Federal prosecutors on Tuesday filed 74 charges against the person who killed five people and injured 19 others at a Colorado Springs LGBTQ club in 2022 — including 50 hate crime charges, Colorado xPublic Radio reports. Documents filed Tuesday in federal court indicate that the shooter intends to plead guilty to the federal charges in exchange for an agreement that federal prosecutors will not seek the death penalty. In that agreement, Anderson Lee Aldrich, now 23, will serve “multiple concurrent life sentences.” “The parties have agreed that multiple concurrent life sentences plus a consecutive sentence of 190 years imprisonment is sufficient but not greater than necessary to achieve the goals of criminal justice,” federal prosecutors said in a court filing. The shooter is already serving five consecutive life sentences in prison without the chance of parole for their guilty plea in state court last year. Colorado doesn’t have a death penalty.
Aldrich’s state attorneys have indicated in court filings that they are non-binary and use they/them pronouns. The shooter appeared in court on Tuesday via web stream wearing an orange jumpsuit with their attorney, David Krautt. They pleaded not guilty on Tuesday, though documents show there has been a tentative agreement in this case not to go to federal trial. Aldrich faces 50 hate crimes charges, including use of a firearm to willfully cause bodily injury and attempting to kill. And the shooter faces additional charges for use of a firearm to commit a crime of violence. These charges do carry possible death penalty sentences, but that will not be sought as a result of the deal reached by prosecutors, court documents say. The feds announced last week they will seek the death penalty in another mass shooting case with hate crimes charges in Buffalo, New York.