With life behind bars now a certainty for Jared Lee Loughner, federal prison officials will have to determine just where to put him.

Jared Loughner sat looking relaxed and attentive in a packed courtroom as he pleaded guilty to a deadly shooting rampage in an agreement with prosecutors that will send him to prison for life. He even cracked a smile when a court-appointed psychologist talked about the special bond that he formed with a prison guard.

For the legal team defending the suspect in a deadly Tucson mass shooting, reaching a plea deal was just one step. Convincing a judge that Jared Lee Loughner is competent enough to enter a plea depends on how he behaves in court Tuesday.

Legal experts say it is a virtual certainty that federal prosecutors will pursue the death penalty against the man arrested after a shooting that killed six people and wounded Rep. Gabrielle Giffords and 12 others in Tucson.

The man accused of carrying out a mass shooting in Tucson pleaded not guilty Monday to charges he tried to kill Rep. Gabrielle Giffords and two of her aides.

The man accused of carrying out the mass shooting in Tucson faces a court hearing Monday — an early step in a case against Jared Loughner that could take years to wend its way through the criminal justice system.

The man accused of carrying out the mass shooting in Tucson faces a court hearing Monday — an early step in a case against Jared Loughner that could take years to wend its way through the criminal justice system.

The parents of a man charged with trying to assassinate Rep. Gabrielle Giffords are devastated and guilt-ridden, a neighbor said, mourning their own tragedy as Tucson residents prepared Tuesday for a community memorial service and a visit from the president.

The attorney for a 22-year-old loner accused of trying to assassinate Rep. Gabrielle Giffords has a low-key style and a record of saving high-profile clients from the death penalty.

Wearing a beige prison jumpsuit and handcuffs and sporting a pink gash on the hairline of his shaved head, Loughner on Monday afternoon spoke just a brief reply when the judge asked if he understood that he could get life in prison — or the death penalty — for killing federal Judge John Roll.