Bronx auto body shop, after a repair.

Prosecutors alleged that Whitehead further tried to convince Belmonte to loan him $500,000 and give him a stake in real estate transactions, insisting that his connections to city officials could get them favorable treatment and make them millions.

In one recording of a conversation between Whitehead and Belmonte – who carried a phone call to the FBI – the pastor could be heard telling the car body shop owner that he had “the key to the city” and that he could get favors from Mayor Eric Adams. – including obtaining permits to operate affordable housing or lifting work bans on construction sites.

Those claims were false, prosecutors argued.

They argued in a pre-sentencing memo that Whitehead was a “career fraudster and liar” who had committed fraud for more than two decades.

They alleged that he abused his position as a religious leader to rake in millions of dollars, noting that Whitehead tried to sell legal documents from his case after his conviction in March.

Prosecutors also pointed out that Whitehead was convicted of several identity theft charges in 2008 for a scheme in which he secured cars and motorcycles using the names of others. He served five years in prison for the crime.

“This defendant repeatedly committed serious crimes and repeatedly blamed them on everyone but himself,” prosecutors wrote in the pre-sentencing memo.

Pauline Anderson burst into tears in court on Monday as she described how she had worked all her life but lost her entire pension fund when she gave it to Whitehead.

“I lost everything I had worked for,” she said, adding that Whitehead’s betrayal “broke my heart, my mind and my soul.”

Her son, Rasheed Anderson, 30, who was once a Whitehead acolyte, also said his mother was a hard-working single parent from Jamaica who helped support many relatives – always putting herself last, the report said. Times.

“I was used and abused, and that’s why I have to watch my mother suffer under Lamor Whitehead’s deception,” he said.

But Whitehead’s lawyers argued that he should be “immediately released” after his supervised release.

His attorney Dawn Florio argued that he is a man of faith who has done charity work and even tried to enter public service as Brooklyn borough president.

She pointed to numerous letters from parishioners of the Leaders of Tomorrow International Ministries praising Whitehead, and argued that he may have PTSD from an assault that was caught on camera while he was giving a sermon two years ago.

Two men have since pleaded guilty to the robbery and will be sentenced in August, while a third man charged in the January robbery was killed in a shootout with US Marshals.

Meanwhile, Whitehead pleaded with the judge for a lighter sentence, highlighting his work in a poor Brooklyn community, according to the Times.

He named several police officers and elected officials he said he worked with on gun buybacks, youth programs and “untold turkey giveaways,” claiming, “I am a pillar of the community.”

“Your Honor, I am an honorable man and my children need me,” Whitehead said This is reported by the New York Post.

‘Let me be the poster child for a new opportunity.’

But Schofield disagreed, arguing he failed to take responsibility for his actions, and sentenced him to nine years in prison with three years of post-release supervision.

Outside court, Rasheed Anderson said he had hoped Schofield would impose a longer prison sentence, but added he hopes the conviction will lead to his mother getting her hard-earned money back.

“It has been a traumatic event for all of us,” he told the Times.

“This is our first step toward closure.”