Towson native Luigi Mangione might not appear in federal court until mid-February for allegedly murdering the CEO of UnitedHealthcare, Brian Thompson.

Attorneys for Mangione and prosecutors jointly said in a letter to a Manhattan federal court this week that they needed more time to prepare for a trial, agreeing that the deadline for an indictment could be extended from Jan. 18 to Feb. 17.

Local defense attorney Thomas J. Maronick Jr. characterized the delay as “standard operating procedure.”

When a case is pushed out, it generally gives defense attorneys more time to pursue motion defenses, more time to talk with prosecutors about potential deals and make a decision if there is a motions-related defense or if the case has to go to trial, according to Maronick.

“In criminal defense cases, what you try to do is push the case out as far as you can,” Maronick told the Baltimore Sun. “Sometimes, your clients want to try and get it tried sooner because they are incarcerated, but from a defense perspective, time is on your side. Delays generally benefit the defense. The longer the case drags, it puts more pressure on the state to try and get a verdict.”

Mangione comes from one of the wealthiest families in Baltimore and was valedictorian at the elite Gilman School in Baltimore. He is accused of carefully planning the murder of Thompson — traveling to New York to find him, carrying a gun with a sound suppressor to carry out the killing, and developing a document that chronicles his disdain for the insurance industry, which law enforcement said they found on him at the time of his arrest.

Mangione has pleaded not guilty to New York state charges, including murder as a crime of terrorism, murder in the first degree, murder in the second degree, criminal possession of a forged instrument and seven counts of criminal possession of a firearm.

Mangione faces a maximum sentence of life in prison without parole for the state charges.

Mangione’s defense lawyer Karen Friedman Agnifilo complained in court proceedings last month that he is being used as a political tool by, among others, New York City Mayor Eric Adams, who she said was behind the high-profile “perp walks” of her client.

“I am very concerned about my client’s right to a fair trial in this case. He is being prejudiced by some statements made by public officials,” Friedman Agnifilo said. “He is a young man, and he is being treated like a human ping pong ball.”

In addition, Mangione is facing several federal charges, including two counts of stalking, one count of murder through the use of a firearm, and a firearms offense.

The federal charges carry the possibility of a death penalty.

“It is two separate cases and it’s two different grounds they are going on,” Maronick said. “It’s something where Mangione has to look at all options because if the state is pursuing the case at one angle, and the federal government is pursuing it at another, you have to be ready for both.”

Mangione was arrested Dec. 9 in Altoona, Pennsylvania in a McDonald’s after a restaurant employee recognized him. Altoona police officers confronted Mangione, who provided the same false identification he used when checking into an Upper West Side hostel.

Mangione was also found in possession of, among other things, a 9mm pistol and a sound suppressor consistent with the weapon used to kill the victim, prosecutors said.

Maronick also does not believe there is any possibility that the case could be moved from New York because of too much publicity.

“There’s simply too much that has been covered with this case,” Maronick said. “It’s a national story. I don’t think you could move it anywhere that somebody had not heard of this.”

The Associated Press and Baltimore Sun editor Riley Gutiérrez McDermid contributed to this report.

Have a news tip? Contact Todd Karpovich at tkarpovich@baltsun.com or on X as @ToddKarpovich.