Luigi Mangione pleads guilty to federal stalking charges in killing of UnitedHealthcare CEO Brian Thompson

Mangione entered his guilty plea before U.S. Judge Margaret Garnett, describing in a prepared statement the steps he took to plan and carry out the shooting outside a Midtown Manhattan hotel where UnitedHealthcare was holding its annual investor conference. He said that after "years of enduring severe pain from a broken back" and "navigating the obstacles of the health insurance system," he used a 3D printer to manufacture part of a firearm, equipped it with a silencer and a magazine, and traveled to New York City in November 2024. He also said he emailed UnitedHealthcare leadership posing as an investor to obtain conference details. Thompson's widow and other family members were present in the courtroom.

Mangione expressed no remorse during the proceeding. His defense attorney, Karen Friedman Agnifilo, said afterward that Mangione had "accepted full responsibility" for Thompson's death, and that he "believed that the system had failed him and destroyed his life." U.S. Attorney Jamie McDonald said in a statement that "no grievance, political belief, or ideological cause can justify murder." Federal prosecutors noted they had an overwhelming amount of evidence, including DNA and fingerprints from the murder scene.

Immediately following the federal plea, Mangione's defense team filed a motion in state court asking Judge Gregory Carro to dismiss second-degree murder and weapons charges, arguing that New York's double jeopardy law — which goes further than the U.S. Constitution in barring successive prosecutions based on the same criminal act or transaction — prohibits the state from proceeding. The defense also alleged in its filing that federal and state prosecutors had coordinated their cases specifically to maximize prosecutorial opportunities while attempting to circumvent double jeopardy protections.