Former Ross Commissioner James J. Zwick, 32, admitted to a a federal judge that he stole from his employer... but that's just the top of his dirty laundry list. In addition, he also told the judge that he defrauded a municipal authority and pocket donations to a fake political action committee and a basketball league.

All the while during the hearing, Zwick told the U.S. District Judge William L. Standish that a doctor is currently treating him for "compulsive gambling and depression".

Moreover, Zwick also pleaded guilty to four counts of mail fraud and two counts of bank fraud. He goes on trial today on four remaining charges of bribery in which the former commissioner is accused of soliciting and accepting bribes from developers and businesses.

Last November, a federal grand jury indicted Zwick on charges that he used his position as a public official to shake down developers, steal from his employer and defraud a municipal authority. More charges were filed against Zwick on January 20th.

Zwick admitted in the pocketing of $39,759 during his tenure a salesman for B.C. Communications Inc. on Babcock Boulevard in Ross. In 1996, Zwick sold a telephone system for installation at a Hampton Inn under construction on McKnight Road. On September 29th of that year, Zwick sent two bills showing that Zwick's own company, CSC Communications, not B.C. Communications, had sold the phone system for $44,875. He later received a check for that amount on September 30th, 1996 and cashed it soon after.

He also admitted that, from March 1995 to November 1995, he solicited nearly $13,000 in donations to a phony political action committee called the Democratic Party of Ross Ltd. and used the money for such personal expenses as his motgage and cable television bill. In addition, Zwick acknowledged forging the signature of Ross Commissioner Dan Kinross, an active member of the Ross Township Democratic Party, on a letter addressed to Mellon Bank. The letter authorized Zwick to open an account for the Democratic Party of Ross Ltd. and gave him the authority to endorse all checks.

Can it get any worse? In a word, yes. Zwick furter admitted that, from January 1995 to June 1997, he solicited $22,820 in donations to the Jim Zwick Summer Basketball League for adult men in the North Hills and used the money for his personal expenses. He also acknowledged defrauding the Lowries Run Joint Operating Committee, a municipal authority that oversees sewer lines in Ross and McCandless.

Furthermore, Zwick admitted forging the signature of Ross Commissioner Kim Weigand on a $4,595 check from Lowries Run Joint Sewer Fund that was payable to Buchart Horn Inc., an engineering firm hired by Ross. The former Ross Commissioner then opened an account at National City called the Buchart Horn account, deposited the check and wrote checks from it to cover personal expenses.

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