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<p>WILKES-BARRE &#8212; Former Newport Township manager Richard Zika admitted Tuesday to theft and was ordered to pay back $160,000 he pilfered from the township over an eight-year span.</p><p>The 72-year-old <a href="https://www.timesleader.com/news/local/530636/newport-township-left-without-township-manager" target="_blank">resigned last April</a> after township commissioners confronted him about several checks he&#8217;d endorsed to himself from the refuse and recycling accounts between 2008 and 2016 that totalled more than $159,00, according to the affidavit.</p><p>&#8220;Justice was served,&#8221; township Commissioner John Zyla said Tuesday. &#8220;Now the township can move forward on a positive note.&#8221;</p><p>Fellow Commissioner Paul Czapracki said Zika&#8217;s plea negated what could have turned into a lengthy court battle.</p><p>Zika, who served as manager for 12 years, told the commissioners he had &#8220;some financial problems at home,&#8221; and resigned on the spot, the affidavit says. His attorney shed some light on a possible motive Tuesday.</p><p>&#8220;Very serious medical conditions played a role in his behavior. He was hospitalized on multiple occasions with life-threatening illnesses,&#8221; Paul Philip Ackourey said, declining to provide further details.</p><p>&#8220;We&#8217;ll get into that at sentencing,&#8221; he said.</p><p>Zika, Ackourey said, accepted responsibility for his actions and was determined to pay back the stolen funds.</p><p>Judge David W. Lupas ordered Zika, of Hanover Township, to repay approximately $160,000, including the immediate payment of $59,100 to the township and $55,800 to the township&#8217;s insurance company. The remaining restitution will be repaid to the township through the county&#8217;s probation and parole department, the judge ordered.</p><p>In exchange for Zika&#8217;s plea to a single count of theft, prosecutors withdrew receiving stolen property, forgery, fraud, record tampering and additional theft charges. Prosecutors agreed to reduce the grading of the theft charge from a felony of the second-degree to a felony of the third-degree.</p><p>Prosecutors said they were pleased with the agreement because it produced a conviction and allowed the township to recoup the stolen funds.</p><p>&#8220;What&#8217;s going to happen is, ultimately, Newport Township is going to be made whole,&#8221; while Zika &#8220;is going to be a convicted felon,&#8221; prosecutor Gregory S. Skibitsky Jr. said after the hearing.</p><p>Zika will be allowed to apply for the county&#8217;s Intermediate Punishment Program, a period of house arrest and probation. Ackourey noted Zika has no prior criminal record.</p><p>Zika will remain free on bail pending sentencing June 5.</p><p><ins>For other local crime stories, <a href="https://www.timesleader.com/crime" target="_blank">click here</a></ins></p><style>
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<div class="neCaption">Zika </div></div><div class="metaInfo"><photo0>https://www.timesleader.com/wp-content/uploads/2017/04/web1_Zika-4.jpg</photo0><caption0>Zika </caption0><photoCredit0></photoCredit0></div></div>
<div class="metaInfo"><subheadMeta>Township commissioner: &#8216;Justice was served&#8217;</subheadMeta></div><div class="metaInfo"><bylineMeta><p>By Joe Dolinsky</p><p>jdolinsky@www.timesleader.com</p></bylineMeta></div><div class="metaInfo"><shirttailMeta><p>Reach Joe Dolinsky at 570-991-6110 or on Twitter @JoeDolinskyTL</p></shirttailMeta></div>

Ex-Newport Township manager pleads guilty in $160K theft case