PHILADELPHIA, PA — A longtime Philadelphia deacon and political ward leader was sentenced Wednesday to a year in federal prison for orchestrating two separate fraud schemes that siphoned nearly $143,000 from a religious organization and a political ward he controlled, prosecutors said.
U.S. Attorney David Metcalf announced that Willie Jordan, 68, of Upper Darby, received one year of imprisonment, one year of supervised release, and was ordered to pay $142,991 in restitution. He must also forfeit the same amount. Jordan pleaded guilty in July to two counts of wire fraud.
According to court filings, Jordan exploited his trusted roles for personal gain over four years. As a deacon and trustee for Religious Organization #1 in Philadelphia, he oversaw financial operations, including collecting and depositing donations and paying expenses. Though he drew no salary from the organization, he held broad financial authority.
Prosecutors said that from January 2020 through January 2024, Jordan wrote approximately 82 fraudulent checks to himself totaling roughly $57,384. He disguised the payments as reimbursements for expenses he falsely claimed to have incurred on behalf of the organization.
Jordan also abused his position as the elected leader of Political Organization #1, one of Philadelphia’s 66 wards, where he controlled the ward’s finances for decades. Prosecutors said that between January 2020 and January 2024, he opened two bank accounts in the ward’s name, made himself the sole signatory, and used debit cards tied to those accounts for personal spending.
Investigators found that Jordan used ward funds to pay for airline tickets, car-related purchases, furniture, groceries, utilities, cellphone bills, credit card balances — and more than $12,500 in funeral expenses for a family member in 2023. In total, he defrauded the ward of at least $85,607.
Prosecutors said none of the expenses benefited the religious or political organizations and were carried out without the knowledge or approval of members.
The case was investigated by the FBI and the Pennsylvania Office of Attorney General and prosecuted by Assistant U.S. Attorney Louis D. Lappen and Special Assistant U.S. Attorney James E. Price.
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