Federal prosecutors say a decorated combat veteran who once carried the nickname “Captain America” will spend two decades in prison after admitting he helped kidnap a man who was later shot and buried on a rural Pennsylvania property. What the sentence does not fully explain is how a soldier with multiple deployments became the lead gunman in a drug-related killing that took authorities years to unravel.
TLDR
Anthony Neubauer, a 39-year-old Marine and Army veteran from New York, pleaded guilty to aiding and abetting a kidnapping tied to the 2014 killing of Joseph Anthony. On February 24th, 2026, a federal judge sentenced him to 20 years in prison after years of investigation into the cold case.
From Combat Service to Criminal Enterprise
According to the defense sentencing memorandum, Neubauer struggled in school and left after the 11th grade, then enlisted in the U.S. Marines shortly after the September 11th attacks. He deployed multiple times overseas, including to Iraq, where he saw combat. A colleague reportedly dubbed him “Captain America,” a label the defense used to underscore both his service and the expectations placed on him.
After later joining the Army as a ranger and deploying again, Neubauer was discharged because of injuries in 2014. According to his lawyer’s account, he returned to upstate New York with post-traumatic stress, heavy alcohol use that he said could reach 30 beers a day, and escalating cocaine use. In that period, the defense wrote, he fell in with co-defendant Matthew Rudy and began working as muscle for drug dealers, confronting and intimidating people who owed money.
The 2014 Killing and Long Search for a Body
In May 2014, prosecutors say Neubauer and Rudy lured Joseph Anthony to Rudy’s Pennsylvania property by promising cocaine. According to a press release from the U.S. Attorney’s Office for the Western District of New York, Neubauer held a gun to the back of Anthony’s seat during the drive across state lines. Once at the property, the men forced Anthony up a hill, where Neubauer shot him in the back of the head and torso.
Prosecutors state that Neubauer and Rudy then buried Anthony’s body on the land. Federal investigators, including FBI agents, conducted multiple searches over seven years without finding remains. According to the government’s account, it was only after Rudy disclosed the burial location that authorities were able to recover Anthony’s body. Rudy later received a five-year federal sentence for his role, including assisting in the burial.
Sentencing, Mitigation, and Federal Tradeoffs
Neubauer ultimately pleaded guilty to aiding and abetting a kidnapping, a federal charge that reflected the crossing of state lines, rather than a separate murder count. According to the U.S. Attorney’s Office, prosecutors argued that Neubauer and Rudy targeted Anthony because they believed he was cooperating with law enforcement. U.S. Attorney Michael DiGiacomo said in a statement that 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.”
At sentencing on February 24th, 2026, U.S. District Judge Elizabeth A. Wolford weighed competing portrayals of the defendant. Defense attorneys sought a 10-year sentence, citing Neubauer’s combat record, injuries, mental health challenges, and addiction, including an incident in which he was reportedly using cocaine in front of federal agents and a 2019 bar shooting that left him paralyzed from the waist down. According to a courtroom report referenced by Law & Crime, Judge Wolford acknowledged the tragedy of his trajectory yet rejected the requested term, reportedly saying, “It’s also tragic that Mr. Neubauer is here. But you can’t intentionally kill somebody and expect to get a [lesser] sentence.”
The result is a 20-year sentence for Neubauer on the kidnapping charge, compared with Rudy’s five-year term for assisting in the burial. That disparity reflects plea agreements, cooperation, and federal charging decisions that emphasize kidnapping across state lines rather than a standalone homicide prosecution. It leaves open an enduring tension between Neubauer’s documented service, the defense narrative of post-service decline, and the deliberate, recorded steps that ended in Joseph Anthony’s death.
References
- Law & Crime: Marine and Army Veteran Dubbed “Captain America” Sentenced to 20 Years for Kidnapping and Murder
- U.S. Department of Justice: Falconer Man Going to Prison for 20 Years for His Role in Cold Case Murder
- U.S. Department of Justice: Jamestown Man Going to Prison for Assisting in Burial of Murder Victim
