BUFFALO, NY – A former U.S. Marine and Army veteran was sentenced to 20 years in federal prison Tuesday for kidnapping and executing a man he suspected of cooperating with law enforcement in a 2014 case that took investigators seven years to solve.
Anthony Neubauer, 39, received the sentence after pleading guilty to aiding and abetting a kidnapping in the death of Joseph Anthony, according to the U.S. Attorney’s Office. The victim’s body remained hidden for years until Neubauer’s co-defendant revealed its location to authorities.
Prosecutors said Neubauer and Matthew Rudy, 43, lured Anthony to Rudy’s Pennsylvania property in May 2014 under the pretense of a cocaine transaction. During the drive, Neubauer held a gun to the back of Anthony’s seat, court documents show.
Once at the property, the men forced Anthony up a hill where Neubauer shot him in the back of the head and torso, according to the government’s sentencing memorandum. Neubauer’s girlfriend later told the FBI that he “walked right over the body” before he and Rudy buried the remains.
The FBI conducted three unsuccessful searches of the Pennsylvania property over seven years. Anthony’s body was only recovered after Rudy disclosed its location to authorities. Rudy was sentenced to five years in prison last year.
U.S. Attorney Michael DiGiacomo said the defendants believed Anthony was cooperating with a law enforcement investigation. “Anthony Neubauer and his co-defendant went to great lengths to silence a person they believed was cooperating in a law enforcement investigation, including kidnapping, crossing state lines, murder and disposing of a body,” DiGiacomo said in a statement.
Defense attorney Eric M. Soehnlein wrote in court filings that Neubauer struggled academically and dropped out of high school after 11th grade. Following the September 11 attacks, he enlisted in the U.S. Marines, where colleagues nicknamed him “Captain America.” He completed multiple overseas deployments, including combat tours in Iraq.
Neubauer later joined the Army as a ranger and saw additional combat before being discharged due to injuries in 2014. Upon returning to civilian life in upstate New York, he began associating with Rudy and developed severe substance abuse problems while suffering from post-traumatic stress disorder, his attorney said. Court documents indicate he consumed up to 30 beers daily and worked as muscle for drug dealers to intimidate debtors.
In the years following Anthony’s disappearance, Neubauer’s addiction worsened to the point where he was “actively using cocaine in front of the federal agents” investigating the case, according to his lawyer. In 2019, he was paralyzed from the waist down in a bar shooting that nearly killed him.
U.S. District Judge Elizabeth A. Wolford called the situation “tragic” during Tuesday’s sentencing hearing, according to the Buffalo News. While Neubauer’s defense team requested a 10-year sentence, Wolford said that was inappropriate despite recognizing his military service. “It’s also tragic that Mr. Neubauer is here,” she reportedly said. “But you can’t intentionally kill somebody and expect to get a [lesser] sentence.”
