Philip Nordo
Philip Nordo was dismissed from the Philadelphia Police Department in 2017 and convicted in 2022 of crimes committed against witnesses and informants in homicide cases he investigated. His cases have produced several vacated convictions by Commonwealth agreement and a long line of Superior Court decisions holding that his misconduct in other cases does not restart the PCRA clock.
By John A. Julian, Esq. Updated October 1, 2026. Every statement is drawn from the court document cited beside it.
- PositionFormer detective, Philadelphia Police Department Homicide Unit
- Status of recordConvicted in 2022.
- Court record5 documented findings or disclosures; 9 PCRA-related decisions summarized below
What the courts have found or the Commonwealth has disclosed
According to the Superior Court, at the time of a September 2018 trial Nordo "had been dismissed from the Philadelphia Police Department for allegedly putting money in prison inmates' commissary accounts and improperly communicating with witnesses and defendants outside of his official duties." As the Superior Court recounted the Commonwealth's own description of the Powell hearing (the Powell material was not itself of record), the trial court in Commonwealth v. Powell, CP-51-CR-0006915-2015, dismissed all charges after evidence that Nordo made unauthorized visits and calls to incarcerated witnesses and deposited money into their prison accounts, had unauthorized contact with a judge, lied about prior relationships with witnesses, and took a statement from a person under the influence of narcotics in which he "suggested everything that ultimately was said."
Source: Commonwealth v. Thomas, No. 1034 EDA 2022 (Pa. Super. Sept. 11, 2023), quoting Commonwealth v. Thomas, No. 2898 EDA 2018 (Pa. Super. June 3, 2020)
The Commonwealth disclosed a grand jury report "that detailed Detective Nordo's coercive interrogation techniques, including threatening individuals with prosecution, intimidating individuals into signing false statements and giving people cash rewards for providing fabricated statements," and multiple indictments charging him with coercive sex crimes related to his interrogation of suspects and witnesses.
Source: Commonwealth v. Thomas, No. 1034 EDA 2022 (Pa. Super. Sept. 11, 2023)
On June 1, 2022, Nordo was found guilty of multiple counts of rape, sexual assault, stalking, and official oppression at CP-51-CR-0001856-2019. The evidence at his trial, as the Superior Court recounted the Commonwealth's description, established that he sexually assaulted male witnesses and informants in homicide cases he investigated and illegally procured crime reward money for one of the victims.
Source: Commonwealth v. Young, Nos. 3041, 3042, 3043 EDA 2022 (Pa. Super. June 27, 2025) (offenses and trial evidence); Commonwealth v. Feliciano, No. 3061 EDA 2023 (Pa. Super. Dec. 9, 2024) (date of verdict)
A March 6, 2018 news article reported that Nordo was on a list of officers the District Attorney's Office would not call as witnesses because of credibility issues. The PCRA court in Maven found that his termination was first publicized on August 23, 2017.
Source: Commonwealth v. Maven, No. 2125 EDA 2018 (Pa. Super. May 16, 2019)
The Superior Court has acknowledged that the Commonwealth "has vacated the judgment of sentence and conviction in other cases based on Detective Nordo's misconduct." A federal court, reciting the complaint in a civil suit, recorded that Corey Gibbs's 2013 first-degree murder convictions were vacated in December 2024 after the District Attorney's Conviction Integrity Unit determined he had raised meritorious claims of witness coercion and Brady violations, that Nordo and Detective Ronald Dove had been involved in his case, and that all charges were then dropped.
Source: Commonwealth v. Thomas, No. 1034 EDA 2022 (Pa. Super. Sept. 11, 2023); Gibbs v. City of Philadelphia, No. 25-2810 (E.D. Pa. Sept. 9, 2025)
PCRA cases involving Philip Nordo
Commonwealth v. Ronald Thomas
Relief. On direct appeal the Superior Court remanded for a hearing on newly discovered evidence of misconduct by Nordo and Detective Nathan Williams (who was arrested in November 2019 on charges of tampering with public records and evidence). On remand the Commonwealth agreed to a new trial based on its Brady violation in failing to disclose 2005 allegations against Nordo, and the trial court later found that Nordo's misconduct and conviction qualified as after-discovered evidence. The Superior Court affirmed the denial of Thomas's motion to bar retrial on double jeopardy grounds.
Timeliness. The court held the Powell allegations were in the public domain through the Powell transcripts and an April 2018 Inquirer article, and that the Commonwealth learned of Nordo's coercive tactics only with his 2019 indictment.
Commonwealth v. Isiah Mickeals
Denied as untimely, even though the District Attorney's Office agreed Mickeals was entitled to a new trial based on the cumulative effect of an undisclosed witness note and Nordo's misconduct. The DAO presented no evidence at the PCRA hearing, and the Attorney General appeared as amicus supporting affirmance.
Timeliness. Nordo's misconduct "was first made public in 2017 and again when he was arrested in 2019." Testimony at his 2022 trial was "at best, newly-uncovered information pertinent to previously known facts." Mickeals's own claim that Nordo coerced his 2014 confession contradicted his claim that he learned of Nordo's misconduct only in 2022.
Commonwealth v. Kareem Hogan
Denied without a hearing on a fifth petition. Every witness Nordo interviewed had recanted at the 2013 trial, and investigator interviews described Nordo using force, but the court held those witnesses were "a newly-willing source for the previously known fact of Detective Nordo's alleged misconduct."
Timeliness. Coercion was litigated at the 2013 trial; the Commonwealth turned over its file in December 2019 after Hogan had already filed.
Commonwealth v. Tariq Maven
Sixth petition dismissed as untimely.
Timeliness. The claim arose August 23, 2017, when Nordo's termination was first publicized. A petition filed May 21, 2018 was outside the 60-day window that applied to claims arising before December 24, 2017, and the March 6, 2018 "do not call" article did not restart the clock.
Commonwealth v. John Olmedo-Serrano
Second petition dismissed as untimely.
Timeliness. The petitioner's claim that Nordo assaulted and coerced him in 2007 was "personal and known to him when it occurred," so Nordo's later charges and conviction were not newly discovered facts as to him.
Commonwealth v. Angel Feliciano
Second petition dismissed; guilty plea allegedly coerced by Nordo and Pitts.
Timeliness. Nordo's June 1, 2022 conviction "stemmed from conduct unrelated to Appellant's case," and the petitioner had already raised Nordo's misconduct in an earlier, untimely petition.
Commonwealth v. Darryl Young
Timely first petition denied on the merits: Nordo was present but another detective took the statement, and the petitioner "fails to demonstrate any misconduct by Detective Nordo in the present case."
Timeliness. Not at issue; the petition was timely.
Commonwealth v. Charles Wheeler
Denied. No evidence Nordo interacted with the witness, and the Commonwealth had "no obligation under Brady to turn over evidence of misconduct committed by Nordo or Detective Singleton (or any other detectives) in cases wholly unrelated to Appellant's."
Timeliness. Not addressed.
Commonwealth v. Corey Gibbs
Relief. Convictions vacated in December 2024 after Conviction Integrity Unit review; charges dropped.
Timeliness. Not stated.
When the misconduct became public: the dates that control the deadline
Courts have anchored the clock at several points, and a petitioner should assume the earliest applies: August 23, 2017 (termination first publicized, Maven); March 6, 2018 ("do not call" list reported, Maven); April 2018 (Powell transcripts and Inquirer coverage in the public domain, Thomas); 2019 (indictment, Mickeals and Thomas); June 1, 2022 (conviction, which the panels in Mickeals, Feliciano, and Olmedo-Serrano treated as a new source for old facts rather than a new fact; the Thomas trial court, by contrast, treated the conviction as after-discovered evidence in a case that was not time-barred).
What this means for a petition. The Nordo cases divide cleanly. Where the Commonwealth or a court connected Nordo's conduct to the petitioner's own witnesses or confession, relief followed, usually by agreement. Where the petition rested on Nordo's conduct in other cases, or on facts the petitioner personally experienced years earlier, the Superior Court has denied it as untimely or as lacking a nexus. A viable Nordo petition identifies what he did in this case, documents when that became knowable, and files within a year of that date. A petition that simply attaches his 2022 conviction will fail.
Was this officer involved in a case you know? The first step is to determine whether the case has already been vacated and, if not, what date the courts will treat as the start of the one-year clock. Request a case review or call (215) 568-0607.
This page reports what courts have found, what parties have stipulated, and what the Commonwealth has disclosed, as stated in the cited opinions. Allegations are identified as allegations. It is general information, not legal advice, and is not a statement about any officer beyond what the cited documents say.