Luigi Mangione was indicted on four charges by a New York grand jury in the December killing of UnitedHealthcare CEO Brian Thompson in New York City.
Mangione, 26, was hit Thursday with a four-charge indictment, which included two counts of stalking, firearms offense and murder through the use of a firearm. The charges would make him eligible for the death penalty, which the Department of Justice (DOJ) is pushing for, if convicted.
Attorney General Pam Bondi directed federal prosecutors earlier this month to seek the death penalty for Mangione, who is accused of gunning down Thompson, 50, on Dec. 4 in Manhattan.
Mangione was tracked down and arrested at a McDonald’s in Altoona, Pa., five days after the fatal shooting.
Authorities say a ghost gun, silencer and writings expressing ill will were found on Mangione and link him to the crime.
Mangione has pleaded not guilty to the 11 charges brought by Manhattan District Attorney Alvin Bragg and the four counts he is staring down in Pennsylvania.
Last week, Mangione’s attorneys asked the judge to block Bondi from seeking the death penalty against their client, arguing the defendant’s due process rights were violated and that the federal government’s efforts had “corrupted” the grand jury process.
They wrote in a court filing that the U.S. government “intends to kill” Mangione as a “political stunt,” pointing to a part of Bondi’s previous statement that said the death penalty would “carry out President Trump’s agenda to stop violent crime and Make America Safe Again.”
“But the Attorney General’s actions and public statements in this case have not followed the usual course,” Mangione’s legal team wrote in the filing last week. “Because the Attorney General has chosen to proceed in this way, Mr. Mangione’s Due Process rights have already been violated and the manner in which the Government has acted has prejudiced the grand jury pool and has corrupted the grand jury process.”