Topline
Luigi Mangione is expected to plead guilty to stalking charges in federal court on Friday, the New York Times reports, potentially fending off one of two trials the suspect faces for the alleged killing of UnitedHealth CEO Brian Thompson—though his separate trial on state charges could still start next month as scheduled.
Luigi Mangione attends a pre-trial appearance at Manhattan Criminal Court on August 11 in New York City.
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Key Facts
Mangione is expected to plead guilty at a hearing Friday in federal court, the Times reported Thursday citing anonymous sources.
The 28-year-old faces two federal charges for stalking related in death, which are punishable by life in prison, though the court threw out harsher murder charges that could have resulted in the death penalty.
The details of the potential deal are still unclear, and Mangione’s attorneys have not publicly confirmed their intention to enter a plea.
Mangione’s lawyers are expected to use any plea deal in federal court to try and get the suspect out of his separate trial in New York state court, by arguing that “double jeopardy” laws should prohibit him from being tried twice for the same crime.
It’s still unclear if that gambit will work, the Times notes, as prosecutors in New York are likely to argue his state charges—which include second-degree murder—are substantially different enough to still warrant a trial.
This story is breaking and will be updated.
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