Steve Zwillinger resigned March 2nd as president of the American Philatelic Research Library, according to Linn’s Stamp News. The APRL’s board of trustees will hold a telephone conference meeting on March 12th to elect a new president. The bylaws require that a replacement be chosen from among the current board members.

“I resigned due to pressing family issues that require my attention,” Zwillinger told The Virtual Stamp Club in e-mail. “The Library needs a President who can devote the time and attention that the position requires.”

Zwillinger, who works for the U.S. Department of Education, was elected to the board of trustees last spring, and then chosen as president by a unanimous vote of the board in August, just seven months ago. He previously served as secretary and director-at-large on the American Philatelic Society board of directors.

Update:

In a March 12th phone conference, the APRL board chose Ken Grant, a trustee and former APRL president, to replace Zwillinger, as reported by Foster Miller below. This photo of Grant, a retired college English professor, was taken in 2005.

Updated March 27th:

The April 2018 issue of American Philatelist reports that Zwillinger has been suspended because he has been “charged with a crime, pending outcome of a criminal trial.”

Updated May 29th:

The five felony charges against Zwillinger from February — one count of sexual abuse of a minor; two counts of rape in the second degree; and two counts of sexual offense in the third degree — have been dropped, but two more felony charges were filed on April 20th: assault in the second degree, and sexual assault in the fourth degree.

A local attorney talks about “fourth degree sexual offense” here. (Keep in mind this is unlikely to be an attorney involved in this case and with direct knowledge of the Zwillinger case.)

Updated August 12th:

Following his guilty plea to a reduced charge, a source tells The Virtual Stamp Club that Zwillinger was expelled from the American Philatelic Society.

According to Foster E. Miller III in The Stamp Collecting Forum on July 20, “as the result of [a] plea bargain, on July 18, defendant Zwillinger pled guilty to one count of ‘a sexual offense in the third degree.’ Sentencing is scheduled for October 9.” Click here for an explanation of what that is, as defined on USLegal.com, which says that someone convicted of a sexual offense in the third degree faces up to 10 years in prison.

The APS Bylaws, Section 3.11.5, give the Board of Vice Presidents the discretion to put on probation, suspend or expel any member convicted of a felony. Zwillinger has the right to appeal to the Appeals Tribunal, which consists of all members of the Board other than the three vice presidents, plus the executive director.

Zwillinger, 63, is married with 7 or 8 children. He works or worked for the U.S. Department of Education in Washington, and lives in Silver Spring, Md.

Updated October 21st:
According to reports in The Stamp Collecting FOrum, Zwillinger was sentenced to an 18-month suspended sentence, except for two days. Since he has already served two days in jail at the time of his arrest, there is no additional jail time.