Luigi Mangione, 28, entered a guilty plea on August 14, 2026 to federal stalking charges tied to the fatal shooting of UnitedHealthcare chief executive Brian Thompson, admitting in open court that he fired the shots that killed Thompson in Midtown Manhattan.
"I shot Mr Thompson in Manhattan and he died," Mangione said during the proceeding, which was presided over by U.S. District Judge Margaret M. Garnett.
The two federal counts, interstate stalking resulting in death and cyberstalking via interstate facilities resulting in death, each carry a potential maximum sentence of life in prison, according to the U.S. Department of Justice. Jamie McDonald, the U.S. Attorney whose office covers the Southern District of New York, announced the plea. Thompson was shot outside a New York City hotel on December 4, 2024.
Mangione still faces a separate Manhattan state case on murder and weapons charges, and his legal team, led by Karen Friedman Agnifilo and Marc Agnifilo, has moved to dismiss those charges on double jeopardy grounds. The defense argues that New York cannot prosecute Mangione for conduct already covered by the federal case. Legal experts have said the state's double jeopardy statute could threaten the viability of that trial, The Guardian reported. The federal plea came weeks before the state trial had been scheduled to start.
The Financial Times noted that the case has become a focal point for debate about the U.S. healthcare system. Mangione is described by the Financial Times as an Ivy League graduate.