Mangione admits to shooting Brian Thompson in federal court, still faces separate state charges.
Published On 14 Aug 202614 Aug 2026
Luigi Mangione has pleaded guilty to federal criminal charges tied to the killing of UnitedHealthcare CEO Brian Thompson.
Mangione appeared in a Manhattan federal court on Friday. He was charged with two federal offences: interstate stalking resulting in death and stalking through use of interstate facilities resulting in death. He pleaded guilty to both.
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Speaking during the hearing on Friday, Mangione recounted researching UnitedHealthcare’s annual investor conference and emailed the company, posing as an investor, to learn more details. He said he used the information to target Thompson.
Thompson’s family, seated in the courtroom, came face-to-face with Mangione, who admitted to killing the insurance executive.
“I shot Mr Thompson and he died,“ Mangione reportedly told the court. “I knew what I was doing was illegal.”
Jamie McDonald, the US Attorney for the Southern District of New York, hailed the plea in what he described as a “deliberate, calculated and premeditated” killing of Thompson.
“[Mangione] committed this murder in an attempt to draw public attention to his dislike of certain businesses,” McDonald said at a news conference after the hearing. “No grievance, political belief or ideological cause can ever justify murder. There can be no celebrity in assassination.”
McDonald said the guilty plea, which he described as “open”, allows his office to seek the maximum punishment allowed under the law: life imprisonment.
One of Mangione’s attorneys, Karen Friedman Agnifilo, said the 28-year-old defendant had accepted “full responsibility” for Thompson’s killing while arguing her client has been treated unfairly after facing both federal and state charges.
The federal charges Mangione faced are separate from the state-level charges connected to Thompson’s killing, which include second-degree murder and firearm offences. Mangione had previously pleaded not guilty to those charges and has not updated his plea.
The state-level trial, set to begin next month, could be dismissed under New York’s double-jeopardy law, which protects people from being prosecuted twice for the same offense. Mangione’s attorneys say they’ve filed a motion explaining why the state charges should be dismissed.
“Despite this being a single, isolated event, Mr Mangione has … successfully fought off terrorism charges and the death penalty,” Agnifilo said. “He’s been treated differently from every other defendant charged with this offense in New York.”
The request to dismiss Mangione’s state charges will likely meet stiff resistance from Manhattan District Attorney Alvin Bragg, who said his office “remains fully committed” to pursuing justice for Thompson’s family.
Thompson – a 50-year-old father of two who oversaw the nation’s largest healthcare insurer – was fatally shot on a New York City street in December 2024.
That led to a five-day manhunt that resulted in Mangione being taken into custody at a McDonald’s restaurant in Pennsylvania five days later.
Mangione’s federal sentencing is set for December 18.