Northfield man pleads guilty in fatal Absecon hit-run

A Northfield man who fatally struck a pedestrian after leaving an Absecon bar and then fled has pleaded guilty.

Mathew Cademartori, now 28, struck the victim with such force that the passenger side mirror broke off and was left at the scene.

That is what ultimately led investigators to Cademartori, who never even made an anonymous call to get help to the victim, Chief Assistant Prosecutor Kathleen Robinson argued at his detention hearing last year.

Talmadge Franklin, 67, Absecon, was walking east just before 2 a.m. Jan. 8, 2022, when he was struck by the eastbound truck.

He died several hours later.

An investigation found that minutes before the fatal crash, Cademartori was seen stumbling out of the Hi-Point Pub, where he consumed several beers.

Cademartori faces seven years in prison under the pleas agreement, which requires him to serve at least 85 percent of his sentence under the No Early Release Act.

He remains free pending sentencing set for June 19.