A former Philly ward leader and ex-staffer for State Sen. Vincent Hughes pleaded guilty to stealing from the ward and a church

A former West Philadelphia ward leader and longtime staffer for State Sen. Vincent Hughes pleaded guilty Wednesday to stealing more than $140,000 over four years from the ward he used to lead and a church where he served as a deacon.

Willie Jordan pleaded guilty to two counts of wire fraud. His lawyer, Samuel Stretton, said Jordan “accepts full responsibility for his misconduct.”

Prosecutors said in court documents that Jordan, while serving as an unpaid leader of both the 44th Ward and his church — which Stretton said was the Mt. Calvary Baptist Church in North Philadelphia — routinely wrote checks to himself, often claiming the money was to reimburse expenses he never incurred.

In some instances, prosecutors said, Jordan wrote entries on the checks’ memo lines saying they were for items such as Easter baskets or summer youth programs when he was actually spending the money on himself.

And in one episode, prosecutors said, Jordan used $12,500 of the ward’s funds to pay for a funeral for one of his relatives.

Jordan left his 44th Ward post earlier this year, prosecutors said in court documents. Democratic City Committee chair Bob Brady said that he was unaware of the case against Jordan, and that Jordan had resigned several months ago but did not explain why.

Jordan also worked as a top aide to Hughes (D., Philadelphia), who said in a statement that he was “heartbroken and disappointed to learn about the charges that have been brought against Willie Jordan.”

While noting that the case did not appear to relate to work in Hughes’ office or the state Senate, Hughes said if the allegations are true, “it clearly is behavior that is unacceptable and cannot be tolerated.”

Jordan, who at one point had a state salary of more than $128,000, was not listed as a salaried employee on state payroll records that were released in June.

Stretton said Jordan had earlier resigned from the ward and retired from working for Hughes.

Prosecutors said in charging documents that Jordan, in addition to being a ward leader, had been an unpaid deacon and trustee for his church, where they said he had “almost total control” over its funds.

He had similar control over the finances of his ward, prosecutors said, and he was its elected leader from 1996 through April of this year.

Between 2020 and 2024, prosecutors said, Jordan improperly issued checks from both organizations to himself.

Prosecutors said he was spending the money to cover personal expenses such as credit card and utility bills, purchases from airlines and furniture stores, and, in 2023, a relative’s funeral.

In all, prosecutors said, Jordan stole more than $57,000 from the religious organization and an additional $85,000 from the ward.

Stretton said Jordan had “done a lot of good” in his life, “but he made some mistakes here, and he’s sorry.”

Staff writer Gillian McGoldrick contributed to this article.