U.S. Attorney Trini E. Ross has announced that Anthony Neubauer, 38, pleaded guilty before U.S. District Judge Elizabeth A. Wolford to aiding and abetting kidnapping. The charge carries a maximum penalty of 20 years in prison. Neubauer had originally been charged with kidnapping resulting in death, a charge that could have resulted in life in prison and which stems from the Federal Kidnapping Act passed following the kidnapping of Charles Lindbergh’s 20-month-old baby in March 1932.

Assistant U.S. Attorneys Michael J. Adler and Timothy C. Lynch, who are handling the case, stated that on May 27, 2014, Neubauer and Matthew Rudy kidnapped Joseph Anthony and then traveled from Jamestown to Rudy’s property in Pennsylvania.

Anthony was tricked into traveling to Pennsylvania by an offer of cocaine. Neubauer and Rudy took Anthony to Pennsylvania because they believed he was a cooperator. After arriving in Pennsylvania, Neubauer and Rudy told Anthony they did not have any cocaine, before shooting and killing him, and then burying him on Rudy’s property.

Matthew Rudy was previously convicted and is awaiting sentencing.

Anthony Neubauer

Anthony had last been seen May 27, 2014, at the Dash Inn on 700 block of East Second Street in Jamestown. Then 43 years old, Anthony reportedly left all his belongings at his Broadhead Avenue residence. Numerous searches for the city resident were conducted following his disappearance.

In late June 2015, the FBI executed a federal search warrant in Chandlers Valley, located south of Sugar Grove. Law enforcement from New York and Pennsylvania also descended on Warren County. Federal agents became involved in the case due to the investigation potentially crossing state lines, Jamestown police said at the time.

Neubauer made news in November 2019 after he suffered serious injuries in a shooting at an East Second Street tavern. His family later pressured police and the Chautauqua County District Attorney’s Office to file charges against a person reported to have been the shooter.

Harry Snellings, former Jamestown police chief, addressed the shooting during a 2020 news conference, saying an altercation took place between two people in a hallway leading into the bar when two shots were fired. Neubauer was struck twice, taken to UPMC Chautauqua and later transferred to UPMC Hamot in Erie, Pa. At the time attempts to interview Neubauer through his attorney were unsuccessful.

“We’ve taken the investigation and we’ve turned it over to the (Chautauqua County) District Attorney’s Office for further review and consideration,” Snellings said.

A grand jury later determined there was not enough evidence to support a criminal charge in the shooting.