Sentence

A New York church chief, nicknamed by the media “the bling-bling bishop” due to his flashy model and high fashion fits, was sentenced to 9 years in jail on Monday for fraud aimed toward his personal parishioners.

Lamor Whitehead, the founder and chief of the Church of the Leaders of Tomorrow Worldwide Ministries, got here to prominence in July 2022 when he and his spouse have been robbed of over $1 million price of bijou throughout a sermon broadcast dwell on the web.

This 45-year-old non secular chief says he’s near New York Mayor Eric Adams, businessmen and artists from a hip-hop perspective.

On the finish of his trial in March, a jury discovered him responsible of wire fraud, tried wire fraud, tried extortion and mendacity to federal brokers. On Monday, a New York courtroom sentenced him to 9 years in jail.

Lamor Whitehead will even should pay $85,000 in restitution to victims and pay a $95,000 advantageous, in addition to spend a further three years on supervised launch when he’s launched from jail.

An incentive to take a position $90,000 of your retirement financial savings

In line with the prosecutors, he particularly inspired one among his parishioners to take a position roughly $90,000 of her retirement financial savings, making certain that this quantity was for the acquisition of a home. However he used to purchase numerous luxurious gadgets and keep his way of life.

This isn’t the primary time Lamor Whitehead has been in hassle with the regulation. In 2008, earlier than he based his church, he was convicted of a number of fees, together with identification theft, for which he spent 5 years behind bars, in line with American media.