NYC's ‘Bling Bishop’ Lamor Whitehead sentenced to 9 years in prison for multiple scams
NEW YORK — Lamor Whitehead, the politically connected Brooklyn pastor and self-described mentee of Mayor Adams dubbed the “Bling Bishop” for his flamboyant, big-spending lifestyle, was sentenced to nine years in prison Monday for swindling a parishioner’s mother out of her life savings and other scams.
Manhattan federal court Judge Lorna Schofield handed down the term after hearing from financially destroyed victims and Whitehead himself, who namedropped a laundry list of city and state officials he’d dealt with, including the mayor, state Attorney General Letitia James, Brooklyn District Attorney Eric Gonzalez, his predecessor, the late Ken Thompson, NYPD Chief of Department Jeffrey Maddrey and others, none of whom were in attendance.
“I don’t see any remorse for your conduct,” Judge Schofield said, describing the evidence as “frankly overwhelming.”
A jury in March found the pastor from Leaders of Tomorrow International Ministries in Canarsie guilty of five counts, including wire fraud, attempted extortion, lying to the FBI, and related charges connected to three separate schemes that saw him bilk tens of thousands of dollars from unsuspecting victims.
At trial, prosecutors said he abused the trust of his loyal churchgoers in the small Brooklyn community and dangled his ties to the mayor to reap new money-making opportunities.
“Lamor Whitehead is a con man who stole millions of dollars in a string of financial frauds and even stole from one of his own parishioners. He lied to federal agents, and again to the Court at his trial. Today’s sentence puts an end to Whitehead’s various schemes and reflects this Office’s commitment to bring accountability to those who abuse their positions of trust,” Manhattan U.S. Attorney Damian Williams said in a statement.
Adams was not accused of wrongdoing in the case.
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