Mangione pleads not guilty to federal charges in killing of health care CEO

NEW YORK – Luigi Mangione, the man accused of stalking and killing UnitedHealthcare CEO Brian Thompson, pleaded not guilty Friday to all charges in his federal court case, which could result in the death penalty if he is convicted.

Mangione, 26, was arraigned in U.S. District Court in Lower Manhattan on four charges, including murder through use of a firearm, under which he is eligible for capital punishment.

U.S. District Judge Margaret M. Garnett asked Mangione whether he had read the indictment and discussed it with his lawyers.

“I have,” he said, then entered his plea.

Authorities say Mangione fatally shot Thompson, a 50-year-old father of two, as Thompson was making his way into an investor conference at a Midtown hotel early on Dec. 4. A five-day manhunt ended when police arrested Mangione at a McDonald’s in Altoona, Pennsylvania.

The killing became a proxy for heated debate about the health care industry’s practices, with some people venting their anger with insurers through praise of Mangione.

State prosecutors in New York have separately charged Mangione with murder. The defendant, who is being held in a federal detention center in Brooklyn, faces a possible sentence of life without parole and has pleaded not guilty in that case.

Ahead of the hearing, federal prosecutors on Thursday evening filed a notice with the court stating that they would seek the death penalty for Mangione. They wrote that Thompson’s killing was meant “to amplify an ideological message, maximize the visibility and impact of the victim’s murder, and to provoke broad-based resistance to the victim’s industry.”

Attorney General Pam Bondi had earlier instructed prosecutors to seek the death penalty but the Justice Department had not previously filed paperwork with the court.

Mangione’s state case was initially expected to go to trial before his federal case. But in court on Friday, defense lawyer Karen Friedman Agnifilo said she wanted the federal trial to occur first because it involved the death penalty. She said “constitutional issues” could arise if the state reaches trial first, though she did not elaborate on what those could be.

Manhattan District Attorney Alvin Bragg’s office declined to comment Friday.

Garnett told the lawyers they should proceed with the federal case “as if it’s the only case, unless circumstances suggest otherwise.”

The judge also said she would consider briefs in the coming months on whether the government should be precluded from pursuing capital punishment for Mangione. She said she would set a trial date for sometime in 2026 at a conference with the parties in early December.

While much of the half-hour hearing involved procedural issues, a tense moment came when Agnifilo said the defense team had learned that state prosecutors had been inadvertently “eavesdropping” on Mangione’s phone calls from jail. She told the judge that one person had listened to a call between her and Mangione.

Federal prosecutor Dominic Gentile said this was the “first time” the government had heard of the issue and told the judge he would look into it. The judge instructed prosecutors to update her by the end of next week to ensure Mangione can access a “segregated” line for private conversations with his attorneys.

The hearing offered a preview of the wide array of evidence that jurors could see at trial. Federal prosecutors said they are still organizing huge tranches of phone data, surveillance footage, and information gleaned from social media and financial companies, as well as files from state law enforcement. The judge ordered the government to produce all of it within 30 days.

Mangione, dressed in a tan jumpsuit, appeared upbeat as he entered the courtroom, smiling and gesturing with his hands as he talked with his lawyers. He gave short responses in a clear voice as the judge asked him about the charges.

Outside, a throng of supporters chanted his name and carried signs reading “no death for Luigi Mangione.”

Bondi did not provide details on her review process when she announced this month that she was directing federal prosecutors to seek the death penalty for Mangione. When federal prosecutors seek death sentences, cases go through an internal review process to assess them, with the final decision resting with the attorney general.

Mangione’s attorneys this month filed a motion seeking to block prosecutors from seeking the death penalty, accusing the Trump administration of seeking “to kill Mr. Mangione as a political stunt.” They also accused Bondi of making an “explicitly and unapologetically political decision” meant to seek publicity.

Mangione’s case marked the first time Bondi ordered prosecutors to seek a death sentence. In mid-April, Bondi announced that she had also authorized prosecutors to seek death for a federal inmate accused of killing another at the supermax prison in Florence, Colorado, in 2020.

Bondi and President Donald Trump have pushed for the federal government to use capital punishment more frequently, including by resuming federal executions and seeking more death sentences.

In court on Friday, the judge told defense lawyers and prosecutors to be mindful about public commentary on the case, emphasizing the importance of a fair trial and impartial jury. She asked prosecutors to relay her message to the interim U.S. attorney in Manhattan, and to Bondi and other Justice Department leaders.

During Trump’s first term, the Justice Department carried out 13 executions, including some days before Joe Biden was sworn in as president.

Before leaving office, Biden commuted the sentences of 37 of the 40 people on federal death row, changing their punishments to life in prison without parole. Trump and Bondi have both excoriated his decision. Biden’s actions left three people on federal death row: gunmen who massacred people in separate attacks at a Pittsburgh synagogue and a Charleston, South Carolina, church, as well as the surviving Boston Marathon bomber.

Death penalty opponents had urged Biden to empty death row ahead of Trump’s inauguration, fearing that he would resume executions.

On his first day in office, Trump ordered his attorney general to seek the death penalty more frequently.