A man who showed up at a New York City federal jail claiming he had a court order to secure Luigi Mangione’s release is now facing federal charges for allegedly impersonating an FBI agent.
Prosecutors say Mark Anderson, 36, went to Brooklyn’s Metropolitan Detention Center (MDC) on the evening of Wednesday, Jan. 28, presenting himself as a federal agent and asserting he had authorization to release Mangione, 27 — the suspect charged in the killing of UnitedHealthcare CEO Brian Thompson.
According to a newly unsealed complaint, Bureau of Prisons staff asked Anderson for credentials. He allegedly produced a Minnesota driver’s license and then said he had weapons in his bag. Authorities say Anderson was detained after he allegedly threw documents at staff.
Prosecutors allege the bag contained a barbecue fork and a rounded blade resembling a pizza cutter. A law enforcement source said Anderson had recently been working at a pizzeria.
Anderson is scheduled to be arraigned in federal court in Brooklyn on Thursday, Jan. 29.
The complaint does not name the inmate Anderson was attempting to free, but the law enforcement source identified the person as Mangione.
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No court has ordered Mangione’s release. He is accused of fatally shooting Thompson outside a Midtown Manhattan hotel that was hosting an investors’ conference early on Dec. 4, 2024.
Federal prosecutors have indicated they may seek the death penalty. This month, U.S. District Judge Margaret Garnett said she would like the federal trial to begin in January 2027 if capital punishment remains under consideration. If the death penalty is removed from the case, she proposed an Oct. 13, 2026 start date. Mangione is due back in federal court Friday, Jan. 30 for a status conference.
Mangione also faces a parallel prosecution in New York state court on second-degree murder charges. This week, the Manhattan District Attorney’s Office asked Judge Gregory Carro to set a July 1 start date for the state trial, arguing the state’s interests could be “unfairly prejudiced” by delays if the federal case proceeds first.
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In a statement, Mangione’s attorney, Karen Friedman Agnifilo, called the requested state timeline “unrealistic,” saying the defense team would need the remainder of the year to prepare for the federal case. No ruling has been issued.
Mangione has been held at MDC since roughly two weeks after Thompson’s death, after authorities say he was arrested at a McDonald’s in Pennsylvania and extradited to New York.
