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   From: yourdime@outlook.com   
      
   A flashy, jewelry-wearing Brooklyn pastor was convicted Monday in federal   
   court of using a parishioner’s retirement savings and trying to extort a   
   businessman while touting he had connections to the New York City mayor.   
      
   Lamor Whitehead, nicknamed the “Bling Bishop,” is a pastor at the Leaders   
   of Tomorrow International Ministries. He was found guilty of five counts,   
   including wire fraud, attempted extortion and making false statements to   
   the FBI. The convictions are from three separate schemes.   
      
   Whitehead, known for his Louis Vuitton suits and extravagant jewelry, also   
   made headlines in 2022 after he said he and his wife were robbed of $1   
   million worth of jewelry at their church.   
      
   “As a unanimous jury found, Lamor Whitehead abused the trust placed in him   
   by a parishioner, tried to obtain a fraudulent loan using fake bank   
   records, bullied a businessman for $5,000, tried to defraud him out of far   
   more than that, and lied to federal agents,” US Attorney for the Southern   
   District of New York Damian Williams said in a news release.   
      
   “Whitehead’s reprehensible lies and criminal conduct have caught up with   
   him, as he now stands convicted of five federal crimes and faces time in   
   prison,” Williams said.   
      
   Prosecutors said that Whitehead defrauded one of his parishioners by   
   convincing her to invest $90,000 of her retirement savings with him,   
   according to the indictment. The document said Whitehead would help her   
   buy a home and invest the money, but he used it on luxury goods and   
   personal expenses instead.   
      
   Whitehead also extorted a businessman for $5,000 and then attempted to   
   convince the man to loan him $500,000 and grant him a stake in real estate   
   transactions in exchange for obtaining “favorable connections by the New   
   York City government” that he knew he could not provide, according to the   
   indictment.   
      
   Whitehead used his ties to New York City Mayor Eric Adams to try to make   
   the deal, the district attorney’s office said in a news release.   
      
   “As the U.S. Attorney’s office said when they brought this case, the   
   defendant ‘knew he could not obtain’ favors from city government. With   
   this ruling, that was proven right,” Charles Kretchmer Lutvak, a   
   spokesperson for the mayor’s office told CNN Tuesday.   
      
   Whitehead also made false statements by telling FBI agents he only had one   
   phone, when he actually had two, according to the indictment.   
      
   Each count carries a maximum sentence of 20 years, except for the false   
   statements count, which is a maximum sentence of 5 years, according to the   
   district attorney’s office.   
      
   Dawn Florio, one of Whitehead’s attorneys, said they plan to appeal the   
   verdict. His sentencing is scheduled for July 1, she added.   
      
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