Luigi Mangione pleads guilty to stalking UnitedHealthcare CEO, admits killing him

Luigi Mangione pleaded guilty Friday in federal court to stalking charges tied to the 2024 broad daylight killing of UnitedHealthcare CEO Brian Thompson in New York City.

Why it matters: Mangione's lawyers are now using Friday's federal plea to request that all but one separate state charge be dismissed.

They claimed double jeopardy, a legal protection that prevents a person from being charged twice for the same offense.

Driving the news: Mangione's trial over the two federal charges — interstate stalking resulting in death and stalking through use of interstate facilities resulting in death — was scheduled for January 2027.

He had previously pleaded not guilty.

During Friday's hearing, Judge Margaret Garnett told Mangione he will still be required to serve up to 85% of his sentence for the federal charges.

"I shot Mr.

Thompson," Mangione said during Friday's hearing, adding, "I knew what I was doing was illegal," per multiple reports.

He described traveling to Manhattan ahead of the shooting, and seeking information about the conference Thompson was attending by posing as an investor.

Mangione also described creating a gun with a 3D printer and attaching a silencer to it.

Garnett accepted his guilty plea and scheduled Mangione's sentencing for December 18.

Catch up quick: Mangione is accused of fatally shooting Thompson in midtown Manhattan in December 2024.

The attack, which occurred outside a large hotel, sparked intense media coverage and a days-long manhunt for a suspect.

Mangione was ultimately arrested at a McDonald's in Altoona, Pennsylvania, where he was charged with five counts unrelated to Thompson's killing.