Lamor Miller Whitehead At first glance,
Lamor Miller Whitehead gave off the vibe of a successful New Yorker.
In 2005, he purchased a home in Teaneck that cost nearly half a million dollars.
He was always decked out in the latest fashions and was often spotted in a luxurious
mink coat. While driving around in his Land Rover SUV, he displayed all the trappings of wealth.
In reality, authorities determined that his money didn't come from his music industry connections
as he claimed, but through a joint criminal enterprise that included stealing the identities
of multiple victims and making extravagant purchases with the ill-gotten cash and credit.
Investigators had been trailing him since a suspected accomplice was arrested in 2004,
and police finally caught up with him in 2006.
By that time, prosecutors said Whitehead had stolen at least $2 million through the scam,
and he faced several charges related to identity theft. While searching his Teaneck home,
police recovered a stolen firearm—a cherry on top of the fraud charges.
Whitehead used the stolen identities to open lines of credit in his victims' names. But
authorities wouldn't understand the true scope of the scam until they concluded the investigation.
Whitehead was convicted and sent to prison, though he emerged years later with a new
persona and claimed to be a man of God. In addition to launching a church of sorts,
he threw his hat in the ring as a candidate for Brooklyn borough president. Along the way,
he made some powerful friends and allies, including New York City Mayor Eric Adams.
Meanwhile, he maintained that he was innocent of all the charges that led to his incarceration.
As a political candidate, Whitehead emphasized his commitment to restoring
the right to vote for individuals with a felony conviction on their criminal records.
In 2021, he praised then-Gov. Andrew Cuomo for signing a bill that would do precisely that. He
also used the opportunity to proclaim his belief that he was wrongfully convicted years earlier.
Skeptics His victims
and critics were skeptical that Whitehead had authentically turned his life around. Still,
many others were drawn in by his promises and flowery language when he launched
Leaders of Tomorrow International Churches with campuses across the Big Apple.
The organization's website portrays him as "radical, revolutionary, innovative, anointed,
and cutting edge" and describes some of the challenges he has faced throughout
his life. As an infant, the site explains, Whitehead was left without a father when local
politician Arthur Miller was killed by a group of police officers. That experience reportedly
contributed to Whitehead's commitment to activism and political involvement.
As for his stint in prison, the church website insists that Whitehead "was illegally convicted
and sentenced to 11 and 1/3rd to 34 years in prison," which was one of the most challenging
periods in his life. After serving six years behind bars, he was released and, according to
the site, used the experience to launch a program designed to keep troubled youth from venturing
down the wrong path. In 2014, Whitehead became an ordained pastor. Two years later, he was named
a bishop and used that title when running for borough president and in other public settings.
His church's honorable intentions didn't do much
to reform his image among those who still saw him as an ex-con.
Mayor Eric Adams Former New York police officer
Eric Adams was elected Mayor in 2021 and quickly began implementing changes that he believed would
make New York a safer and more prosperous city. Before running for this office, Adams had served
as Brooklyn borough president and a state senator, making a few local connections along the way.
According to Whitehead, the two men became close, and in a series of social media posts ahead of
the election, he urged his followers to cast a ballot for Adams. He frequently referred to the
Mayor as a "mentor and friend" and celebrated Adams' win in the Democratic primary race.
At the time, Whitehead wrote that Adams had taught him a lot.
He believed Adams was the best man for the Mayor's job.
Several photos of the two men posing together have been posted prominently
on Whitehead's social media profiles. In 2016, Adams corroborated Whitehead's
claims in a statement that signaled a close connection between the two men.
Specifically, Adams cited similarities in their respective backgrounds and said
that Whitehead deserves the same "support and guidance" he received as a young man.
Adams was arrested at 15 years old,
and because people embraced him when he was arrested, he wanted to help Whitehead.
Andrew Abdullah Whitehead has become
a somewhat prominent figure in New York, but it's not just because of his criminal
past and close ties to the Mayor. In May 2022, the city was rocked by news of a
fatal subway shooting aboard the Q train in Manhattan. Andrew Abdullah was later
arrested and charged with counts, including the death of passenger Daniel Enriquez.
The suspect turned himself into authorities at a location near the
offices of the Manhattan Legal Aid Society. Despite the violent nature of the crime,
Abdullah was taken into custody without any resistance or complication. On cue,
Whitehead was prepared to take credit for the peaceful surrender. As for whether
or not he played a pivotal role in the process seems to depend on who you ask.
Whitehead Justice As Whitehead asserted
at the time, he planned to use his connections to the suspect and
Adams as a way to facilitate a peaceful surrender. According to the plan,
Whitehead and Abdullah were supposed to walk into a local police precinct together. There,
the Mayor would ensure the suspect was booked into custody. In the end, however, the drop-off point
was changed, and Abdullah's family went with him to turn himself in instead of Whitehead.
The ex-con-turned-pastor explained that Abdullah had been a member of his church
and said that concerned relatives reached out to him following the unprovoked subway shooting.
According to Whitehead, Abdullah's aunt and mother reached out to him, asking for his advice.
He went on to note that he became close with Abdullah's family after the death of a young
relative and wanted to do whatever he could to help everyone involved following the incident on
the Q train. According to his public statement, his first piece of advice to Abdullah's aunt was
to encourage the suspect to surrender. He stressed the importance of securing legal representation
for the accused and establishing an agreement with detectives to allow him to turn himself in.
From there, Whitehead said he phoned his buddy – the Mayor – to advise him of the
latest developments. Adams allegedly agreed with the terms of the surrender
and offered to help facilitate a smooth encounter between police and Abdullah.
Whitehead promised Abdullah that Mayor Adams would meet the family at the 5th Precinct.
However, a short time later, the bishop received several phone
calls from law enforcement officials and detectives who had heard about the plan.
Eventually, Abdullah's family decided to take him to an attorney's office
instead of the Precinct. Despite the change of plans, Whitehead said he continued to
support the family and did what he could to ensure a peaceful surrender.
He waited with the aunt and the grandmother, and when he went to greet his mother, Abdullah got
out of the car, and the marshals took him in. Whitehead described the arrest as a "bum rush."
The Legal Aid Society seemed to back up Whitehead's story of the police officers'
response. They said that before Andrew Abdullah could voluntarily surrender himself to the local
Precinct, he was needlessly ambushed out front of the Manhattan trial office by city marshals,
and denied of his opportunity to first consult with counsel.
Although the incident didn't play out as Whitehead envisioned,
he said Adams praised his efforts and declared that the intervention "protected our city."
Abdullah's defense attorney, on the other hand, offered a different account of events.
Kristin Bruan asserted that Whitehead had no affiliation with the family
or legal team, calling his claims of involvement in the process "untrue."
The Mayor's office didn't do much to clarify things. It offered only a vague statement
via spokesperson Fabian Levy, who said there's a violent man off the street.
New Yorkers should thank the NYPD for apprehending this dangerous individual.
In the end, it's unclear whether Whitehead was involved in orchestrating the surrender. We can't
say how much he really helped the situation if he was. Some people might choose to believe the words
of a pastor. Still, given his complicated past and the contradictory account of Abdullah's attorney,
it's clear that Whitehead isn't as credible as he wants his fellow New Yorkers to believe.
Criticism Like other
controversial pastors, Whitehead attracted public criticism after Abdullah's surrender
when he showed up in a Rolls-Royce and was spotted wearing a high-end luxury
jacket. Although he dismissed the backlash by insisting he was reacting to an emergency
situation and had been engaged in personal business that required his dressy look.
Nevertheless, it was just the latest example of bad optics in light of a six-figure judgment
against him that was handed down more than a decade earlier while he was still behind bars.
In 2009, a court determined that Whitehead owed
$261,000 to a symphony conductor named Maximo Bragado-Darman to repay an outstanding loan.
Brian Etta, who had been a volunteer for Adams' 2007 campaign to become borough president,
also sued Whitehead for allegedly stealing nearly $20,000 during the sale of a home.
Although Etta eventually dropped the suit because Whitehead was already in prison by
that time, he expressed concern over the swindler's apparent connection to Adams.
He didn't think Adams would keep a guy like Whitehead in
his inner circle. It just didn't make sense.
The recent display of wealth wasn't the first time the bishop turned heads
with his lavish spending after his release from prison. News outlets reported in 2016
that Whitehead could be seen driving around the city in a pair of luxury vehicles – a Maserati and
a Bentley – even as he still owed hundreds of thousands of dollars to the conductor.
His involvement in Leaders of Tomorrow International Churches has also led to criticism,
and his feeble attempts to explain himself have only created more questions. When one reporter
asked about the questionable attempt to register as a non-profit organization, Whitehead dismissed
the entire line of questioning and shot back, asking why the reporter wanted to know that.
He initially portrayed the organization as a non-profit group aimed at helping
young people. Then, prosecutors sent him a stern letter instructing him to stop
misrepresenting specific facts about the organization and its supporters.
So, Whitehead restructured the entire plan, and Leaders of Tomorrow International Churches
began operating as a for-profit entity. Because its website prominently features
a donation button, there seems to be no doubt that the bishop is still
trying to make as much money as possible from this supposedly holy venture.
With his questionable past and an outstanding debt against him, it's no wonder that Whitehead isn't
eager to entertain any suspicion that he's still scamming victims to support his life of luxury.
Borough President After repeatedly calling
Adams a mentor, it might make sense that he’s following in the Mayor's footsteps
by launching his own bid to become Brooklyn borough president. In addition to supporting
causes that would help rehabilitate formerly incarcerated New Yorkers,
his campaign emphasized programs to provide equal access to education.
He wants to use the position to bring needed resources to
underserved communities, believing ZIP codes shouldn't determine one's education and future.
Although he received some support based on his connections and ability
to campaign effectively in various neighborhoods throughout Brooklyn,
his controversial past likely doomed his effort from the start.
Whitehead lost the race, and former City Councilman Antonio Reynoso took over as
borough president. Despite his best efforts to portray himself as an activist and man of God,
it seems that he simply can't shake his image as a con man and crook.
Robbed And even though he
claims to be a Bishop, Whitehead isn’t immune to the crime wave that’s happening in 2022!
He claimed that he and his wife were robbed of more than a million dollars in
jewelry while he was preaching at church on Sunday, July 24th 2022.
He was actually livestreaming from inside his church when it happened,
and video shows at least one person pointing a gun at Whitehead
and interrupting his sermon. Whitehead claims that they took off his bishop's ring,
his wedding band, and his bishop chain. AND he also had chains underneath his robe.
According to Whitehead, the thief started tapping his neck to check if he had on anything else.
To Whitehead, that meant that they knew who he was and they had been watching him,
and Whitehead definitely wants justice!
One big step to not getting robbed is to stop flexing on instagram!
Click to watch one of these next videos!
And let us know in the comment section what you’d rather do,
donate $100 bucks to Bishop Lamor Whitehead’s church or be actually scammed out of $50 bucks?