Luigi Mangione pleaded guilty in federal court on Friday to fatally shooting UnitedHealthcare CEO Brian Thompson, admitting that he stalked the executive with the intention of killing him.

Mangione, 28, told US District Judge Margaret Garnett that he researched UnitedHealthcare’s annual investor conference after suffering a broken back and experiencing difficulties with the health insurance system. He said he travelled to New York intending to kill Thompson and used a 3D printer to make part of a gun.

“I shot Mr Thompson in Manhattan and he died,” Mangione told the court.

The guilty plea means Mangione will avoid a federal trial over Thompson’s December 2024 killing. There was no plea agreement with prosecutors, according to his lawyer, Karen Friedman Agnifilo.

Garnett told Mangione that he could face a maximum sentence of life in prison on each of the two federal stalking charges. She scheduled sentencing for December 18.

Thompson was shot dead on December 4, 2024, outside a Manhattan hotel where an investor conference was being held. He was the chief executive of UnitedHealth Group’s insurance division.

Mangione was arrested in Pennsylvania following a five-day manhunt that attracted intense media and public attention. His case also became a major subject of discussion on social media, including among people expressing anger towards the US health insurance industry.

Federal prosecutors had previously charged Mangione with murder, weapons offences and stalking. In January 2026, Garnett dismissed the federal murder and weapons charges on legal grounds, removing the possibility of a federal death sentence. He could still receive life imprisonment without parole on the remaining charges.

Mangione also faces separate state charges in New York, where he has pleaded not guilty to murder, weapons and forgery offences. A state terrorism charge was dismissed in September 2025.

His state murder trial is scheduled to begin on September 8. If convicted of second degree murder, Mangione faces between 25 years and life in prison.

His federal guilty plea could also affect the state prosecution. His lawyers may seek dismissal of the state murder charge under New York’s double jeopardy protections, which restrict prosecution for the same conduct. Prosecutors are expected to oppose such a move, arguing that the state murder charge is legally distinct from the federal offences.