'Bling Bishop’ Lamor Whitehead Gets 9 Years In Prison For Fraud Crimes

NEW YORK CITY — Lamor Whitehead, the “Bling Bishop” from Canarsie, was sentenced to 9 years in prison by a federal judge Monday.

Whitehead, a pastor at Leaders of Tomorrow International Ministries, scammed a woman out of her life savings, attempted to extort a Bronx body shop owner and made false statements to the FBI, prosecutors said.

Whitehead has been ordered to pay $85,000 in restitution and forfeit $95,000, prosecutors said.

Whitehead had been in jail since May 20 after a judge determined one of his crimes required him to be put behind bars ahead of his sentencing.

Federal prosecutors last week argued Whitehead should serve a minimum of 12.5 years in prison for his crimes, according to a recent court filing.

"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," U.S. Attorney Damian Williams said in a statement. "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.”

Pauline Anderson was scammed by Whitehead to invest her retirement money in a house that she thought he would buy and renovate for her, according to prosecutors. The Brooklyn pastor proceeded to take $90,000 from her and spend it on luxury clothing and a BMW.

In the case of the Bronx body shop, Whitehead tried to get half a million dollars from the owner and in return he promised favors from Mayor Eric Adams, prosecutors said.

In addition, Whitehead violated a restraining order in an April 30 livestreamed service where he used a Bible psalm to intimidate Anderson, prosecutors argued in court filings. The pastor also flashed confidential case documents during the livestream.