By Kara Scannell and Lauren DelValle, CNN
(CNN) — Attorney General Pam Bondi said Tuesday the Justice Department will seek the death penalty for accused CEO killer Luigi Mangione.
Bondi said she will direct the interim US attorney for the Southern District of New York, Matthew Podolsky, to seek the death penalty in the case if Mangione is convicted on capital murder charges.
Mangione is facing state and federal charges for allegedly shooting UnitedHealthcare CEO Brian Thompson in Midtown Manhattan in December. He has pleaded not guilty to the state charges. Mangione was charged in a federal criminal complaint but has not yet been indicted on those charges.
Mangione’s attorney Karen Friedman Agnifilo has said she was in discussions with the Justice Department over the decision. She could not immediately be reached for comment.
The federal criminal complaint charges Mangione with murder through use of a firearm, two stalking charges and a firearms offense.
In February, Mangione added an attorney experienced in death penalty cases to his legal team.
Avraham Moskowitz has represented more than 50 defendants charged in death penalty-eligible cases in New York, according to court filings and Mangione’s attorneys.
Mangione is being held in federal custody in Brooklyn, New York, though officials have said his case in New York state court will go forward first.
He was indicted by a Manhattan grand jury on 11 counts, including one count of murder in the first degree and two counts of murder in the second degree, along with other weapons and forgery charges. He faces a sentence of life in prison without the possibility of parole if convicted on the state charges.
The first-degree murder charge alleges he killed the executive “in furtherance of an act of terrorism,” which is legally defined as an intent to intimidate or coerce the civilian population or a government unit. One of the second-degree counts also alleges Mangione committed murder “as a crime of terrorism.”
The 26-year-old also faces state charges in Pennsylvania, where he was arrested after a weeklong manhunt in December.
When he was arrested after being spotted in a Pennsylvania McDonald’s, law enforcement recovered a “ghost gun” and a notebook full of writings that they have said revealed a well-planned homicide involving stalking his alleged victim.
Mangione has received widespread support from a growing fan base, raising more than $700,000 toward his legal bills.
This story has been updated with additional context and developments.
The-CNN-Wire
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