Luigi Mangione pleaded guilty on Friday, August 14, 2026, to two federal stalking charges over the killing of UnitedHealthcare CEO Brian Thompson.
Appearing before US District Judge Margaret Garnett in Manhattan, the 28-year-old admitted shooting Thompson and said he knew the act was illegal.
“I shot Mr. Thompson and he died. I knew what I was doing was illegal,” Mangione told the court.
The plea ends the federal prosecution without a trial. Each count carries a maximum sentence of life imprisonment, with Mangione’s sentencing set for December 18, 2026.
Thompson, 50, was shot dead outside a Manhattan hotel on December 4, 2024, while heading to an investor conference. Mangione was arrested five days later at a McDonald’s in Altoona, Pennsylvania, after a nationwide manhunt.
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Mangione still faces a separate New York state case charging him with second-degree murder and weapons offences. He has pleaded not guilty, with jury selection scheduled for September 8.
His federal plea could now fuel a double-jeopardy challenge by his defence, which is expected to argue that continuing the state prosecution over the same underlying conduct would amount to prosecuting him twice.
Prosecutors are expected to oppose the challenge, leaving the courts to determine whether the state case can proceed.
The federal prosecution initially included murder and firearms charges carrying the possibility of a death sentence. Judge Garnett dismissed those charges in January 2026, leaving the stalking counts.
In the state case, terrorism-related murder charges were dismissed in September 2025, while the second-degree murder charge remained.
Mangione’s guilty plea settles the federal case but leaves his state prosecution and the double-jeopardy dispute as the next major legal test.