Luigi Mangione pleads guilty to federal stalking charges in striking reversal

Luigi Mangione in an earlier appearance in state court, ahead of a scheduled murder trial.

The Ivy League graduate pleaded guilty to separate stalking charges in federal court.

David Dee Delgado-Pool/Getty Images Luigi Mangione pleaded guilty to stalking charges in federal court in a striking reversal of a previous not guilty plea.

A judge will sentence him at a later date.

The federal charges carry a possibility of life in prison.

The plea throws a wrench into a separate murder case from New York state prosecutors.

Luigi Mangione pleaded guilty to federal stalking charges on Friday, throwing a wrench into a separate state murder trial scheduled to begin next month over the killing of UnitedHealthcare CEO Brian Thompson.

In the striking development, Mangione reversed his previous not guilty plea in federal court as members of Thompson's family looked on from the front row.

Mangione wore a khaki T-shirt and pants.

Journalists and members of the public — some of them fans of the 28-year-old — filled the wooden benches in the downtown Manhattan courtroom.

US District Judge Margaret Garnett will decide Mangione's sentence at a later date.

In federal court, Mangione was facing two charges related to stalking Thompson before the healthcare executive was shot outside a Manhattan hotel in December 2024.

Both charges, which he pleaded guilty to on Friday, carried a maximum possible punishment of life in prison without parole.

Garnett previously threw out death penalty-eligible murder and firearms charges that had been sought by then-Attorney General Pam Bondi.