Luigi Mangione Expected to Plead Guilty to Federal Stalking Charge
Federal court is set to hear Luigi Mangione on Friday, where he is likely to enter a guilty plea to stalking, while his separate state murder trial remains scheduled for September.
Luigi Mangione is scheduled to appear before a federal judge on Friday morning, and multiple news outlets report that he is expected to plead guilty to a federal stalking charge. The plea could resolve one of two criminal cases stemming from the December 2024 shooting of UnitedHealth CEO Brian Thompson, but it does not automatically cancel the state murder trial slated to begin with jury selection on Sept. 8.
State prosecutors have warned that a federal plea might undermine a "just outcome" in the state case. Assistant District Attorney Joel J. Seidemann wrote to the state court in July that if a federal deal would defeat a fair result, prosecutors could ask the federal court to reject the plea. Should negotiations collapse, Mangione is still scheduled for a federal trial in January.
New York law generally bars double jeopardy but allows separate prosecutions when each charge contains an element the other does not. Prosecutors may argue that the state charges of murder and weapon possession differ materially from the federal stalking offense, though the legal complexity has been noted by defense counsel.
Mangione was apprehended in December 2024 after a manhunt, following the fatal shooting of Thompson in Manhattan. He was found with a document criticizing corporate greed and the U.S. health-care system. The Justice Department initially sought the death penalty, but a federal judge dismissed those charges in January, ruling they did not meet the statutory definition of "crimes of violence."