Luigi Mangione has admitted guilt in a federal case tied to the deadly shooting of UnitedHealthcare chief executive Brian Thompson.
Mangione, 28, pleaded guilty on Aug. 14 to federal stalking charges connected to Thompson’s 2024 killing, changing course after previously entering a not guilty plea in April 2025, according to the Associated Press.
The plea brings the federal portion of the case to a close, though Mangione still faces a separate state prosecution over Thompson’s death, the outlet reported.
After the hearing outside the Manhattan courthouse, Mangione’s legal team said they had moved to dismiss the state charges, arguing that continuing with another prosecution would amount to double jeopardy.
Defense attorney Karen Friedman said Mangione had “accepted full responsibility for the death of Brian Thompson,” according to AP’s livestream, while arguing that he should not be prosecuted twice for what she described as one “single tragic event.”
During the court proceeding, Mangione said he had dealt with chronic back pain for years and later discovered that UnitedHealthcare was scheduled to host an investor conference in Manhattan, according to MS Now. He also acknowledged pretending to be an investor in order to learn the event’s location.
“I shot Mr. Thompson in Manhattan, and he died,” Mangione said in court, per the outlet. “And I knew what I was doing was illegal.”
Under a letter agreement cited by prosecutors, federal authorities believe Mangione should receive a prison sentence ranging from 24 to 36 years, MS Now reported. His sentencing is scheduled for Dec. 18.
In June, his defense announced they were no longer pursuing a psychiatric defense, a major reversal for their strategy.
Prosecutors alleged that in November 2024, Mangione traveled to New York from Georgia and checked into a hostel using a fake New Jersey ID. On the morning of Dec. 4, he allegedly rode an e-bike to midtown Manhattan.
Wearing a hoodie and a mask and armed with a 9-millimeter 3D-printed ghost gun with a silencer, Mangione allegedly shot 50-year-old Thompson in the back and leg, before fleeing the scene and eventually the state, prosecutors said.
Thompson was transported to a hospital where he died.
Investigators later found two shell casings marked with the words “DENY” and “DEPOSE” and a bullet bearing the word “DELAY” at the scene.
According to two law enforcement officials who spoke anonymously to the Associated Press, the words may reference the alleged catchphrase, “Delay, Deny, Defend,” reportedly used by healthcare companies when rejecting payment for medical treatments.
Mangione was arrested on Dec. 9 when authorities tracked him down at a McDonald’s in Altoona, PA after an employee recognized him from media photos. There, police recovered a handgun, ammunition magazines, live cartridges, a homemade silencer and the fake ID.
Oxygen and MS Now are both part of the Versant Media family.
