MAYS LANDING — The first pre-trial conference for the last man alive charged in the 2012 murder of veterans advocate and businesswoman April Kauffman is scheduled for Thursday.
Ferdinand “Freddy” Augello, 62, of Upper Township, Cape May County, an alleged Pagans motorcycle gang leader, is scheduled to appear at 9 a.m. before Judge Bernard DeLury in Atlantic County Superior Court.
Augello is charged with murder and accused of hiring a hitman to kill April Kauffman — a move prosecutors say was motivated by husband James Kauffman’s desire to hide the drug ring he ran through his Egg Harbor Township medical practice with Augello, who pleaded not guilty during his arraignment April 19.
April Kauffman was found dead of multiple gunshot wounds on May 10, 2012, in the bedroom of her Linwood home. Dr. James Kauffman was arrested June 13, 2017, after an armed standoff with police outside his endocrinology practice, and was later charged in her murder, as well as racketeering. He died of an apparent suicide Jan. 26 in his Hudson County jail cell.
This is the first time Augello will appear in court after co-defendant Joseph Mulholland, 53, of the Villas section of Lower Township, pleaded guilty to second-degree racketeering on June 21. As part of the plea deal, Mulholland agreed to testify during the trial and could be sentenced to a maximum of 10 years in state prison.
Mulholland told DeLury that Augello was “the boss” of the drug ring.
It is also Augello’s first court appearance since DeLury decided that a note discovered in Dr. James Kauffman’s Hudson County jail cell after his apparent suicide will be provided to the defense.
DeLury wrote in his July 9 decision that “certain aspects of the Kauffman Letter are relevant to the investigation of this matter by both sides.”
As part of the decision, DeLury said the letter would be provided to attorneys only and those copies can be viewed by the defendants but not reproduced.
The letter was requested last month by Augello’s attorney, Mary Linehan, who said at a prior court appearance that she had received a copy, but that it was “entirely blacked out.”
Jury selection in Augello’s trial is set to begin Sept. 11.
Five other defendants in the case have pleaded not guilty to charges of racketeering, distribution of drugs and conspiracy to distribute drugs as part of the drug ring: Beverly Augello, 48, of Summerland Key, Florida; Glenn Seeler, 37, of Sanford, North Carolina; Paul Pagano, 61, of Egg Harbor Township; Tabitha Chapman, 35, of Absecon; and Cheryl Pizza, 36, of Murrells Inlet, South Carolina.
Chapman, Beverly Augello, Seeler and Pagano are scheduled for status conferences at 9 a.m. July 26, while co-defendant Pizza is scheduled for 1:30 p.m. that same day.
Mulholland’s sentencing is scheduled for Oct. 25 before DeLury.
https://www.pressofatlanticcity.com/news/crime/kauffman/man-charged-in-april-kauffman-killing-to-appear-in-court/article_523f5811-50a2-5814-b5d1-bccecaba7c68.html
Ferdinand “Freddy” Augello, 62, of Upper Township, Cape May County, an alleged Pagans motorcycle gang leader, is scheduled to appear at 9 a.m. before Judge Bernard DeLury in Atlantic County Superior Court.
Augello is charged with murder and accused of hiring a hitman to kill April Kauffman — a move prosecutors say was motivated by husband James Kauffman’s desire to hide the drug ring he ran through his Egg Harbor Township medical practice with Augello, who pleaded not guilty during his arraignment April 19.
April Kauffman was found dead of multiple gunshot wounds on May 10, 2012, in the bedroom of her Linwood home. Dr. James Kauffman was arrested June 13, 2017, after an armed standoff with police outside his endocrinology practice, and was later charged in her murder, as well as racketeering. He died of an apparent suicide Jan. 26 in his Hudson County jail cell.
This is the first time Augello will appear in court after co-defendant Joseph Mulholland, 53, of the Villas section of Lower Township, pleaded guilty to second-degree racketeering on June 21. As part of the plea deal, Mulholland agreed to testify during the trial and could be sentenced to a maximum of 10 years in state prison.
Mulholland told DeLury that Augello was “the boss” of the drug ring.
It is also Augello’s first court appearance since DeLury decided that a note discovered in Dr. James Kauffman’s Hudson County jail cell after his apparent suicide will be provided to the defense.
DeLury wrote in his July 9 decision that “certain aspects of the Kauffman Letter are relevant to the investigation of this matter by both sides.”
As part of the decision, DeLury said the letter would be provided to attorneys only and those copies can be viewed by the defendants but not reproduced.
The letter was requested last month by Augello’s attorney, Mary Linehan, who said at a prior court appearance that she had received a copy, but that it was “entirely blacked out.”
Jury selection in Augello’s trial is set to begin Sept. 11.
Five other defendants in the case have pleaded not guilty to charges of racketeering, distribution of drugs and conspiracy to distribute drugs as part of the drug ring: Beverly Augello, 48, of Summerland Key, Florida; Glenn Seeler, 37, of Sanford, North Carolina; Paul Pagano, 61, of Egg Harbor Township; Tabitha Chapman, 35, of Absecon; and Cheryl Pizza, 36, of Murrells Inlet, South Carolina.
Chapman, Beverly Augello, Seeler and Pagano are scheduled for status conferences at 9 a.m. July 26, while co-defendant Pizza is scheduled for 1:30 p.m. that same day.
Mulholland’s sentencing is scheduled for Oct. 25 before DeLury.
https://www.pressofatlanticcity.com/news/crime/kauffman/man-charged-in-april-kauffman-killing-to-appear-in-court/article_523f5811-50a2-5814-b5d1-bccecaba7c68.html