A man pretending to be an FBI agent showed up at the Brooklyn jail holding Luigi Mangione and claimed he had an order to release the alleged CEO killer, according to law enforcement sources.
The fake fed, identified as Mark Anderson, 36, walked into the intake section of the MDC Brooklyn jail in Sunset Park Wednesday night, leaving jail staff in disbelief, law enforcement sources said.
Bureau of Prisons officials asked for Anderson’s credentials, and he handed them his Minnesota driver’s license. When they asked for the court order, he gave them random documents, including a form detailing how to sue the Department of Justice, according to the feds.
Jail staff moved to apprehend him, and he announced, “I have weapons in my bag,” the feds allege. Inside his backpack, jail staff found a barbecue fork and what looked to be a pizza cutter.
Mangione is not named in the criminal complaint, but sources tell the Daily News he’s the inmate Anderson was trying to spring.
Anderson hails from Mankato, Minnesota, but he has several recent arrests for charges like petit larceny and menacing in the Bronx.
He had traveled to New York City for a job opportunity that didn’t pan out, and ended up working at a pizzeria, according to a law enforcement source.
He’s charged with impersonating an FBI agent and is slated to be arraigned in Brooklyn Federal Court Thursday.
Mangione faces federal and state prosecutions in the Dec. 4, 2024 killing of UnitedHealthcare CEO Brian Thompson. Mangione has become a folk hero in some circles after the killing, with his supporters believing he was striking a blow against a health care system that values money over people.
Jury selection in his federal criminal case is scheduled to begin on Sept. 8, with testimony to begin in October this year or in January of 2027, depending on how the judge rules on Mangione’s bid to bar federal prosecutors from seeking the death penalty. Earlier this week, state prosecutors in Manhattan State prosecutors in Manhattan asked to try Luigi Mangione in July, before his federal case gets underway.
