Luigi Mangione, the 26-year-old accused of the shooting death of UnitedHealthcare CEO Brian Thompson, has been extradited from Pennsylvania to New York. Mangione, dressed in an orange jumpsuit and handcuffed, arrived via helicopter and was escorted to court by officials and armed guards.
New York Magistrate Judge Katherine Parker read the federal charges Mangione is facing, including a firearms offense, two counts of stalking, and murder through the use of a firearm, an offense eligible for the death penalty. Per Business Insider, Mangione is currently in a solitary confinement jail cell at Brooklyn Metropolitan Detention Center, the same facility where disgraced hip-hop mogul Sean “Diddy” Combs and crypto fraud Sam Bankman-Fried are being held.
Prison consultant Sam Mangel spoke about the conditions in solitary confinement, saying that Mangione is in a 9-by-7-foot cell Special Housing Unit (SHU), also known as “the hole,” which consists of a metal bed and a combined toilet and sink. Those in solitary confinement stay in their cells for 23 hours a day, with 1 hour reserved for taking a shower or engaging in recreational activities. He added, however, that in some cases, detainees are only allowed out of their cells three times a week when there are staff issues. Detainees are also consistently monitored, with jail guards doing scheduled checks every 15 minutes. As for the conditions, Mangel said, “Miserable, just miserable.”
Mangel added that the SHU is the noisiest part of the jail, as it houses detainees who are sent there either for disciplinary issues, withdrawal from drugs, or for psychiatric reasons. This leads to constant noise throughout the day, with doors banging and disturbances continuing late into the night.
Luigi Mangione will stay in solitary for at least a few more days
According to Mangel, it’s standard for high-profile inmates to be sent to solitary confinement for a few days before they are assigned to a standard cell. He added that the SHU isn’t limited to housing those with disciplinary issues, but it’s also used for administrative purposes. In the case of Mangione, Mangel stated, “This is especially true for a young man that, you know, might have some psychiatric concerns or his legal team or the BOP (Bureau of Prisons) has concerns. Diddy, too, was held in solitary confinement before he was transferred to the East Side of the jail.
Mangione is represented by Karen Friedman Agnifilo, who refused to comment about her client’s condition in jail. However, Karen’s husband, Marc Agnifilo, who is representing Diddy, has filed complaints against the “horrific” conditions at the Brooklyn Metropolitan Detention Center during the rapper’s three bail applications, which have all been denied. The complaint alleges that the place is “not fit for pre-trial detention.”
Mangione will remain in solitary confinement until at least Dec. 23, after which he is expected to be transferred to the same 15-person dorm-style unit currently housing Diddy and Bankman-Fried. The unit is reserved for high-profile individuals needing increased security, such as Ghislaine Maxwell and R. Kelly, who were kept in the same unit before their hearing.
Mangione is detained without bail, with his next court appearance set for Jan. 18, 2025.