Luigi Mangione has changed plea in a surprising move.
On Friday (August 14), the 28-year-old appeared in federal court in New York City where he pleaded guilty, nearly two years after he was accused of killing UnitedHealthcare CEO Brian Thompson.
After he was sworn in, Mangione was asked several questions about his state of mind, which he insisted was clear, according to The New York Times.
He then pleaded guilty to a pair of stalking charges resulting in death, both of which carry a maximum penalty of life in prison without the possibility of parole.
After he entered his plea, Mangione spoke about the shooting.
“After years of enduring severe pain from a broken back, navigating the obstacles of the health insurance system … I learned that UHC would be holding an annual investor conference in NYC on December 4, 2024,” Mangione said, according to Courthouse News reporter Erik Uebelacker.
He then confessed that he traveled to New York with the “intent to shoot Brian Thompson.”
“On the morning of December 4, 2024, I shot Mr. Thompson in Manhattan and he died,” Mangione said. “When I did so, I understood that my actions would place him in fear of death or serious bodily injury.”
As of right now, it’s unclear what prompted Mangione to change his plea, which comes about a month before he was set to stand trial for murder and other charges in New York state court. He also faces charges in Pennsylvania, where he was arrested and taken into custody after a five-day manhunt.
A guilty plea to the federal charges could lay the groundwork for Mangione to attempt to dismiss the New York state case against him, USA Today reports. To do so, he needs to argue the state’s double jeopardy law protects him from being prosecuted twice for the same conduct.
He is still facing several charges in the state case, which include second-degree murder, various criminal possession of a weapon counts and criminal possession of a forged instrument in the New York state case.
Mangione is scheduled to be sentenced on December 18. His attorneys said that a plea deal was not reached before he decided to plead guilty.
Luigi Mangione‘s federal trial is set to begin in January 2027.
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