Brooklyn pastor sentenced to prison for financial fraud

A U.S. district judge on Monday sentenced a 45-year-old Brooklyn pastor to nine years in prison for white-collar crimes. In March, a jury found Lamor Whitehead guilty of wire fraud, attempted wire fraud, attempted extortion and making false statements to law enforcement officers. In addition to his prison sentence, Whitehead must also serve three years of supervised release, pay $85,000 in restitution and forfeit $95,000.

What did Whitehead do? Whitehead asked one of his parishioners to send him $90,000 from his retirement savings so he could help him buy a home, the U.S. Attorney's Office for the Southern District of New York said in a statement . Instead, Whitehead spent the money on luxury goods and other personal expenses. He attempted to defraud a businessman out of $500,000, falsified bank statements and submitted fraudulent loan applications. Whitehead also lied to FBI agents during a search outside his mansion by saying he only had one cell phone when he had two.

Who is he? Known as “the bling bishop,” Whitehead made headlines when thieves stole more than $1 million in jewelry from her in 2022, the Associated Press reported. The robbers interrupted Whitehead and held him at gunpoint while he delivered a live-streamed sermon. Whitehead also served five years in prison for a 2008 conviction on identity theft and theft charges.

Dig Deeper: Read Juliana Chan Erikson's report on a religious scam that cost the life of a World War II veteran.