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Mark Anderson, 36, of Mankato, Minnesota, was arrested and charged with impersonating an FBI agent in a foiled bid to free Mangione.
FILE – Luigi Mangione appears in Manhattan Criminal Court for an evidence hearing, Dec. 18, 2025, in New York. (Shannon Stapleton/Pool Photo via AP, File) AP
By MICHAEL R. SISAK, Associated Press
January 29, 2026
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NEW YORK (AP) — A man falsely claiming to be an FBI agent showed up to a federal jail in New York City on Wednesday night and told officers he had a court order to release Luigi Mangione, authorities said.
Mark Anderson, 36, of Mankato, Minnesota, was arrested and charged with impersonating an FBI agent in a foiled bid to free Mangione from the Metropolitan Detention Center, the notorious Brooklyn lockup where he is held while awaiting state and federal murder trials in the killing of UnitedHealthcare CEO Brian Thompson.
A criminal complaint filed against Anderson did not identify the person he attempted to free. A law enforcement official familiar with the matter confirmed it was Mangione. The official was not authorized to speak publicly and did so on condition of anonymity.
Anderson is expected to make an initial appearance Thursday in Brooklyn federal court. Online court records did not contain information on a lawyer who could speak on his behalf. A message seeking comment was left with a spokesperson for Mangione’s legal team.
According to the criminal complaint, Anderson approached the jail intake area around 6:50 p.m. Wednesday and told uniformed jail officers that he was an FBI agent in possession of paperwork “signed by a judge” authorizing the release of a specific person in custody at the jail.
When the officers asked for his federal credentials, Anderson showed them a Minnesota driver’s license, threw numerous documents at them and claimed to have weapons, the criminal complaint said. Officers searched Anderson’s bag and found a barbecue fork and a circular steel blade, the complaint said. In a photo included in the complaint, the blade appeared to be a small pizza cutter wheel.
Anderson had traveled to New York from Mankato, about 67 miles (107 kilometers) southwest of Minneapolis, and was working at a pizzeria after another job opportunity fell through, the law enforcement official said.
The attempt to free Mangione happened during a critical stretch in his legal cases.
Hours before Anderson’s arrest, the Manhattan district attorney’s office sent a letter urging the judge in Mangione’s state case, Gregory Carro, to set a July 1 trial date.
On Friday, Mangione will be in court for a conference in his federal case. The judge in that case, Margaret Garnett, is expected to rule soon whether prosecutors can seek the death penalty and whether they can use certain evidence against him.