Ex-Milford High School JV Soccer Coach To Appear In Court

By Jessica Schrader and Brooke Tajer

Kevin Andrew Papuga, 22, of White Lake Township is scheduled to appear in court on July 18 for a pretrial hearing.

Papuga was charged with armed robbery earlier this year in connection to a robbery in Rochester. He, and Johnny Matthew Hall, 32, of Troy, are facing armed robbery charges, while a third man has been granted immunity in the case.

Papuga was a former coach of the junior varsity team at Milford High School in the Huron Valley School District.

According to Huron Valley Communications & Community Relations Director Kim Root, Papuga has not been affiliated with the school in over a year. 

Root said that Papuga, who was never an official employee, was coaching as contracted staff until a full-time school employee took over the team. “He was never a Huron Valley school employee and even though he worked as a coach and obviously represented the school district, that hasn’t been the case for some time now,” Root said to Patch in March.  

A third man, Andrew J. Blasco of Birmingham, pleaded not guilty on Monday to charges of delivery and manufacture of marijuana - a four-year felony, according to an article in the Oakland Press. A pre-trial conference will be held in Macomb County Circuit Court on June 26, the article states.

Blasco was granted immunity after being arrested in March in connection to a Nov. 2 armed robbery at Antiques by Pamela in Rochester. Police said three men wearing hats, hoodies and sunglasses had restrained a store employee with duct tape while robbing the store at gunpoint.

Police said after the arrests in March that Blasco cooperated with the investigation and was being charged in an unrelated narcotics case in Macomb County.

Both Papuga and Blasco were also coaches with the Vardar youth soccer program, the Oakland Press states, however both have since resigned from their positions and are no longer coaching soccer there.

Tatum Ryan contributed to this report.