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Luigi Mangione has pleaded guilty to causing UnitedHealthcare chief executive Brian Thompson’s death, a major shift in a US federal case that has ignited global debate about America’s health system.
Mangione, a 28-year-old Ivy League graduate, appeared in Manhattan district court on Friday where he entered a plea on federal stalking charges. He had previously pleaded not guilty to both state and federal charges related to Thompson’s death.
His sentencing is set to take place on December 18.
The plea calls off a planned federal trial that had been due to start in January. Mangione could argue for a reduced sentence after entering the plea.
The implications for his separate murder trial in New York’s state court, which is due to start next month, are not immediately clear.
Under double jeopardy rules, his lawyers could argue that the plea in the federal case, to counts that carry a maximum possible sentence of life in prison, means the state case should be dropped. State prosecutors could oppose that.
The plea comes after Mangione faced a series of legal setbacks. In January, federal judge Margaret Garnett rejected a request from his lawyers to suppress evidence seized from his backpack, including a gun, silencer, a magazine cartridge loaded with bullets, written materials and an iPhone.
Gregory Carro, the judge in the state case, ruled in May that Mangione’s gun and notebook could be used as evidence, making the case more difficult for Mangione’s team.
However, Garnett ruled Mangione could not be tried on a charge that carries the death penalty. Use of capital punishment is rare in New York but former attorney-general Pam Bondi had pushed for it to be sought in the case.
Thompson, who ran UnitedHealthcare, the insurance and benefits arm of UnitedHealth Group, was killed on a street in midtown Manhattan in December 2024 as he headed to an investor conference.
The case provoked outrage. In the wake of the shooting, Mangione has won support from people frustrated with the US healthcare system. Some have started dressing as the video game character Luigi and standing outside the court during his hearings.
Earlier this year, Mangione expressed frustration at the two separate cases in an unexpected courtroom outburst. “One plus one is two,” he said. “Double jeopardy by any common sense definition.”
