The man suspected of murdering UnitedHealthcare CEO Brian Thompson on a Manhattan street has pleaded not guilty.
Luigi Mangione, 26, entered the not guilty plea Monday, per CNN.
Mangione pleaded not guilty to 11 counts, including one count of murder in the first degree and two counts of murder in the second degree. He also pleaded not guilty to weapon and forgery charges, per the indictment.
Manhattan District Attorney Alvin Bragg’s office said it is working with federal authorities for Mangione’s arraignment on the state charges.
Karen Friedman Agnifilo, Mangione’s attorney, is concerned her client will not receive a fair trial.
“He’s a young man and he’s being treated like a human pingpong ball by two warring jurisdictions here,” she said. “They’re treating him like a human spectacle.”
Judge Gregory Carro said he would receive a fair trial, saying, “we will carefully select a jury.”
Mangione, who will return to court Feb. 21, has become a hero in some people’s eyes as they struggle with the healthcare system.
Mangione is an Ivy League graduate who, according to authorities, planned the murder months in advance due to the “parasitic” health insurance industry, the New York Post reported.
A weeklong manhunt ended when Mangione was picked up by police in Pennsylvania after a customer and worker at McDonald’s in Altoona, Pennsylvania, called police, according to CNN.
On the federal level, the defendant was charged with murder through use of a firearm, two counts of stalking and a firearms offense.
If found guilty of the federal murder charge, he could face the death penalty.
On the state level, he faces a maximum penalty of life in prison without the possibility of parole.
He also faces charges in Pennsylvania regarding the 3D-printed firearm and allegedly having a false ID.
Now, the state and federal trials will “work in parallel,” the Manhattan District Attorney’s Office said.
The state trial will be held before the federal trial, prosecutors said.
