Lamor Whitehead, the pastor of a Brooklyn church, was sentenced to nine years in prison after a federal jury found him guilty of multiple fraud charges. In 2022, he appeared at the Billionaires Row & Dingers Squad VIP event in Huntington, New York
Jared Siskin/Getty Images Jane Owen Public Relations
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Jared Siskin/Getty Images Jane Owen Public Relations
Lamor Whitehead, the flamboyant pastor who made headlines when he was robbed during a livestreamed church service in Brooklyn in 2022 and then became the target of criminal charges himself, is now Has been sentenced to nine years in federal prison.
U.S. District Judge Lorna G. Schofield imposed the penalty on Whitehead on Monday after he was convicted of multiple counts of fraud and attempted extortion and lying to the FBI. Prosecutors have painted the 45-year-old church leader as a con man who stole money from his followers and demanded money in exchange for what he claimed was influence over New York Mayor Eric Adams.
U.S. Attorney Damian Williams said: “Lamor Whitehead was a con man who stole millions of dollars through a series of financial frauds, even from one of his own businesses. Money was stolen from a parishioner.
The pastor’s attorney, Dawn Florio, said in a statement to NPR that while “we are deeply saddened by this outcome,” Whitehead maintains his innocence of.
“We will explore all available legal avenues to ensure that justice is served,” Florio said, adding that “we will begin the appeals process immediately.”
Whitehead found guilty of cheating on single mom
A jury found Whitehead guilty of all five crimes in March. During the two-week trial, prosecutors described how Whitehead withdrew $90,000 from a nurse, a single mother in her 50s who attended his church, in a money-making scheme and promised The money can be used both as an investment and as a service. But according to court records, the pastor spent the money on himself.
“I lost everything I fought for,” church member Pauline Anderson said in a victim impact statement.
Anderson said she had to pay more than $40,000 in legal fees while she fought Whitehead in civil court. Because she made early withdrawals from her retirement fund, her tax bill also increased.
“It is indescribable the pain of having to repay the money that the defendant personally spent and I have nothing left,” Anderson said.
By contrast, Whitehead lives in a six-bedroom house in Paramus, New Jersey, which attracted the top bid of more than $1.9 million at a recent foreclosure auction. The pastor’s assets also include a two-apartment building in Hartford, Connecticut, according to court documents.
Whitehead was scheduled to be sentenced in early July, but on May 20, a judge revoked his bail and postponed the hearing until this week, after a letter to the court said the pastor appeared on social media ‘False accusations against prosecutors’ The Anderson family and the FBI claimed his conviction was a set-up, court documents show.
Priest known for jewelry and upscale lifestyle
In 2022, Whitehead was involved in three high-profile incidents and became the subject of intense scrutiny.
In May of the same year, during the shooting of Daniel Enriquez, a Goldman Sachs employee in the New York City subway, the pastor brokered a man’s surrender. Whitehead stood out for his swaggering appearance – stepping out of a Rolls Royce in a Fendi jacket at the Legal Aid Office – and his alleged friendship with New York Mayor Eric Adams.
Two months later, three gunmen entered Whitehead’s Leadership Church of Tomorrow International Ministries in Brooklyn’s Canarsie neighborhood and “took more than $1 million worth of jewelry from him and his wife,” the NYPD told NPR ”.
Whitehead, who was live-streaming a service at the time of the robbery, posted a video online describing what happened.
But in late 2022, prosecutors filed federal charges against Whitehead, accusing him of fraud and saying he tried to use his influence at City Hall under Mayor Adams to blackmail a Bronx business owner into giving him a large sum of money. A sum of money in exchange for this pastor. When FBI agents spoke with Whitehead, he falsely claimed he only had a cellphone, the indictment said.
His church website says Whitehead is active in business and ministry, owning mortgage and real estate companies.
But prosecutors said Whitehead illegally sought to use his real estate holdings to submit fraudulent loan applications to five banks, seeking millions of dollars. They said he subsequently “failed to repay the loan he defrauded the bank into granting”.
In addition to prison time, Whitehead was ordered to pay $85,000 in restitution and forfeit $95,000.
