Brooklyn pastor Lamor Whitehead will “fight the charges like Rocky Balboa” during his trial on charges of wire fraud, extortion and other crimes, the flamboyant preacher’s lawyer said in opening statements Monday.
In federal court in Manhattan, Whitehead, 44, wearing an unusually subdued navy suit, defense attorney Dawn Florio told jurors that the government “has met its burden of proof” in bringing the pastor to court. “I haven’t accomplished it,” I heard him say.
“Beware of the lack of evidence,” said Florio, himself wearing a bright white suit, long eyelashes and dramatic makeup.
Funding for the pastor’s lavish lifestyle and clothing came from “other sources of income,” she said.
Whitehead, who is known for wearing flashy jewelry, bold eyewear and flashy suits in court and church, declined to comment as he left the courthouse on Monday, but told The Post When asked if he wore designer clothes, he laughed.
He is accused of falsifying bank records in an attempt to secure a loan to fund a $1.3 million mansion in New Jersey, defrauding Parish’s elderly mother of $90,000 to blow off luxury goods, and his friendship with the mayor. He has been charged with numerous crimes, including using the Eric Adams extorted cash in exchange for “favorable acts” in real estate transactions.
In their opening statement, prosecutors called Whitehead “a con man who lied to one victim after another.”
Prosecutor Jessica Greenwood claimed that church leaders claimed to be “friends of New York City’s mayor” when in reality they “abused the trust” of parishioners to fund a “lavish lifestyle”. Stated.
“[Whitehead] Mr. Greenwood lied, cheated, and stole to maintain an appearance of wealth,” the statement said. “He used lies and threats to extort money from his victims, and when his lies were discovered, he lied to the FBI. I got it,” he added.
The first charges against Whitehead were filed in 2022. Greenwood said he lied to federal agents about the number of cellphones he owned during a search after his arrest.
He is accused of defrauding two people, including Pauline Anderson, the mother of parishioner Rasheed Anderson. Whitehead allegedly told her that he would buy her a new home and fix it up if she gave him $90,000.
Instead, prosecutors said, he burned cash to pay for Louis Vuitton, Foot Locker, Grubhub and BMW.
Mr. Florio completely denied these charges, saying that the prosecutor’s facts were incorrect.
“Rashid Anderson was the one who promised my mother he would buy her a house,” she said.
The other charges stem from a 2018 scheme to fraudulently loan a Paramus mansion $250,000, when the preacher actually had only $6 in the safe of an LLC he owned. He is accused of falsifying documents to make it seem like there were millions of dollars.
Whitehead is also accused of accepting thousands of dollars from a Bronx chiropractic shop owner in exchange for promises of “official favors” from Mayor Adams, and Whitehead said, “What I want is… He will do anything.”
Mr. Whitehead’s eccentric style and antics have long attracted attention in the Big Apple, but in 2022 his congregation in Brooklyn, leaders of Canarsie’s Tomorrow’s International Ministries, was livestreamed. He made headlines after he was robbed at gunpoint while preaching.
The robbers made off with millions of dollars in jewelry during the heist, but one of them pleaded guilty in November as Mr. Whitehead watched.
He is known for preaching the “prosperity gospel” at his church, and calls on his followers to “sow seeds” by donating money to the church.
