Luigi Mangione pleaded guilty to federal charges in a surprise court hearing in Manhattan.
Mangione, 28, entered the guilty plea before U.S. District Judge Margaret M. Garnett on Friday after his lawyers and federal prosecutors hastily scheduled the hearing earlier this week. The former University of Pennsylvania computer-science graduate from Towson, Maryland, is facing two federal counts of stalking resulting in death, each carrying a maximum sentence of life in prison.
He is accused of killing UnitedHealthcare CEO Brian Thompson, 50, who was fatally shot outside the New York Hilton Midtown in midtown Manhattan on December 4, 2024. Thompson had been heading to an early morning investor conference when he was ambushed, and the shooting sparked a nationwide manhunt for his killer.
The Department of Justice had been seeking the death penalty for Mangione, but a federal judge blocked this in January 2026. Previous plea talks between Mangione’s lawyers and federal prosecutors broke down in June, making Friday’s sudden reversal all the more striking.
Speaking in court as part of his guilty plea, Mangione said, per live Twitter reporting from Inner City Press: “After years of negotiating severe pain in my back and seeing others too I learned UnitedHealth would hold its conference.”
He continued, “I researched the event online. I observed the conference of the largest health care company would be attended by executives, not doctor, nurses or patients. I traveled to Manhattan and emailed leadership posing as an investor managing $58 billion.”
“Unlike my other experiences, I was contacted back in 1 hour,” Mangione added. “I printed a gun with a 3D printer… I shot Mr. Thompson and he died. I understand he would be afraid, I knew what I was doing was illegal.”
The judge then asked Mangione how he pleads, and he answered “guilty.” Judge Garnett had confirmed that Mangione was in a state to enter a plea before accepting it. His sentencing has been set for December 18.
It is thought that he pleaded guilty to the federal charges so that his lawyers can seek dismissal of some or all of the charges in his state case. Under New York law, a state prosecution could potentially be barred if the federal case is resolved first, though it is not automatic. The state’s double jeopardy protections kick in if a jury has been sworn in a prior prosecution, or if that prosecution ends in a guilty plea. Mangione’s cases involve different charges arising from the same course of conduct.
In a letter last month, state prosecutors objected to the possibility of a guilty plea in the federal case wiping out the state case. Mangione himself has spoken out publicly against the prospect of two trials, telling a judge in February: “It’s the same trial twice. One plus one is two. Double jeopardy by any commonsense definition.”
Speaking to the media outside the courtroom before Mangione’s new plea, his lawyer confirmed that the 28-year-old was there to plead guilty. Mangione faces several charges in the state of New York, including second-degree murder and two counts of criminal possession of a weapon in the second degree, which he has pleaded not guilty to.
Mangione’s state trial is scheduled to begin next month, with jury selection taking place on September 8. It’s unclear if today’s guilty plea will change this. The defense had originally planned to pursue a psychiatric defense in the state trial but later withdrew those plans.
In the viral moment that launched this case, Thompson was gunned down on a busy Manhattan sidewalk at approximately 6:44 a.m. On December 4, 2024, as he walked to UnitedHealth Group’s annual investor conference. Shell casings recovered at the scene carried hand-inscribed words: “deny,” “defend,” and “depose” — a reference to a 2010 book about insurance industry practices. The killing rattled business leaders while galvanizing critics of the U.S. Healthcare system, and within hours social media erupted with messages of support for the unknown shooter. Mangione was arrested five days later at a McDonald’s in Altoona, Pennsylvania, after an employee recognized him from surveillance photos released by the NYPD. Police found him with a 3D-printed ghost gun, a suppressor, a fake New Jersey ID, and a three-page manifesto denouncing U.S. Health-insurance industry profits.
Mangione’s federal trial had been scheduled to begin January 5, 2027, with jury selection and opening statements to follow, after Judge Garnett ruled the two trials could not move forward simultaneously.