Summary:
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Luigi Mangione pleaded guilty to stalking charges in CEO Brian Thompson’s killing, facing potential life imprisonment.
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He posed as an investor to track Thompson, was arrested at a McDonald’s, and faces federal sentencing.
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Family calls the plea an important step toward justice, with the state case’s jury selection scheduled.
Luigi Mangione pleaded guilty Friday in Manhattan federal court to two stalking charges in the December 2024 killing of UnitedHealthcare CEO Brian Thompson. The 28-year-old admitted he shot Thompson and said he knew the act was illegal, a reversal from the not guilty plea he entered last year.
The two counts, interstate stalking resulting in death and stalking through use of interstate facilities resulting in death, each carry a maximum sentence of life in prison.
Judge Margaret Garnett told Mangione that prosecutors calculated federal sentencing guidelines at roughly 24 to 30 years, though she is not bound by them. Sentencing is set for Dec. 18.
Mangione’s statement to the court included a detail that had not been public before. He said he posed as a potential investor managing more than $50 billion in assets and emailed UnitedHealthcare to confirm where its investor conference was being held so he could track Thompson.
Thompson was shot outside the New York Hilton Midtown on the morning of Dec. 4, 2024, and Mangione was arrested five days later at a Pennsylvania McDonald’s.Thompson’s widow, Paulette Thompson, was in the courtroom. In a statement, the family called the plea an important step toward justice and said the federal system had held the person responsible accountable.
U.S. Attorney Jamie McDonald said no grievance or ideological cause can justify murder, and said his office intends to seek life imprisonment.Minutes after the plea, defense attorney Karen Friedman Agnifilo filed a motion arguing New York’s double jeopardy protections require the state charges to be thrown out.
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Jury selection in the state case is currently scheduled for Sept. 8.
