Philadelphia man admits to drug trafficking-related activity in Whitpain

NORRISTOWN — A Philadelphia man is awaiting sentencing on drug trafficking charges after he was found possessing packets of fentanyl in Whitpain Township as police investigated reports he tried to pass a bad check at a local bank.

Michael Leon Nixon, 64, who listed addresses along Woolston Avenue and West Chew Avenue in Philadelphia, pleaded guilty in Montgomery County Court to charges of possession with intent to deliver heroin/fentanyl and forgery in connection with an August 2022 incident in Whitpain.

Judge Thomas M. DelRicci deferred sentencing so that court officials can complete a background investigation report about Nixon, who will undergo drug, alcohol and mental health evaluations.

Nixon, who remains free on bail pending sentencing later this year, faces up to five years in prison on the charges.

An investigation began about 11:52 am Aug. 5, 2022, when Whitpain police responded to the Citizens Bank branch located inside the Giant Food Store in the 1700 block of DeKalb Pike in the Blue Bell section of the township for a report of Nixon trying to pass a counterfeit check for $1,850 issued by a Delaware business, according to court documents.

Bank employees contacted officials of the Delaware business who advised that the check was fraudulent because that account had been closed due to fraudulent activity.

Bank employees told police Nixon also was observed to be holding a small white bag.

“The bag was seized by police during the arrest. “A search incident to arrest yielded numerous bags of suspected heroin inside the small white bag,” Whitpain Police Officer Joseph Howard Sullivan IV alleged in the arrest affidavit, adding police also searched Nixon's person. “Numerous bags of suspected heroin were located on his person in his front pants pocket inside a clear baggie.”

By pleading guilty to the forgery charge, Nixon admitted that with the intent to facilitate a fraud he altered in writing the name of another entity without their permission.

Other charges of attempted theft, bad checks and possession of drug paraphernalia are slated to be dismissed against Nixon at time of sentencing.

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