Man arrested for posing as FBI agent to free Luigi Mangione from prison

A Minnesota man was arrested for impersonating an FBI agent to free accused murderer Luigi Mangione from a Brooklyn prison.

A Minnesota man has ‌been accused of impersonating an FBI agent to attempt to free accused health ​insurance CEO killer Luigi Mangione from a Brooklyn prison, while carrying a barbecue fork and a pizza-cutter blade, court records show.

Mangione, 27, is awaiting trial in a death penalty murder case on charges that he gunned down Brian Thompson, the CEO of UnitedHealth Group, in Manhattan in 2024.

Public officials condemned the shocking killing, but Mangione became a folk hero to some Americans who ​decry steep healthcare costs and insurance company practices. He has pleaded not ⁠guilty to murder and other charges in separate State and federal cases.

Brooklyn federal prosecutors on Wednesday (January 28, 2026) accused Mark Anderson, 36, of Mankato, Minnesota, of showing up at the Metropolitan Detention Centre 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, who was not authorized to speak publicly, said it was Mangione. ‌Anderson was working at a pizzeria after arriving in New York, ‌the source said. Information on a legal representative for Anderson was not immediately available on Thursday (January 29, 2026).

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 fork and a round pizza-cutter blade ‍in his backpack, according to the complaint.