The ‘Bling Bishop’ Is Sentenced to 9 Years for Fleecing His Flock

Lamor Whitehead, the flamboyant Brooklyn preacher who was convicted of defrauding a parishioner’s mother and attempting to commit extortion, was sentenced to nine years in prison by a federal judge in Manhattan on Monday.

Mr. Whitehead, known as “the bling bishop,” was already in custody after Judge Lorna G. Schofield revoked his bail last month, admonishing him for making false statements about law enforcement officials and his victims on social media. Prosecutors have said that after his conviction in March, he had even tried to sell legal documents from his case online.

“I don’t see any remorse for your conduct,” the judge told Mr. Whitehead on Monday after he delivered a rambling monologue asking for her mercy. She added that he did not appear to appreciate the impact of his crimes — or the basic facts of the case.

Two of Mr. Whitehead’s victims, his former acolyte Rasheed Anderson and Mr. Anderson’s mother, Pauline Anderson, addressed the judge before she rendered her sentence.

Ms. Anderson, a nurse, broke down as she described how she had spent a lifetime working only to lose $90,000 from her retirement savings when she gave it to Mr. Whitehead to help her achieve her dream of buying a home.

“I lost everything I had worked for,” she said, adding later that the betrayal “broke my heart, my spirit and my soul.”