The 23-year-old serving five life sentences for killing five people and injuring 22 in a mass shooting at a Colorado Springs LGBTQ nightclub in 2022 is expected to plead guilty to dozens of federal hate crime and weapons charges.
The U.S. Attorney’s Office for the District of Colorado filed 74 hate crime and weapons charges against Anderson Aldrich on Jan. 5, including hate crime charges for using a firearm to cause death, bodily injury and attempt to kill.
Aldrich has negotiated a plea agreement in the Club Q case, including serving multiple concurrent life sentences totaling 190 years in prison, according to court records.
Aldrich appeared in court in Denver on Tuesday and pleaded not guilty to the charges, according to the Associated Press, but Aldrich’s attorney filed a motion to schedule a change of plea hearing in the case on Jan. 10.
“…It is anticipated that the defendant has agreed to plead guilty to all charges,” U.S. Department of Justice officials wrote in a news release Tuesday.
Aldrich is already serving multiple life sentences after pleading guilty to five counts of first-degree murder and 46 counts of attempted first-degree murder in June for the Nov. 19, 2022, mass shooting at Club Q.
Aldrich is incarcerated at the Wyoming State Penitentiary and was moved out of state “due to safety concerns,” according to the Colorado Department of Corrections.
The federal complaint alleges Aldrich targeted victims “because of the actual and perceived sexual orientation and gender identity.”
This is a developing story and will be updated.
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