An unexpected hearing in Luigi Mangione’s federal case has been scheduled for Friday morning — fueling speculation that the alleged United Healthcare CEO killer could cop a plea deal.
Prosecutors and Mangione’s lawyers filed a joint letter requesting the hearing at 11 a.m. in Manhattan federal court, where the 28-year-old is charged with two counts of stalking resulting in death.
Two other counts, including a death-penalty-eligible count of murder through use of a firearm, were dismissed, but Mangione still faces up to life in prison if convicted in the federal case.
The self-styled Maryland martyr is simultaneously charged in state court for the alleged murder of Brian Thompson, 50, who was gunned down in Manhattan in December 2024.
The surprise appearance comes months after Mangione’s attorneys had fruitless talks with the feds about a potential plea deal, NBC News reported, citing anonymous “sources familiar with the matter.”
Mangione’s top lawyer Karen Friedman Agnifilo ripped the government at the time for allegedly trying to “prejudice” the public against the infamous alleged assassin.
“This information attributed to ‘anonymous sources’ is part of a troubling, deliberate pattern by prosecutors and law enforcement to prejudice Luigi, manipulate public opinion, and violate his constitutional right to a fair trial and impartial jury,” Friedman Agnifilo said at the time. Every defendant in America is presumed innocent until proven guilty, including Luigi, who, unlike any other defendant, has to fight the same charges twice.”
A federal plea deal could lead to the state charges being tossed because of New York’s rules against double jeopardy, or being tried twice for the same crime.
But the Manhattan District Attorney’s Office has argued that it has “primary jurisdiction” to try the case because it charged Mangione with the murder first.
State prosecutors would fight to block any proposed federal plea that “would operate to defeat a just outcome in the state prosecution,” Assistant District Attorney Joel Seidemann wrote in a letter filed with the state court last month.
“Obviously, any guilty pleas in these matters must account for the seriousness of defendant’s offenses, the loss of an innocent life, the impact of those crimes on the victim’s family, and the other state interests that are implicated, including the sanctity of life principle that underpins the state homicide charges,” Seidemann wrote.
The US Attorney’s Office for the Southern District of New York declined to comment on Wednesday.
A spokeswoman repping Mangione’s legal team did not immediately respond to a request for comment.
Friday’s surprise federal conference comes just weeks before Mangione’s state trial is set to begin with jury selection on September 8.
The University of Pennsylvania graduate has pleaded not guilty in both cases.Prosecutors say he penned a detailed “manifesto” explaining his motivations to kill Thompson, a father of two, outside UnitedHealthcare’s annual investor conference to “rebel against the deadly, greed fueled health insurance cartel.
“UnitedHealthcare and other insurance providers were justifiable targets because the industry “literally extracts human life force for money,” Mangione allegedly wrote.
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