The maximum punishment for state offenses is life in prison without the possibility of release, but the federal charges include the potential of the death penalty.
According to the prosecution, the two cases would go forward in tandem, with the state charges likely to go to trial first.
On 19 December, the US Department of Justice released a federal criminal complaint against Mangione, which said that Mangione had’stalked’ Thompson in the days leading up to his murder.
Attorney General Merrick B. Garland stated: “Luigi Mangione was charged with federal homicide by the Justice Department today.
Mangione systematically planned when, when, and how to commit his crime; he allegedly spent months plotting his assault and days stalking his victim before killing him.
