Luigi Mangione admits to shooting health insurance executive Brian Thompson, pleads guilty to federal charges

Luigi Mangione admits to shooting health insurance executive Brian Thompson, pleads guilty to federal charges

Mangione, 28, also faces murder charges filed by state prosecutors

Luigi Mangione pleads guilty to federal stalking charges

Luigi Mangione on Friday admitted to fatally shooting health insurance executive Brian Thompson in the back on a Manhattan sidewalk in 2024, while pleading guilty to two federal stalking charges in court.

Mangione, 28, previously pleaded not guilty in April ⁠2025 to murder, weapons and stalking charges brought by Manhattan federal prosecutors, but U.S. District Judge Margaret Garnett threw out the murder and weapons charges over legal technicalities in a January ruling, leaving two stalking charges in places.

That ruling eliminated the possibility that Mangione would face the death penalty, ‌though he still faces a possible sentence of life without parole if convicted on two charges: interstate stalking resulting in death and stalking through use of interstate facilities resulting in death.

On Friday, Garnett asked him a series of questions designed to make sure he understood the consequences of a guilty plea.

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Mangione answered no when asked if he had ever ⁠been treated or hospitalized for a mental illness. His lawyers and prosecutors told Garnett he was mentally competent enough to knowingly plead guilty, and the judge agreed.

The judge scheduled sentencing for Dec. 18. Jamie McDonald, U.S. attorney for the Southern District of New York, said federal prosecutors will ask for a life sentence.

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It's not clear yet what effect the guilty plea will ultimately have on the second-degree murder charges filed in a separate case filed by New York State officials. The trial in that case is scheduled to begin on Sept. 8.

While calling it a "solemn and significant day," Mangione's lawyer Karen Friedman Agnifilo said outside the court following the hearing that her client was being treated differently than other individuals in New York.

"It was a single tragic event, yet he's being prosecuted twice for the same conduct."

She said Mangione would seek dismissal of the ​state murder charge under New York's double jeopardy law.

Thompson led Minnesota-based UnitedHealth Group's insurance unit before he was shot from behind on a Manhattan sidewalk early in the morning of Dec. 4, 2024. The 50-year-old Iowa native was attending an investor conference at a city hotel.

Thompson's widow, Paulette, sat in the ​front row of the gallery on Friday with other members of his family. He is also survived by two children.

"While today's plea doesn't replace the void he left behind, I hope it offers the glimmer of closure the Thompson family and friends deserve," said James Barnacle, assistant director in charge of the FBI's New York field office.

Graphic footage of the killing and a five-day manhunt for a suspect made the case a media fixture and social ⁠media sensation. Mangione was arrested at a McDonald's in Altoona, Pa., some 370 kilometres from the scene of the crime.

Born and raised in Maryland, Mangione lived a somewhat itinerant life in the two years leading up to Thompson's killing, working a series of jobs remotely and living for a time in Hawaii and California.

Police have alleged he lashed out at health insurers in his private writings.

Death penalty off the table for Luigi Mangione as judge dismisses federal murder charge

UnitedHealth has said there's no record of Mangione or members of his immediate family as being among its policyholders.

According to Friedman Agnifilo, Mangione believed "the system failed him and destroyed his life" after his own experience following an injury.

"As Luigi explained in court today, he endured years of severe, debilitating pain following a broken back, while struggling to navigate our health care and health insurance systems," she said."

Social media posts taking aim at the American health insurance industry and its rate of denials of coverage proliferated in the wake of Thompson's killing, as did posts that appeared to celebrate Mangione. Previous court hearings attracted a larger-than-usual number of onlookers and demonstrators.

New York City police Commissioner Jessica Tisch was unsparing in her assessment of Mangione.

"To those who idolize Luigi Mangione, I say this — violence is not a cause, murder is not a message and a killer is certainly not a hero," she said.

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Mangione pleaded not guilty in December 2024 to state terrorism, murder, weapons and forgery charges brought by Manhattan District Attorney Alvin Bragg. The terrorism charges were thrown out ⁠by a judge in September 2025.

Mangione would face 25 years to life in prison if convicted of second-degree murder.

Bragg's office ​would oppose the move, arguing ⁠that the murder charge is legally distinct from the federal charges.