A Brooklyn preacher with ties to New York City Mayor Eric Adams went on trial Monday in Manhattan federal court over charges that he looted a parishioner’s retirement savings and tried to extort a businessman to fuel his lavish lifestyle.
Lamor Miller-Whitehead, 47, a Rolls Royce-driving bishop, was in court as a jury was being chosen two years after a grand jury lodged charges against him including wire fraud, attempted wire fraud, attempted extortion and making false statements to federal law enforcement officials.
Wearing a dark navy blue suit and a navy blue button down, the so-called "Bling Bishop" listened intently as government prosecutor Jessica Greenwood delivered opening statements in the federal case.
“This is a case about a con man who told lie after lie to victim after victim. He committed crime after crime to make money,” said Greenwood. "He was a friend to the mayor (Adams) and the defendant abused that trust. He lied about how much money he had and his influence...The defendant has expensive tastes, designer clothes and a massive mansion. He’d lie, cheat and steal to keep up with that appearance of wealth."
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Prosecutors say he plundered a parishioner’s savings, promising to invest $90,000 for a house for the mother of that parishioner. Instead, prosecutors said he spent that money on Louis Vuitton and a BMW along with thousands of dollars at Foot Locker and Grub Hub. They went on to claim that he tried to extort $5,000 from a Bronx auto body shop owner whom he allegedly told the Mayor will do “whatever I need. That he (Whitehead) had the key to the city."
Greenwood noted the defendant has never gotten any official favors from the mayor.
He also allegedly duped a businessman with false claims that they could leverage his connections to New York City officials, including Adams, to make millions of dollars. In addition, Greenwood told the jury that Whitehead produced fraudulent bank statement showing he had millions in a bank account — when in fact “he had less than $6.00.”
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Miller-Whitehead has pleaded not guilty.
Miller-Whitehead has been free on $500,000 bail since his arrest, which came only months after he was the victim of a robbery when $1 million in jewelry was stolen from him by gunmen who surprised him during a church service.
His lawyer, Dawn Florio, said at the time that her client felt as if he were being turned from a victim into a villain. She told this is not an open and shut case, adding that Whitehead is “fighting these charges like Rocky Balboa and Apollo Creed."
She told the jury the $5,000 request from the Bronx body shop owner was just a request for repayment for the cost of a rental car.
The first witness called to the stand was Brad Thornton, a financial advisor who began testifying about a loan application made by Whitehead for his business, Anointing Management Service LLC. On the application, Whitehead stated the average bank balance was $1 million and the annual revenue was projected to be $6 million.
In charging documents, prosecutors made no mention of the friendship that Miller-Whitehead developed with the city's mayor while he served as Brooklyn's borough president before his election to the city's top job. But an evidentiary request from prosecutors suggests the mayor's relationship with Miller-Whitehead might become a focal point at the trial. Prosecutors are seeking to require a writer for The New Yorker to testify about a January 2023 article titled, “The Mayor and the Con Man.”
Attorney Rachel Strom, who represents New Yorker staff writer Eric Lach, argued in a letter to Judge Lorna G. Schofield that prosecutors were trying to “authenticate a generic, run-of-the-mill denial” that Whitehead made about his dealings with the mayor once Adams knew he was the target of an investigation.
“The Subpoena is highly invasive, would expose the journalist to cross-examination (potentially putting other confidential sources at risk), and make the journalist effectively an arm of law enforcement,” she wrote. The judge was expected to rule before opening statements.
At a news conference last week, the mayor was asked about legal filings in the case indicating prosecutors planned to show jurors evidence that Miller-Whitehead used the name of Adams to commit fraud and attempted extortion.
Adams responded that anyone reporting about it should “quote the documents that stated that clearly he did not have authorization and there was no connectivity to the actions of (the) mayor or borough president.”
Among pretrial evidentiary rulings, the judge has agreed to exclude mention of Miller-Whitehead's criminal conviction for identity theft and grand larceny, which resulted in a five-year prison stint, although it could be brought up if he decides to testify.
Miller-Whitehead became a religious figure when he formed the Leaders of Tomorrow International Ministries in 2013.
Although he preaches in Brooklyn, he owns a $1.6 million home in Paramus, New Jersey, and an apartment in Hartford, Connecticut.
The 12-member jury and two alternates are made up of nine women and five men. Testimony continues Tuesday at 10 a.m.
Monday's trial stems from charges alleging he bilked a parishioner out of $90,000 in retirement savings by falsely promising he would find her a home and invest the rest in his real estate business. Prosecutors say he instead spent the money on luxury goods and clothing.
He also is charged with trying to convince a businessman to lend him $500,000 and give him a stake in real estate deals by claiming his ties to city officials could earn favorable treatment for the businessman's interests.
The businessman, Brandon Belmonte, complained to federal authorities, who initiated a half-year probe in 2022 that culminated in Miller-Whitehead's arrest.
Some of the key evidence at the trial was expected to result from secret audio recordings made of conversations between Belmonte and Miller-Whitehead.
