NEW YORK (AP) — Brooklyn preacher linked to New York City mayor Eric Adams is scheduled to go on trial Monday in Manhattan federal court on charges of looting a parishioner’s retirement savings and trying to extort a businessman to fuel his lavish lifestyle.
Lamor Miller-Whitehead, 47, a bishop who drives a Rolls Royce, faces the start of jury selection two years after a grand jury returned charges against him that include wire fraud, attempted wire fraud, attempted extortion and false statements to federal law enforcement officials.
Prosecutors say he looted a parishioner’s savings and deceived a businessman with false claims that they could leverage his connections with New York City officials, including Adams, to make millions of dollars. Miller-Whitehead pleaded not guilty.
Miller-Whitehead has been free on $500,000 bail since his arrest, which came just months after he was robbed when gunmen stole $1 million in jewelry after surprising him during a church service.
His attorney, Dawn Florio, said at the time that her client felt like he was being turned from a victim into a villain.
“Bishop Whitehead has pleaded not guilty and looks forward to having his day in court to fight these charges,” Florio said in a statement Friday.
In charging documents, prosecutors did not mention the friendship Miller-Whitehead developed with the city’s mayor while serving as Brooklyn borough president before his election to the city’s top job.
But a request for evidence by prosecutors suggests the mayor’s relationship with Miller-Whitehead could become a central focus of the trial. Prosecutors are seeking to require a New Yorker writer to testify about a January 2023 article titled “The Mayor and the Hustler.”
Attorney Rachel Strom, who represents New Yorker staff writer Eric Lach, argued in a letter to Judge Lorna G. Schofield that prosecutors were trying to “authenticate a generic, run-of-the-mill denial” Whitehead made about his dealings with the mayor once. time Adams learned he was the target of an investigation.
“The subpoena is highly invasive, would expose the journalist to cross-examination (potentially putting other confidential sources at risk) and would turn the journalist into an arm of law enforcement,” he wrote. The judge was expected to rule before opening arguments.
At a news conference last week, the mayor was asked about legal documents in the case that indicated prosecutors planned to show jurors evidence that Miller-Whitehead used Adams’ name to commit fraud and attempted extortion.
Adams responded that anyone reporting on it should “cite the documents that clearly stated they had no authorization and there was no connection to the actions of (the) mayor or borough president.”
Among pretrial evidentiary rulings, the judge agreed to exclude mention of Miller-Whitehead’s criminal conviction for identity theft and grand larceny, which resulted in a five-year prison sentence, although it could be mentioned if she decides to testify.
Miller-Whitehead became a religious figure when she formed Tomorrow’s Leaders International Ministries in 2013.
Although he preaches in Brooklyn, he owns a $1.6 million home in Paramus, New Jersey, and an apartment in Hartford, Connecticut.
Monday’s trial stems from charges alleging that he defrauded a parishioner out of $90,000 in retirement savings by falsely promising she would find her a home and invest the rest in his real estate business. Prosecutors say he instead spent the money on clothes and luxury items.
He is also accused of trying to convince a businessman to loan him $500,000 and give him a stake in real estate deals by claiming that his ties to city officials could lead to a deal favorable to the businessman’s interests.
The businessman, Brandon Belmonte, reported to federal authorities, who began a half-year investigation in 2022 that culminated in the arrest of Miller-Whitehead.
Some of the trial’s key evidence was expected to result from secret audio recordings made of conversations between Belmonte and Miller-Whitehead.