Luigi Mangione Pleads Guilty to Killing UnitedHealthcare CEO Brian Thompson

Luigi Mangione has pleaded guilty to federal charges connected to the killing of UnitedHealthcare CEO Brian Thompson, admitting in court that he stalked and fatally shot the executive in Manhattan in December 2024.

Mangione, 28, entered his guilty plea on Friday at a federal court in Manhattan to two charges of stalking resulting in death. The charges carry a potential sentence of life imprisonment.

During the hearing, Mangione acknowledged that he tracked Thompson to an investor conference in New York and shot him outside a Manhattan hotel on December 4, 2024.

The killing sparked a nationwide manhunt and attracted intense public attention, with the case also becoming a flashpoint for anger over the US health insurance industry.

Thompson’s family attended the hearing and welcomed the guilty plea as an important step toward accountability. The family, however, condemned the killing as a “heinous act” and said a guilty plea could not erase the pain caused by Thompson’s death.

Federal prosecutors said Mangione’s actions were deliberate and stressed that personal grievances or ideological beliefs cannot justify murder. Prosecutors are seeking a substantial sentence, while Mangione is scheduled to be sentenced on December 18, 2026.

The federal plea does not end Mangione’s legal troubles. He continues to face separate state murder charges in New York, with his state trial currently scheduled to begin on September 8.

His lawyers are seeking to have the state case dismissed, arguing that prosecuting him again over the same conduct would violate protections against double jeopardy. Prosecutors are opposing that effort.

Brian Thompson was shot and killed while travelling to an investor meeting for UnitedHealth Group, the parent company of UnitedHealthcare. Mangione was arrested five days later in Pennsylvania following the extensive manhunt.

The case has remained highly polarising, with Mangione attracting support from some critics of the US healthcare system. Thompson’s family and prosecutors, however, have maintained that dissatisfaction with the healthcare system cannot excuse the killing.

Mangione’s federal guilty plea now brings one part of the high-profile case closer to an end, while the separate New York murder proceedings remain unresolved.