NEW YORK, Jan 29 (Reuters) – A Minnesota man has been accused of impersonating an FBI agent in a bid to free accused health insurance CEO killer Luigi Mangione from a Brooklyn prison while carrying a barbecue fork and a round steel blade, court records show.
Mangione, 27, awaits a possible death penalty murder trial for allegedly gunning down the CEO of UnitedHealthcare in Manhattan in 2024. Public officials condemned the shocking killing, but Mangione became a folk hero of sorts to some Americans who decry steep healthcare costs and insurance practices.
Brooklyn federal prosecutors on Wednesday accused Mark Anderson, 36, of Mankato, Minnesota, of showing up at the Metropolitan Detention Center and telling prison staff that he was an FBI agent with paperwork signed by a judge authorizing the release of an inmate.
The criminal complaint does not identify the inmate, but a law enforcement source not authorized to speak publicly said it was Mangione.
Attorney information for Anderson was not immediately available on Thursday.
Prosecutors said Anderson provided his Minnesota driver’s license when asked to show credentials and told prison guards he had weapons. Guards arrested and searched Anderson and found a barbecue knife and a round blade in his backpack, according to the complaint.
He threw documents at the guards that appeared to be unspecified claims against the U.S. Department of Justice, according to the complaint.
(Reporting by Jack Queen in New York; Editing by Cynthia Osterman)
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