Luigi Mangione, the suspect indicted in the murder of UnitedHealthcare CEO Brian Thompson, waived his right to an extradition hearing during an appearance in court in Blair County, Pennsylvania and was transported via plane and helicopter to New York on Thursday afternoon to face federal charges. Mangione, 26, had appeared Thursday morning in Blair County, Pennsylvania, for a preliminary hearing, where he waived extradition and was subsequently taken into the custody of the NYPD.
Mangione was arrested on Dec. 9 in Pennsylvania after nearly a week on the run, he faces charges including allegedly possessing an untraceable ghost gun. Mangione had a 9 mm handgun with a 3D-printed receiver, a homemade silencer, two ammunition magazines and live cartridges when apprehended, prosecutors said.
Mangione has been charged in a four-count federal criminal complaint with stalking, murder through the use of a firearm and a firearms offense involving a silencer. He is accused of gunning down Thompson outside a Hilton hotel on Dec. 4 as the UnitedHealthcare CEO headed to an investors conference.
In New York, Mangione is also charged with two counts of second-degree murder, one of which is charged as killing as an act of terrorism; two counts of criminal possession of a weapon in the second degree; four counts of criminal possession of a weapon in the third degree; one count of criminal possession of a weapon in the fourth degree; and one count of criminal possession of a forged instrument in the second degree.
The federal charges could make Mangione eligible for the death penalty. He faces a maximum sentence of life in prison without parole if convicted of the state charges. Mangione will be remanded into custody at MDC Brooklyn, the same federal lockup where Sean “Diddy” Combs is currently jailed.
Mangione’s New York lawyer, Karen Friedman Agnifilo, said in a statement: “The federal government’s reported decision to pile on top of an already overcharged first-degree murder and state terror case is highly unusual and raises serious constitutional and statutory double jeopardy concerns. We are ready to fight these charges in whatever court they are brought.”
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