Luigi Mangione, the man accused of gunning down UnitedHealthcare CEO Brian Thompson on a Manhattan sidewalk, stood up in federal court on Friday and admitted it. The 28 year old pleaded guilty to two federal charges of stalking resulting in death, telling the judge, “I shot Mr. Thompson in Manhattan, and he died.” The plea does not end his legal saga: he still faces a state murder trial that could now be in jeopardy.
What he said in court
In a detailed statement to U.S. District Judge Margaret Garnett, Mangione described years of severe pain from a broken back and frustrations navigating the health insurance system. He said he emailed UnitedHealthcare leadership posing as an investor at a firm managing over $50 billion in assets to learn where the company’s investor conference would be held in December 2024.
“Unlike my previous interactions with insurers, I received an immediate response within an hour,” he said. He told the court he used a 3-D printer to make part of a gun, equipped it with a silencer and magazine, and traveled to New York “with the intent to shoot Brian Thompson.”
The federal case and sentencing
Thompson, 50, was fatally shot on December 4, 2024 outside the Hilton Hotel in midtown Manhattan, just before the company’s investor conference. Mangione was arrested five days later in a McDonald’s in Altoona, Pennsylvania, after a customer recognized him from surveillance photos.
His plea was not part of any deal with prosecutors. He faces a possible maximum sentence of life in prison at his December 18 sentencing, though federal guidelines suggest a range of 24 to 30 years. Manhattan U.S. Attorney Jamie McDonald said prosecutors will seek life for the stalking charges that resulted in Thompson’s death.
What happens to the state murder trial
Mangione still faces eight state charges, including second degree murder, with jury selection scheduled for September 8 in Manhattan Supreme Court. Hours after the federal plea, his lawyers filed a motion arguing the state case should be thrown out under New York’s double jeopardy protections, which are stricter than the federal standard and bar prosecution for offenses arising from the same criminal act.
Defense attorney Karen Friedman Agnifilo called the case against her client “a single isolated event” and said he had been “treated differently from every other defendant” charged with the offense. The Manhattan District Attorney’s Office said it would fight the dismissal motion and remains committed to seeking justice in state court. Legal analysts say the federal allocution could also be used against him at trial, limiting his defense options.
The family’s response
Thompson’s family called the plea “an important step toward justice for Brian and for our family,” while noting that “additional proceedings in New York and Pennsylvania are still to come.” UnitedHealth Group said Thompson’s “life was cut short by an act of violence that devastated everyone who knew and loved him.”
Sentencing is set for December 18, and the state court must still rule on the double jeopardy motion before the murder trial can proceed. The case, which sparked a worldwide debate over the US healthcare system, has one of its final chapters in federal court now written.
