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Luigi Mangione pleads guilty to federal stalking charges in the killing of UnitedHealthcare CEO
NEW YORK (AP) — Luigi Mangione pleaded guilty on Friday to federal stalking charges in the killing of UnitedHealthcare CEO Brian Thompson, admitting matter-of-factly that he trailed the executive to an investor conference in 2024 and gunned him down on a New York City street.\n\nMangione, 28, said he even used a ruse to glean information about the event, contacting the health insurance company ahead of time under the guise of being an investor at a multibillion-dollar firm.\n\n“On the morning of Dec. 4, 2024, I shot Mr. Thompson in Manhattan, and he died,” Mangione told the court. In the audience, Thompson’s wife, Paulette, took several deep breaths and repeatedly wiped tears from her eyes. A supporter put an arm around the wife and held her tight.\n\nProsecutors plan to seek a life prison term at Mangione’s sentencing, set for Dec. 18. When U.S. District Judge Margaret M. Garnett asked whether he understood that he could spend the rest of his life behind bars, Mangione answered neutrally: “Yes.”\n\nThompson’s family later called the plea “an important step toward justice” and noted that Mangione still faces other cases, including a New York state murder prosecution.\n\n“We will continue to seek the justice Brian deserves,” the relatives said in a statement issued through a spokesperson.\n\n## Mangione still faces a separate state murder case\n\nMangione entered the plea at a hastily scheduled hearing in Manhattan federal court, resolving one of two cases against him in connection with Thompson’s death. Mangione’s lawyers quickly sought to have his separate New York state murder case thrown out on double jeopardy grounds.\n\n“Mr. Mangione has accepted full responsibility for the death of Brian Thompson,” defense lawyer Karen Friedman Agnifilo said outside court, arguing that her client shouldn’t face two prosecutions over a “single tragic event.”\n\nRelated Stories\n\n\n\nLuigi Mangione expected to plead guilty in federal case in UnitedHealthcare killing, AP source says\n\n4 MIN READ\n\n\n\nA timeline of Luigi Mangione’s criminal cases in the killing of UnitedHealthcare’s CEO\n\n4 MIN READ\n\n146\n\n\n\nEx-Mexican drug lord Ismael ‘El Mayo’ Zambada denounces violence as he’s sentenced to life in prison\n\n4 MIN READ\n\n146\n\nProsecutors didn’t recommend a sentencing break for Mangione or give him any other incentive to plead guilty, they and his lawyers said. A defe