Pastor
Lamor Whitehead Didn't Pay Lawyer So He's
Out, Lead Counsel Says Extension Needed
By Matthew
Russell Lee, Patreon Maxwell
Book
SDNY COURTHOUSE,
May 4 - In the U.S.
District Court for the
Southern District of New York
on the morning of December 19,
2022 the talk was of flashy
pastor Lamor Whitehead, set to
be presented in the afternoon.
Inner City Press
was present, the only media in
the Mag Court in the morning
for three procedings. Related
Mag Court live-tweeted
thread (more on Patreon
here)
vlog here
In
EDNY earlier in the year,
Inner City Press reported on
Whitehead appearing in the Mag
Court there for two defendants
who robbed him of expensive
watched as he preached.
Then Whitehead
was indicted for defrauding a
parishioner. Indictment on
Inner City Press'
DocumentCloud here.
On March 8, 2023
the US Attorney's Office
unveiled a superseding
indictment adding a fifth
count of wire fraud concerning
a $250,000 loan to "Anointing
Management Services LLC" and
mispresentations to lenders,
by wires across state lines.
On March 17, back
in the SDNY Magistrates Court
where Inner City Press is
often the only media, even
only civilian, Whitehead was
arraigned and pled not guilty:
"Minute Entry for proceedings
held before Magistrate Judge
Katharine H. Parker:
Arraignment as to Lamor
Whitehead (1) Count
1s,2s,3s,4s,5s held on
3/17/2023."
On April 28,
Whitehead's lawyer Brian L.
Ponder filed an affidavit
seeking to withdraw, saying
Whitehead "recently failed to
pay my attorney's fees... and
will not pay me on a forward
going basis."
On May 1, Judge
Schofield accepted Ponder's
withdrawal: "Having considered
the Motion for Brian L.
Ponder, Esq. to withdraw as
attorney of record in the
above-captioned Action, and
for good cause shown, the
Motion for withdrawal of Brian
L. Ponder, Esq. as attorney of
record is GRANTED. (Signed by
Judge Lorna G. Schofield on
5/1/2023)."
On May 4,
Whitehead's remaining counsel,
just off a trial in The Bronx
no May 3, wrote it to ask for
an extension, explaining that
she "had not been given any
reason to assume that Attorney
Ponder, who has his own
practice, was not capable of
completing the motions." Watch
this site.
On January 17,
2023, Whitehead's
counsel filed a motion
complaining about the US
Attorney's statements, and
quotes by "government agent"
Brandon Belmonte in a New
Yorker article (Inner City
Press tweeted about the
article as soon as it came
out, here
- the article also quoted
Tekashi #6ix9ine whose
cooperator's sentencing Inner
City Press covered).
On January 20,
Judge Schofield denied
a(nother) Whitehead motion:
"Defendant's application is
DENIED. Defendant has provided
no authority for the
proposition that he is
entitled to a list of victims
and witnesses before being
required to comply with this
condition of bail, nor any
reason why he has unique
difficulty in identifying
victims and witnesses of the
alleged crimes. The Government
in substance has provided the
identity of victims by
confirming that Defendant
currently is engaged in civil
litigation against the only
two victims listed in the
Indictment. Defendant should
contact Pre-trial Services in
the first instance should he
have difficulty complying with
any bail condition. (Signed by
Judge Lorna G. Schofield on
1/20/2023)." Watch this site.
At the
presentment, Inner City Press
was there
Magistrate Judge
Gorenstein describes wire
fraud and threat of force to
obtain money from a Bronx
business; also lie about not
having a 2d cell phone. US
agrees to $500,000 unsecured
bond, a week for 2 signatures.
Jersey travel allowed.
Asst US Attorney:
He is to be released today on
his own signature. Defense: He
has never had a passport.
Afterward,
Whitehead and his counsel
waited on Worth Street
apparently for a car while
photographers snapped photos
and asked questions; finally
they went into a parking
garage and emerged in
different cars.
On December 22,
Judge Schofield set the
schedule, with a next
proceeding: "Defendant's
motion(s), if any, shall be
filed by March 15, 2023. The
Government's response, if any,
shall be filed by March 29,
2023. Defendant's reply, if
any, shall be filed by April
5, 2023. The parties shall
appear for a status conference
on April 11, 2023, at 10:30
a.m. (Signed by Judge Lorna G.
Schofield on 12/22/2022)."
On December 23,
Whitehead's lawyer Brian L.
Ponder filed a notice of
Whitehead's "Request to Be
Tried Within the Time Frame of
the Speedy Trial Act."
On December 27,
Ponder filed again, this time
a letter asking the
prosecutors, "Does the
government intend to serve a
FRCrP 12/1 Notice of an Alibi
Defense for any counts?"
On February 22,
2023, Judge Schofield denied a
number of Whitehead's motions:
"ORDER as to Lamor Whitehead.
WHEREAS, on January 17, 18, 19
and 20, 2023, Defendant Lamor
Whitehead filed the following
four motions, respectively:
(1) an "emergency" motion for
a special order pursuant to
Local Criminal Rule 23.1(h),
(2) a motion to identify
witnesses with juvenile
adjudications and pending
juvenile proceedings and to
inspect juvenile files, (3) a
motion for notice by the
Government pursuant to Federal
Rule of Criminal Procedure 12
of its intention to use
specific evidence arguably
subject to suppression and (4)
a motion for pretrial
production of evidence
admissible to attack the
credibility of Brandon
Belmonte; WHEREAS, pursuant to
the Order dated January 20,
2023, the Government filed a
response in opposition to each
of the above motions on
February 3, 2023; WHEREAS,
Defendant did not file a reply
before the deadline of
February 10, 2023. It is
hereby ORDERED that
Defendant's motions are
resolved as follows: 1.
Defendant's January 17, 2023,
motion for a special order
pursuant to Local Criminal
Rule 23.1 is DENIED. Local
Criminal Rule 23.1(a)
prohibits lawyers as well as
"government agents" from
"release[ing] or authoriz[ing]
the release of non-public
information or opinion" to the
public, "in connection with
pending or imminent criminal
litigation with which they are
associated, if there is a
substantial likelihood that
such dissemination will
interfere with a fair trial or
otherwise prejudice the due
administration of justice."
Rule 23.1(h) provides that
courts may issue "special
order[s] governing such
matters as extrajudicial
statements by parties and
witnesses likely to interfere
with the rights of the
accused." Rule 23.1(h)
requires that, in doing so, a
court "shall consider whether
such an order will be
necessary to ensure an
impartial jury and must find
that other, less extreme
available remedies, singly or
collectively, are not feasible
or would not effectively
mitigate the pretrial
publicity and bring about a
fair trial." Defendant seeks
relief based on statements
made in a press release
announcing his arrest by U.S.
Attorney Damian Williams and
FBI Assistant Director Michael
J. Driscoll, and by a private
individual named Brandon
Belmonte. None of the relief
Defendant seeks is necessary
to prevent any of those
individuals' past or future
statements from infringing
Defendant's right to a fair
trial as explained below......
2. Defendant's January 18,
2023, motion to identify
witnesses with
juvenileadjudications and
pending juvenile proceedings
and to inspect juvenile files
is DENIED..... 3. Defendant's
January 19, 2023, motion for
notice by the Government
pursuant to Federal Rule of
Criminal Procedure 12 of its
intention to use specific
evidence arguably subject to
suppression is DENIED... 4.
Defendant's January 20, 2023,
motion for pretrial production
of evidence admissible to
attack the credibility of
Brandon Belmonte is DENIED as
moot based on the Government's
representation that it does
not intend to call Belmonte as
a witness or offer any of his
statements for the truth of
the matter asserted....
(Signed by Judge Lorna G.
Schofield on 2/22/2023)."
We'll have more on this.
The case is US v.
Whitehead, 22-cr-692
(Schofield)
***
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