BREAKING: Bogus FBI Agent Tried to Bust Luigi Mangione Out of Jail, Cops Say

The case against the man accused of. killing United Healthcare CEO Brian. Thompson may have just taken a bizarre. turn. And that is because federal. authorities say someone may have tried. to get Luigi Manion out of jail. According to a new criminal complaint, a. man allegedly walked into a Brooklyn. federal jail, claimed he was an FBI. agent, and said he had paperwork signed. by a judge to release [music] an inmate. Now, based on certain circumstances, it. is believed to be Manion. How did he. think that this [music] would work if. the allegations are true? Was he close.

to actually pulling this off? And what. does it mean for [music] Manion's case? We're going to break it all down with a. prison consultant who knows the system. inside and out. [music] Welcome to. Sidebar, presented by Law and Crime. I'm. Jesse Weber. The targeted execution style alleged. murder of United Healthcare CEO Brian. Thompson on a Midtown Manhattan street. was already a shocking crime. One of the. most shocking crimes we've covered in. recent memory. And the accused killer, Luigi Manion, was captured 5 days later, has been locked up ever since, awaiting.

two massive trials, a state trial, a. federal trial. But now, we have just. learned of what appears to be yet. another bizarre moment in this saga. Now, we can't say for sure it's. connected to Manion, but when you. connect some of the dots, I think it. might be a fair assumption. So, federal. authorities are now claiming that a man. from Minnesota walked right up to the. federal jail in Brooklyn last night. where Manion is being housed and tried. to pose as an FBI agent. He apparently. claimed he had a judge's order to.

release a specific inmate. And law. enforcement, if you're reading between. the lines, may be saying that that. inmate was Manion. Now, when guards. asked for his credentials, he apparently. showed a Minnesota driver's license in. his bag that was searched by. authorities. not official paperwork, but. a barbecue fork and what looked like a. pizza cutter. Now, if all of this is. true, how on earth did he think that. this would work? What does that say. about the security? I mean, did he get. close? Really, what was the plan here?

And by the way, what happens next for. Manion? I mean, is he due back in court. tomorrow? We're going to break down this. stunning new criminal complaint line by. line. We're also going to be talking. with prison consultant Justin Pernie, who knows this system inside and out. about how an attempt like this can even. happen. But for viewers just joining us, really very quick recap of the case at. the heart of all this. So Luigi Manion. is accused of the pointlank fatal. shooting of United Healthcare CEO Brian. Thompson outside of a Midtown Manhattan. hotel in December of 2024 and. authorities allege it was a meticulously.

planned targeted attack. Manion was. arrested days later in Pennsylvania. He's been held without bail ever since. And remember, he is facing not one but. two major trials. one in state court for. murder and another in federal court in. the Southern District of New York where. prosecutors are seeking the death. penalty or trying to it is a highstakes. high-profile case that we have been. following very very closely and that is. what makes this new development just so. stunning because while Manion sits in. the federal Metropolitan Detention.

Center in Brooklyn awaiting his next. court date scheduled for tomorrow, authorities say someone may have tried. an almost unbelievably bold scheme to. get him out. Now, to be very clear, the. federal complaint that we're about to. discuss does not actually name Luigi. Manion. The inmate is only referred to. as a specific inmate in custody. However, a law enforcement source. directly involved in the case has. confirmed to multiple news outlets that. the inmate in question was indeed Luigi. Manion. Let's talk about it. All right.

Joining us to break all of this down, prison consultant, friend of the show, Justin Pernie. Justin, thank you so much. for coming on. It's breaking news. Got. you on so quickly. Have you heard of. something like this before? I mean, it. sounds like something out of a movie, but I do wonder how how easy is it for. somebody to maybe pose as an agent, as a. member of law enforcement, say the right. things, get somebody out of jail. >> Well, the first part is right. This is. exactly like what we would see. sensationalized on television. It was. successful once in the movie Catch Me If.

You Can, where Leonardo played Frank. Abagnail as a pilot and he flew the. plane. That was a very long time ago. But people see something on television. like someone breaks into a prison or. they walk in, they give a dramatic. speech and they're going to release the. person. They're just delusional. And I. think when someone is in crisis and. they're spiraling, they're looking for. meaning. And if they're a fan of. someone, they think they're a hero. So. it's very easy to play the part and put. on the costume. But when you have a. prison that is trained for deception and. these sorts of things, knowing there is. a protocol to release someone, in about.

17 seconds they realize we're dealing. with someone who isn't stable. And they. did the right thing by finding out if he. had any weapons. He did and they. arrested him. So it's easy to dress the. part nearly impossible to execute it. >> Can you elaborate on that? What the. protocol is in place if there was to be. a release that wasn't in the news, right? there wasn't an appeal or you. know a habius motion where the. conviction was overturned. They have to. be immediately released. If there was.

some other reason for an agent to go in. there and take somebody out pursuant to. a court order, how much advanced notice. does a a a jail, a prison get? What is. the protocol as far as you know? >> So there's a chance the prison can find. out the day before. That's happened to. people in our community. A case manager. calls you in and said, "You're going out. tomorrow. You're getting released. you're getting transferred. But there is. a process in place that could take weeks. or even months. A writ goes to a judge. The judge signs it. It goes to the.

marshals. They coordinate with the the. Federal Bureau of Prisons. The Bureau of. Prisons notifies the warden. There's. paperwork along the way. There's checks. and balances. Even when I surrender to a. minimum security camp a long time ago, I. had nine separate people ask me nine. times my name, my Bureau of Prisons. number, and I was going to a camp. So, one thing they have is a process that. they follow. And it's the reason they. knew in about six seconds this wasn't. legitimate and they did the right thing. by making sure he did not cause harm to. anyone, including himself.

>> Is there possibility they could have he. could have fooled them? Maybe not him. specifically, but I have to be. completely honest about this. Again, the. court paperwork doesn't officially say. that he was trying to release uh Manion, but based on some of the other. circumstances, let's assume that for a. moment. Um, given the high-profile. nature of this case, given the fact that. there are a lot of people who have. support from Anion, are in his camp, there's a ton of money being raised. I. gotta say, I'm not surprised that this. happened. I actually wonder if this is. going to be the last time we see.

something like this. But could there. have been a set of circumstances where. if somebody had the right documentation, said the right things, was a really. good, you know, con artist, and let's be. clear, this individual is innocent until. proven guilty. Is the system foolproof? Could there have been a scenario where. he could have been busted out and then. what? >> I don't think there's any scenario. unless it was an inside job unless this. person is coordinating with someone who. works inside of the institution to. enable and make it happen. And again,

that's right out of television as well. So given the problems at MDC over the. years starting with Epstein and the. accusations these guards weren't. properly doing their job, it's. heightened alert times a million inside. of that prison, especially when you have. so many high-profile prisoners coming in. and out of there. So in no world would. he have been successful and sometimes. like when this person is clearly going. through some crisis if true. And. sometimes when going through crisis the. last thing you want to do is move like. slowly and deliberately to improve your. life. You make really quick. short-sighted action. So 10 or 30.

minutes of his life could lead to a very. lengthy federal prison sentence. I wish. he thought it through and if true, I. hope he gets I hope he gets help that he. desperately needs because had he. discussed this with anyone rational, they would have said, "Dude, stop. immediately, please. You will never be. successful.". >> The trial hasn't even started yet. Does. this give you concern about what we can. expect moving forward as this case. advances? What the security might be? Whether it's at a jail, whether it's at. a prison, whether it's at a courthouse.

Never seen a case like this before in my. life. I really. >> Yeah, it's a little like the Batman, you. know, some people are trying to break. out the Joker. With all due respect, I. mean, it is not normal. And what happens. is the longer he's in custody, people. who view him as a hero and they want to. help him. They [clears throat] view him, this is unfair. This is unjust. He. should be free. He should have a. bracelet on. We've raised enough money. for bond. He should be in the community. Other people accused of similar crimes. are. So the longer that narrative. hardens, the more people become. emboldened to try to help him. So you.

can expect when the trial begins for. there to be hundreds, if not thousands. of people outside the courthouse. And. the closer we get to some verdict, the. worse it's only going uh to get. Now, in. federal cases, there will not be cameras. inside of the courtroom. I wish there. were because you could see full. transparency and what's said on both. sides. And when you can't hear it, you. hear it from other people and then that. narrative will harden and move on in. time. So, expect it to build the closer. to the trial. >> I want to go through this uh this. criminal complaint line by line because. I think it's really important. So, this.

is the document where the agent lays out. exactly what he claims happened. It is a. wild read, but the government story. starts with a specific time and a. specific place. quote, "On about January. 28th, 2026, at approximately 1850 hours, the defendant, Mark Anderson, approached. the intake area inside the MDC and. claimed to uniform members of the. Federal Bureau of Prisons, BOP, that he. was an FBI agent in possession of. paperwork signed by a judge authorizing. the release of a specific inmate who was. in custody at the MDC." Okay, so 6:50.

p.m. last night, the intake area, the. front door of the jail, he walks up, you. know, basically says, "I'm an FBI. agent." Incredible. Now, of course, the. guards, they asked for proof. And here's. what the complaint says. When asked to. provide federal credentials, the. defendant, Mark Anderson, displayed his. Minnesota driver's license to the BOP. officers and then claimed to be in. possession of weapons. Okay. Anderson. also displayed and threw at the BOP. officers numerous documents. I have. reviewed those papers and they appear to.

be related to filing claims against the. United States Department of Justice. Justin, I got to say there's a part of. it where he goes in with this level of. authority, but he had nothing. I mean, if the allegations are true, nothing to. back it up and shows kind of that. erratic behavior. There was nothing even. about it seems about that inmate. >> Yeah. To me, it shows that he spent. about 15 seconds planning this and ID. grabs I think I read it was like a. barbecue pitchfork or something akin to. that. >> Let me get to that. Let me get that. Let. me throw that quote. Mark Anderson was.

detained by members of the BOP and a. backpack he possessed was searched to. reveal a large barbecue type fork and a. round steel blade. Tell me this kind of. pizza cutter with these weapons. What do. you think? What was the plan? >> There was no plan. I think he has seen. he's not thinking clearly. A lot of. television where you presume because you. have the costume on and you have an ID. and you have a letter from a judge, they're going to release you. It's like. I'd love to go to the bank this. afternoon and say a judge or someone. signed off that my mortgage is paid,

wipe it clean. They'd laugh me out of. the bank or arrest me. He just didn't. think it through. And to think that you. could, you know, walk in with weapons. like that in a letter, it's kind of like. thinking you can rob, you know, Fort. Knox with a plastic sword. There was. just no thinking through it. And now. what they'll do, what a prosecutor will. do, they will go through every alleged. offense. So it's like doctoring. documents, you know, a weapon, and. before you know it, it could be a long. time in prison. And if guilty and there. are health issues, I pray he gets. treatment he needs. But what we have.

seen in the past is, and we've covered. this before, we've covered it where a. guard may sleep with an inmate. Then it. happens again and again. We don't want. to see that copycat where it emboldens a. person to say, "This is where he did it. wrong. I'm going to learn from his. mistakes and I'm going to correct what. he did wrong and I'm going to do it. right and get him out of here." The. first tends to lead to another. And. that's something that authorities need. to need to look out for and be alert. Now, um we have learned from new. reporting that there's a hearing. expected tomorrow in Manion's federal.

case. We believe the judge is expected. to rule uh soon on whether it's going to. be a death penalty case. Um the. Manhattan DA's office has asked the. judge to set a July 1st trial date. They. say they're ready. Jury selection in the. federal case already scheduled for. September 8th, although the US. Attorney's Office has said that it. expects the state case to proceed first. How complicated do you expect this to be. in terms of uh his multiple trials, perhaps multiple phases? What's your. take on it? >> My take is it of course it's it's very.

complicated and if they pursue the death. penalty, it's because they're 100%. convinced they're going to get a. conviction for that and it aligns with. the messaging right now I think of this. administration of holding people. committing violent crimes to justice. And in this instance, they believe by. pushing it that it require the death. penalty. So if they're pushing for it, they think they are going to be. successful. And again, that will upset. people for for myriad reasons. We'll. see. But it's an incredibly complex case. and it continues to, you know, get more.

attention over time. And to your point. earlier, as trial approaches, it's going. to be very popular, a lot of attention. >> Do you think events like this will. influence that decision or influence in. the way a maybe even the tri the way the. trials are held, maybe the security. protocols? I'd have to imagine so. even. the way that he's transported back and. forth, but also do you think it's going. to affect the decisionm in this case in. your in your experience? >> Zero nothing. I think this the US. attorney's office has an end in mind. I. think they want him convicted. They want.

him sent they want him to to endure the. they want death and they've said it from. the beginning. So, I don't think. anything gets in the way of their. endgame seeing him executed. And and. real quick, the security put in place. now for every hearing for the trial. I. imagine, can you imagine what the crowd. is going to look like on day one of. either jury selection or opening. statements in a trial? What that scene. is going to look like outside the. courthouse, inside the courthouse? Are.

you aware of any additional protocols, any additional resources that will be. needed for something like this? >> I've seen it. I've been to 1500. sentencings in my career to support. people of the white collar advice. community facing a sentencing hearing. primarily for a white collar crime. But. in advance of that, an MS-13 gang. member, someone sentenced, even if. they've been in custody this entire. time, usually at a white collar crime. sentencing, there may be no marshall in. the room or one if the judge wants to. take that person into custody. But I'm. just been to sentencing hearings with.

violent crimes. Eight or nine marshals, all on total lockdown, all high alert, people going through metal detectors. before they get into the prison. So you. can absolutely expect that throughout. the entire circus that will be this. trial. There is no doubt. >> Justin Pernie, thank you so much for. jumping on. Really appreciate it. >> My pleasure. Thank you. >> And that's all we have for you right now. here on Sidebar. Everybody, thank you so. much for joining us. And as always, please subscribe on YouTube, Apple. Podcast, Spotify, wherever you should. get your podcast. You can also check us. out on NBC's [music] Peacock. We got.

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