(PatriotPostNews.com) – A preacher from New York City who has been linked to the city’s mayor recently appeared in court on charges related to fraud he used to fund personal expenses.
Lamor Miller-Whitehead, a bishop from Brooklyn, New York, was due in court on Monday, February 26, for a trial related to his alleged engagement in fraud. The 47-year-old preacher is under investigation for robbing a parishioner’s savings and attempting to procure money from a businessman—all of which he allegedly planned to use to support his notoriously wealthy lifestyle.
The recently begun jury selection process comes two years after Miller-Whitehead was charged by a grand jury with wire fraud, attempted extortion, and providing false statements to law enforcement officials within the federal government. His trial will be heard in a federal court in Manhattan.
According to prosecutors in the case, Miller-Whitehead used retirement savings from a parishioner and lied to a businessman to receive their money, falsely telling them that he could use his connections to city officials—including Democratic Mayor Eric Adams—to turn a million-dollar profit. The accused bishop has entered a plea of not guilty.
The preacher was arrested months after he himself was robbed during a religious service, at which time thieves armed with guns took jewelry worth $1 million. He has been out on bail of $500,000 following his arrest.
Although the longstanding friendship between Miller-Whitehead and Adams was not mentioned in the charging documents, prosecutors later began seeking a source from The New Yorker to testify in the trial about an article published about the relationship between the two men.
Prosecutors have also indicated that they will provide evidence to the jury that points to Miller-Whitehead’s use of Adams’ name to conduct his fraud and extortion plot. Additionally, the judge hearing the case has already agreed not to discuss the bishop’s past criminal convictions in evidentiary rulings before the trial.
Prior to his lavish life as a preacher, Miller-Whitehead spent five years in prison for identity theft as well as grand larceny.
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