Luigi Mangione pleads guilty in federal case, admits killing US insurance CEO

Luigi Mangione admitted in court on Friday to fatally shooting a US health insurance executive and pleaded guilty to two federal charges of stalking the executive with the intent to kill him.

The guilty plea will avert ‌a federal trial in the closely watched case over the killing of UnitedHealthcare CEO Brian Thompson, a brazen crime that was condemned by public officials but became emblematic of Americans’ frustration with health insurance industry practices.

It could also allow him to seek dismissal of state murder charges and delay a coming trial in that case.

US District Judge Margaret Garnett told Mangione that if he pleaded guilty he could face a maximum sentence of life in prison on each count. Garnett set Mangione’s sentencing for December 18.

Mangione’s lawyer, Karen Friedman Agnifilo, ⁠said there was no plea agreement with prosecutors.

Thompson led UnitedHealth Group’s insurance unit before he was shot dead in the early morning of December ‌4, 2024, outside the hotel where an investor conference was taking place.