A truck with a video screen outside Manhattan federal court on April 25 to attend court as Luigi Mangione is set to be arraigned. Timothy A. Clary/AFP via Getty Images hide caption
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Timothy A. Clary/AFP via Getty Images
Luigi Mangione, who is facing the death penalty for the murder of United Healthcare CEO Brian Thompson, has pleaded not guilty to four federal charges.
Mangione appeared in federal court in Manhattan on Friday afternoon for an arraignment. The day before, the Department of Justice announced its intention to seek the death penalty, arguing that the fatal shooting was intentional and premeditated.
Thompson was shot down outside a Manhattan hotel on Dec. 4. A few days later, authorities in Pennsylvania arrested Mangione, a University of Pennsylvania alum, who was found with a ghost gun, a fake ID and a handwritten note, according to police.
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The document calls health insurance companies "parasitic" and notes a disconnect between this country's expensive health care system and low life expectancy, according to the AP.
The case has sparked national discussion about the state of the health care industry.
Grand jury handed down a four-count federal indictment
Earlier this month, a federal grand jury indicted Mangione on four counts — murder through the use of a firearm, a firearms offense and two counts of stalking.
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An indictment, which differs from a conviction, means that a federal grand jury found sufficient evidence to formally charge the 26-year-old, making way for the case to move toward a trial.
Mangione has yet to enter a plea on the federal charges. But if he is found guilty, he could be eligible for the death penalty.
Federal prosecutors are seeking the death penalty
Before the federal indictment, Attorney General Pam Bondi announced that she instructed federal prosecutors to seek the death penalty as part of President Trump's "agenda to stop violent crime and Make America Safe Again."
While the death penalty is off the table in New York state courts, the federal government can still seek it for certain federal crimes, the Gothamist reported.
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In response, Mangione's attorney, Karen Friedman Agnifilo, said the Justice Department has moved from "dysfunctional to the barbaric."
"Their decision to execute Luigi is political and goes against the recommendation of the local federal prosecutors, the law, and historical precedent," she said in a statement on April 1.
Mangione could face life in prison on state charges alone
In addition to the federal indictment, Mangione has been charged in Pennsylvania and New York.
In Pennsylvania, the 26-year-old faces five charges, including forgery, carrying a firearm without a license, tampering with records or identification, false identification to law enforcement, and possessing "instruments of crime," according to a criminal complaint from December.
In New York, Mangione was indicted on 11 charges, including first-degree murder in furtherance of terrorism.
He pleaded not guilty on all counts in December. Around that time, Manhattan District Attorney Alvin L. Bragg, Jr. said Mangione faces "a maximum penalty of life in prison without parole."
