Luigi Mangione pleas guilty to US federal stalking charge

Luigi Mangione pleaded guilty on Friday to federal stalking charges in the high profile killing of UnitedHealthcare CEO Brian Thompson, admitting he trailed the executive to an investor conference and gunned him down on a New York City street in 2024.

Mangione, 28, said he made a gun with the aid of a 3D printer, travelled to New York and used a ruse - posing as an investor at a multibillion-dollar firm - to contact the company for details on the event.

Prosecutors plan to seek a life prison term at Mangione's sentencing, set for December 18.

Federal prosecutors didn't give Mangione any deal or incentive to plead guilty, they and his lawyers said.

Nor did Mangione plead guilty to avoid a potential death sentence.

That possibility was taken off the table when a federal murder charge was tossed out this winter.

But after Mangione entered the plea at Friday's hastily scheduled hearing, his lawyers quickly sought to have the New York case thrown out on double jeopardy grounds.

The state's double jeopardy protections can kick in if a prior prosecution ends in a guilty plea.

Mangione's lawyer said he had accepted full responsibility for the death of Thompson, arguing that he client shouldn't face two prosecutions over a "single tragic event.

The Manhattan district attorney's office, which is handling the state prosecution, said it remains committed to its case and would contest the deferens's efforts to shut it down.