Luigi Mangione held at Metropolitan Detention Center Brooklyn, federal jail with history of high-profile cases
NEW YORK -- Luigi Mangione is now in federal custody at Metropolitan Detention Center Brooklyn after he was extradited from Pennsylvania to face murder charges in the killing of UnitedHealthcare CEO Brian Thompson.
Mangione flew into MacArthur Airport on Long Island and was escorted by NYPD helicopter to Lower Manhattan, flanked by armed law enforcement officers and Mayor Eric Adams.
"This act of terrorism and the violence will not be tolerated in the city," said Adams, who happens to be facing his own federal indictment from the same U.S. district attorney's office.
The 26-year-old murder suspect faced a federal judge Thursday afternoon on four counts, including murder, stalking and firearms offenses.
What's in the federal complaint
The complaint includes photos that allegedly show Mangione riding a bike toward the Hilton hotel in Midtown Manhattan, where Thompson was killed on Dec. 4, and then leaving after the murder.
The complaint also describes a notebook that investigators say Mangione had with pages expressing "hostility towards the health insurance industry and wealthy executives in particular." It describes an entry from August 18, 2024 that reads, "the details are finally coming together... the target is insurance... it checks every box."
Additionally, the complaint includes a photo of what investigators say is a loaded 9mm pistol and silencer, consistent with the weapon used in the shooting.
Federal charges open possibility of death penalty
The new charges follow an 11-count indictment from Manhattan District Attorney Alvin Bragg earlier this week that included state charges of first-degree murder and terrorism.
Mangione's attorney declined to comment on the new charges outside court Thursday, but later said she had concerns about double jeopardy given the parallel indictments.
"We're going to, respectfully, decline to make any comment at this time. Mr. Mangione appreciates everyone's support," defense attorney Karen Friedman Agnifilo said.
Inside court, his attorney sounded surprised by the federal complaint, calling it "highly unusual." She asked the judge, "Is there one case? Two cases? Two investigations? Is it a joint investigation?"
"We've had state prosecutions and federal prosecutions proceed as parallel matters, and we're in conversations with our law enforcement counterparts," Bragg told reporters.
While New York does not impose the death penalty, the federal government does. So the new charges raise the possibility, if prosecutors choose to seek it.
MDC Brooklyn no stranger to notable cases
MDC Brooklyn is the only federal jail in New York City since MCC New York, where Jeffrey Epstein died by suicide, was closed in 2021. It houses 1,200 people, mainly those awaiting federal trial in Manhattan and Brooklyn.
The jail has a long history with high-profile cases, and complaints. Sean "Diddy" Combs is also being held there after he was repeatedly denied bail on sex trafficking charges.
R. Kelly sued the jail for wrongly putting him on suicide watch after his sentencing in 2022, and Sam Bankman-Fried's attorney said he survived on bread, water and peanut butter after the jail failed to provide vegan food while he was there last year.
Ja Rule also stayed at MDC Brooklyn for a brief time on gun charges, and Rev. Al Sharpton went on a hunger strike there in 2001 while serving a 90-day sentence for protesting the U.S. Navy bombing of the island of Vieques, in Puerto Rico.
