A New York judge on Monday (June 17) sentenced Bishop Larmore Whitehead to nine years in prison, plus three years of supervised release. The so-called “Bling Bishop” was ordered to pay $85,000 in restitution and forfeit $95,000.
Whitehead was convicted in March of wire fraud, attempted wire fraud, attempted extortion and making false statements to federal law enforcement officers. Prosecutors sought a 12-year sentence.
“I don’t think you have any remorse for your actions,” Judge Lorna Schofield told Whitehead as she handed down the sentence.
Whitehead, a controversial preacher with ties to New York City Mayor Eric Adams, defrauded a parishioner and blackmailed a businessman. The “glitzy bishop” convinced a woman to give him $90,000 by promising to help her buy a house. Instead, he spent the money on luxury goods and personal expenses. He extorted $5,000 from a businessman and attempted to defraud the same man of $500,000 by selling his relationship with Adams.
“As the U.S. Attorney’s Office stated when this case was filed, the defendant ‘knew he had no access’ to the city’s help,” a spokesman for the mayor’s office told CNN in March. “and [his conviction]it turns out that this is correct.
Whitehead first gained notoriety as the victim of a July 2022 church robbery.
“Lamore Whitehead was a con man who stole millions of dollars through a series of financial frauds, even from one of his own parishioners,” Manhattan U.S. Attorney Damian Williams said in a statement. He lied to federal agents and again to the court at trial. Today’s sentencing brings an end to Whitehead’s various schemes and exemplifies the office’s commitment to holding accountable those who abuse their positions of trust.
AllHipHop’s Chuck Creekmur spoke with Whitehead months before his arrest. Check out the interview below.
