Luigi Mangione told a judge on Friday that he was prepared to plead guilty to federal stalking charges in connection with the 2024 fatal shooting of UnitedHealthcare CEO Brian Thompson.
Mangione faced two federal charges that each carry a possible life sentence: interstate stalking resulting in death and stalking through use of interstate facilities resulting in death. He did not face murder charges in federal court. The federal judge said during the hearing, which is still taking place, that she will not sentence Mangione on Friday, and that he still has the right to change his mind.
The planned guilty plea marks a remarkable shift in Mangione’s defense, as he had previously pleaded not guilty to all the federal and state charges he was facing.
Mangione, 28, was arrested in December 2024 on suspicion of fatally shooting Thompson in New York City five days earlier while the health executive was walking to a conference. The case quickly drew the attention of people across the country, some of whom regarded Mangione as a symbol for those who are frustrated with the health insurance industry in the U.S.
The 28-year-old’s state murder trial is scheduled to start next month in New York. The state charges he’s facing carry a possible sentence of 25 years to life. It’s not yet clear what impact, if any, a federal guilty plea could have on the state charges against him, but the judge in federal court on Friday said that if Mangione is found guilty in the state case against him, that could be added to his federal sentence.
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In January, a federal judge ruled out the possibility of Mangione facing the death penalty. A few months earlier, Mangione’s lawyers were also successful in getting terrorism-related state charges against him dropped.
The Trump Administration has publicly condemned Mangione, with then-Attorney General Pam Bondi saying last year that the Justice Department would seek the death penalty against him.
“Luigi Mangione’s murder of Brian Thompson—an innocent man and father of two young children—was a premeditated, cold-blooded assassination that shocked America,” she said at the time.
After Bondi’s announcement last year, Mangione’s attorneys claimed that “the United States government intends to kill Mr. Mangione as a political stunt.”
This is a developing story.