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Nick’s Ride 4 Friends co-founder Joel Campagnola was charged in June after allegedly trespassing at the residence of an ex-girlfriend while carrying a handgun, according to a criminal complaint filed by the Auburn Police Department in Auburn City Court. The complaint alleged Campagnola forced the apartment door open, grabbed the woman by her throat and pushed her into a wall.

Campagnola has denied the allegations, saying he was at the residence at Kings & Queens Court Apartments at 65 South St. for a welfare check and had permission to be there from both the building's owner and the alleged victim's mother. He was charged at the time with first-degree trespassing, a class D felony, and second-degree harassment, a violation.

Nick Ride 4 Friends is named after Campagnola's son Nick, who died at the age of 20 after overdosing on a combination of fentanyl and synthetic acid in 2015. The organization, which has worked closely with Cayuga County law enforcement leaders, provides peer support services for people in recovery from addiction.

The case has been assigned to Judge Richard Timian, a justice for the town of Sennett and who is serving as an acting Auburn city judge. After hearing from the prosecution and defense in city court Wednesday, Timian adjourned the case to Dec. 16.

The adjournment came after special prosecutor Craig Morrissey, assistant district attorney with the Oswego County District Attorney's Office, offered for the felony charge to be reduced to a violation if Campagnola pleaded guilty. Campagnola's attorney, Dominic Giacona, said his client would not accept any criminal charges, adding that they felt Campagnola should not have been charged in the first place.

After court, Morrissey noted that as a result of Campagnola declining the offer, the felony charge hasn't officially been reduced. He noted that as a special prosecutor, he does not personally know any of the parties involved in the incident.

Giacona reiterated after court that his client had permission to be at the property. 

"Our position has been the whole time that Mr. Campagnola had done nothing that amounted to criminally actionable conduct, and more importantly, he was there to better serve the needs of the community and the individual he was responding to. He was there out of support for that person and at the direct result of family members who had contacted him," Giacona said. "There was nothing criminal about that whatsoever. In fact, it was in the best interest of all parties and their well-being that he was there. So under the circumstances, it's completely impossible to consider a plea to something that was done for the betterment of the people that he's dedicated his life to these days through Nick's Ride."