Luigi Mangione plea buzz raises potential Paul Manafort problem for prosecutors
Prosecutors with the Southern District of New York and defense attorneys for accused assassin Luigi Mangione asked a U.S. judge Tuesday to set a conference Friday morning — prompting speculation that the 28-year-old could agree to a plea deal in his federal case days before he's set to go to trial on state murder charges.
The timing could have major implications for Manhattan District Attorney Alvin Bragg's state case. New York's double-jeopardy protections previously led Big Apple courts to toss charges against former Trump campaign Chairman Paul Manafort after his federal convictions.
After similar reports of a potential plea deal emerged earlier this year, Manhattan prosecutors indicated that they could "advise" the federal judge if any potential plea agreement would put the "just outcome" of his state case in jeopardy.
LUIGI MANGIONE HEARING SET FOR FRIDAY STIRS PLEA DEAL SPECULATION IN HIS FEDERAL CASE
"If Luigi Mangione takes a plea federally, then the question is, does this state double jeopardy law get triggered?" said Donna Rotunno, a Chicago-based defense attorney, Fox News contributor and the host of "Crime & Justice."
New York has broader double jeopardy laws than the federal government, she said. A federal resolution first could therefore put the state case at risk in a way that a state conviction would not necessarily jeopardize the federal prosecution.
PROSECUTORS WARN LUIGI MANGIONE SUPPORTERS MAY INTIMIDATE WITNESSES AND JURORS AT MURDER TRIAL
"The prosecutors reached out to Judge Carro via letter back in July when they were talking about which case should be set for trial first and the importance of setting the state case for trial before the federal one," Rotunno told Fox News Digital. "So now here we are in a situation where the state is saying wait, wait, why is the government allowing Luigi Mangione to possibly take a plea on the federal side? Because if that's the case, it could potentially upend our case on the state side."
Shortly after Friday's pre-trial conference appeared on the docket, speculation swirled that it could involve a potential plea deal. However, neither side has commented, and the purpose of the conference remains unclear.
EX-TRUMP CAMPAIGN CHAIRMAN PAUL MANAFORT OPENS UP ABOUT 'SCARY' TIME SPENT IN SOLITARY CONFINEMENT
While Mangione is currently scheduled to go on trial on the state charges next month and see a federal trial next year, his lawyers could potentially make the double jeopardy argument in New York, if the federal case results in a conviction first.
In the 2019 Manafort case, he was charged at the state level with fraud crimes that were similar to those he had already been convicted of federally.
New York Judge Maxwell Wiley agreed to dismiss the state charges.
LUIGI MANGIONE'S FEDERAL TRIAL PUSHED TO NEXT YEAR IN ASSASSINATION OF UNITEDHEALTHCARE CEO
The factual overlap between the state and federal cases was "extensive — if not total," Wiley wrote at the time. Then-Manhattan District Attorney Cy Vance Jr. appealed the ruling unsuccessfully.
An appellate court unanimously upheld Wiley's decision.
FOLLOW THE FOX TRUE CRIME TEAM ON X
The question in the Manafort case was whether the federal and state laws were "designed to prevent very different kinds of harm or evil." Both Manafort cases involved the same fraud and the same victims, and the courts found that the laws were not aimed at "very different kinds" of offenses.
In Mangione's case, should he actually reach a federal plea deal before his state trial, the question might boil down to whether a federal charge of stalking resulting in death is "very different" from New York's second-degree murder charge.
"There's a little bit of an argument to be made there, but again, if that was not an issue, then why were the prosecutors so concerned about making sure they go first?" Rotunno asked. "If you look at this law, this law really has to do with the state going first because the feds can prosecute any charges they want, even if they're based on the same conduct."
SIGN UP TO GET THE LATEST TRUE CRIME NEWS
"If the charges were so different, they wouldn't worry about it," she added.
LIKE WHAT YOU'RE READING? CLICK HERE FOR MORE
Manafort's lawyer at the time, Todd Blanche, is now the U.S. attorney general. At an unrelated Justice Department news briefing Wednesday, he declined to answer a question about whether Friday's hearing would be related to a potential plea deal.
The top charge Mangione faces federally, stalking resulting in death, carries a maximum sentence of life in federal prison, without the possibility of parole, if convicted. At the state level, he faces a maximum of 25 years to life if convicted of the second-degree murder charge.
Even if convicted at trial, however, Rotunno said he might not get the maximum sentence based on his lack of a prior criminal history. Any plea deal that leads to less than a life sentence could be considered a win for the defense, she said.
LISTEN TO THE NEW 'CRIME & JUSTICE WITH DONNA ROTUNNO' PODCAST
"Odds of him getting life are probably slim even after a trial, given the fact that he had no background, and the maximum is life," she said. "But either way, he would’ve gotten such a big number that odds of him getting out would be very slim."
Carro had previously rejected a double jeopardy claim from Mangione's defense, and Mangione himself in February claimed he was being subject to "the same trial twice" in a courtroom outburst.
"One plus one is two," he complained, while being escorted out of the courtroom. "Double jeopardy by any common sense."
Mangione has pleaded not guilty to all of the charges against him in both cases.
Back in May, another disparity between state and federal law left a potential impact on the case. Carro ruled that some key evidence recovered from Mangione's backpack during his arrest at a Pennsylvania McDonald's would be inadmissible at trial. Judge Margaret Garnett, who is overseeing the federal case, rejected the defense team's argument that the search was improper.
At the same time, Garnett threw out the potential death penalty when she ruled that the underlying stalking charge didn't qualify as a "crime of violence." And that decision could fuel arguments from Manhattan prosecutors against any potential double jeopardy claims, according to Paul Mauro, a retired NYPD inspector and Fox News contributor.
"The federal judge has already found, thanks to Mangione's own arguments, that stalking is not a 'crime of violence,'" he told Fox News Digital. "And if that's the federal position, then you have to ask yourself, is the harm of a nonviolent crime, is the potential harm trying to be prevented by the stalking charge, different enough from what the statute for murder 2 is trying to prevent so that you can say the two statutes are distinct enough that the state case could go forward."
"But that said," he added, "the New York state double jeopardy law is very defendant-favorable. So who knows? Maybe Luigi has just decided he prefers federal prison to state prison. Because of generally better conditions."
Fox News' Stephen Sorace contributed to this report.