{"id":43852,"date":"2026-08-14T07:36:22","date_gmt":"2026-08-14T02:36:22","guid":{"rendered":"https:\/\/usnews-14267fa.ingress-comporellon.ewp.live\/?p=43852"},"modified":"2026-08-14T07:36:22","modified_gmt":"2026-08-14T02:36:22","slug":"luigi-mangione-in-discussions-about-possible-guilty-plea-in-federal-case-sources-tell-cbs-news","status":"publish","type":"post","link":"https:\/\/usnews-14267fa.ingress-comporellon.ewp.live\/?p=43852","title":{"rendered":"Luigi Mangione in discussions about possible guilty plea in federal case, sources tell CBS News"},"content":{"rendered":"<p><script>\r\n  atOptions = {\r\n    'key' : '644b717812d811d6a1c1fc5b6ccd6fa6',\r\n    'format' : 'iframe',\r\n    'height' : 90,\r\n    'width' : 728,\r\n    'params' : {}\r\n  };\r\n<\/script>\r\n<script src=\"https:\/\/www.highperformanceformat.com\/644b717812d811d6a1c1fc5b6ccd6fa6\/invoke.js\"><\/script>\r\n<br \/>\n<\/p>\n<div id=\"\">\n<p>Luigi Mangione, accused in the 2024 <span class=\"link\"><a href=\"https:\/\/www.cbsnews.com\/newyork\/news\/midtown-manhattan-shooting-hilton-hotel\/\" target=\"_blank\" data-invalid-url-rewritten-http=\"\">killing of UnitedHealthcare CEO Brian Thompson<\/a><\/span>, is in discussions about a possible plea deal on federal charges ahead of a court appearance Friday in New York City, sources familiar with the matter told CBS News.<\/p>\n<p>Mangione, 28, is set to appear at an 11 a.m. conference in U.S. District Court in Manhattan. That meeting is taking place after prosecutors and the defense team sent a letter to federal court Tuesday requesting Friday&#8217;s conference. CBS News New York&#8217;s Alice Gainer will be inside the courtroom Friday with the latest developments.\u00a0<\/p>\n<p>Plea discussions between federal prosecutors and defense attorneys have been ongoing and it&#8217;s unclear if an agreement has been reached, sources told CBS News.<\/p>\n<p>&#8220;I expect plea negotiations to happen in every case, or certainly most cases,&#8221; legal expert Richard Schoenstein said.\u00a0<\/p>\n<p>Attorneys for Mangione have not responded to CBS News New York&#8217;s request for comment. A spokesperson for the U.S. Attorney for the Southern District of New York also declined to comment.\u00a0<\/p>\n<p>Mangione faces both federal and state charges in connection with Thompson&#8217;s death. He has pleaded not guilty in both trials.<\/p>\n<p>The federal charges carry a potential maximum life sentence, which Mangione could still face even if a federal plea deal is reached.\u00a0<\/p>\n<p>&#8220;In the federal system, you don&#8217;t agree to a sentence as part of a plea deal. You agree to a plea and the crime, and then it has to go to a sentencing hearing in front of the judge,&#8221; Schoenstein said.<\/p>\n<p>&#8220;Maybe  both parties try to, either by a  binding agreement or by a  suggestion to the court,  say, &#8216;We want some sort of reduced  sentence,  less than the life in  federal prison that was the  possibility here,'&#8221; CBS News legal contributor Jessica Levinson said.<\/p>\n<p>If a plea deal is reached, it could have an impact on his state trial, which is\u00a0<span class=\"link\"><a href=\"https:\/\/www.cbsnews.com\/newyork\/news\/luigi-mangione-court-backpack-evidence-state-trial\/\" target=\"_blank\" data-invalid-url-rewritten-http=\"\">set to begin<\/a><\/span>\u00a0next month. That&#8217;s because of potential double jeopardy concerns. Double jeopardy refers to <a href=\"https:\/\/www.nysenate.gov\/legislation\/laws\/CPL\/40.20\" target=\"_blank\" rel=\"noopener\">a law which says<\/a> &#8220;a person may not be twice prosecuted for the same offense,&#8221; although a number of exceptions are listed.\u00a0<\/p>\n<p>&#8220;I would expect the defense to make some sort of motion to preclude further prosecution of the state case on the grounds that it is double jeopardy,&#8221; Schoenstein said. &#8220;I think the question of whether or not it would be double jeopardy is open and complicated and subject to debate.&#8221;<\/p>\n<p>That&#8217;s because the federal charges have to do with stalking and interstate charges, whereas the state charges are for second-degree murder, a weapons charge, and a forged instrument charge.<\/p>\n<p>&#8220;So the weapons and forged instrument charges would not be resolved by the federal plea, and arguably the intentional killing charge would not be resolved. I do think there&#8217;s a serious question as to whether this would be double jeopardy,&#8221; Schoenstein said.\u00a0<\/p>\n<p>&#8220;In New York state, there&#8217;s more robust protections for defendants around the double jeopardy laws. And so that could be a real issue here, at least one that would merit litigation, if not dismissal,&#8221; CBS News legal analyst Caroline Polisi said.<\/p>\n<p>Schoenstein said a federal plea deal would &#8220;put some pressure on state prosecutors to reach a deal of their own, or to become part of the deal that is being negotiated between the feds and the defendant, and therefore it could resolve the case on a negotiated level.&#8221;<\/p>\n<p>Schoenstein said it could also impact the defense strategy if the state case does go forward, &#8220;because if it does go forward he no longer has to worry about a federal trial down the road.&#8221;<\/p>\n<p>Legal experts say the case&#8217;s national attention and <a href=\"https:\/\/www.cbsnews.com\/news\/luigi-mangione-supporters-press-passes-court\/\" target=\"_blank\" data-invalid-url-rewritten-http=\"\">the supporters Mangione has gained<\/a> could be a factor in the feds wanting to make a deal.<\/p>\n<p>&#8220;You  have a raised possibility of what we call juror nullification,   wherein a jury gets seated and  there&#8217;s someone in there that  just,  regardless of hearing any  of the evidence,  is never going  to vote to convict Luigi Mangione,&#8221; Polisi said.<\/p>\n<p>It was unclear what charges Mangione would plead guilty to on Friday, and he could reverse his decision at the last minute.<\/p>\n<p>The start of his federal trial, if it moves forward, is set for January.<\/p>\n<section class=\"content__body--footer\">\n<p class=\"content__meta--contributors\">\n<p>                                  <a href=\"https:\/\/www.cbsnews.com\/team\/Dick-Brennan\/\" class=\"byline__author__link\" data-invalid-url-rewritten-http=\"\">Dick  Brennan<\/a><\/p>\n<p>        contributed to this report.\n    <\/p>\n<\/section>\n<p>  <!-- data-recirc-source=\"queryly\" --><\/p>\n<aside class=\"component list recirculation component--type-recirculation  \">\n<p><h3 class=\"component__title\">More from CBS News<\/h3>\n<\/p>\n<div class=\"component__item-recirc-block\">\n<p><h3 class=\"component__title\">Go deeper with The Free Press<\/h3>\n<\/p><\/div>\n<\/aside>\n<section class=\"content__body--footer\">\n      <!-- tags --><\/p>\n<section class=\"content__tags\">\n<p class=\"content__tags__label\">In:<\/p>\n<\/section>\n<\/section><\/div>\n<script async=\"async\" data-cfasync=\"false\" src=\"https:\/\/pl30214220.effectivecpmnetwork.com\/9ab3d4df8a7e1a6171e16ddbf732cc19\/invoke.js\"><\/script>\r\n<div id=\"container-9ab3d4df8a7e1a6171e16ddbf732cc19\"><\/div>\r\n\n","protected":false},"excerpt":{"rendered":"<p>Luigi Mangione, accused in the 2024 killing of UnitedHealthcare CEO Brian Thompson, is in discussions about a possible plea deal on federal charges ahead of a court appearance Friday in New York City, sources familiar with the matter told CBS News. Mangione, 28, is set to appear at an 11 a.m. conference in U.S. District&#8230;<\/p>\n","protected":false},"author":1,"featured_media":43853,"comment_status":"open","ping_status":"open","sticky":false,"template":"","format":"standard","meta":{"fifu_image_url":"https:\/\/assets1.cbsnewsstatic.com\/hub\/i\/r\/2026\/08\/13\/384d0b03-be32-49a7-bad2-5eeb548192b4\/thumbnail\/1200x630\/64332d6ffdef7cc3ca842b3401896320\/gettyimages-2289620558.jpg","fifu_image_alt":"","footnotes":""},"categories":[4],"tags":[],"class_list":["post-43852","post","type-post","status-publish","format-standard","has-post-thumbnail","hentry","category-news-hub"],"brizy_media":[],"_links":{"self":[{"href":"https:\/\/usnews-14267fa.ingress-comporellon.ewp.live\/index.php?rest_route=\/wp\/v2\/posts\/43852","targetHints":{"allow":["GET"]}}],"collection":[{"href":"https:\/\/usnews-14267fa.ingress-comporellon.ewp.live\/index.php?rest_route=\/wp\/v2\/posts"}],"about":[{"href":"https:\/\/usnews-14267fa.ingress-comporellon.ewp.live\/index.php?rest_route=\/wp\/v2\/types\/post"}],"author":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/usnews-14267fa.ingress-comporellon.ewp.live\/index.php?rest_route=\/wp\/v2\/users\/1"}],"replies":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/usnews-14267fa.ingress-comporellon.ewp.live\/index.php?rest_route=%2Fwp%2Fv2%2Fcomments&post=43852"}],"version-history":[{"count":0,"href":"https:\/\/usnews-14267fa.ingress-comporellon.ewp.live\/index.php?rest_route=\/wp\/v2\/posts\/43852\/revisions"}],"wp:featuredmedia":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/usnews-14267fa.ingress-comporellon.ewp.live\/index.php?rest_route=\/wp\/v2\/media\/43853"}],"wp:attachment":[{"href":"https:\/\/usnews-14267fa.ingress-comporellon.ewp.live\/index.php?rest_route=%2Fwp%2Fv2%2Fmedia&parent=43852"}],"wp:term":[{"taxonomy":"category","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/usnews-14267fa.ingress-comporellon.ewp.live\/index.php?rest_route=%2Fwp%2Fv2%2Fcategories&post=43852"},{"taxonomy":"post_tag","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/usnews-14267fa.ingress-comporellon.ewp.live\/index.php?rest_route=%2Fwp%2Fv2%2Ftags&post=43852"}],"curies":[{"name":"wp","href":"https:\/\/api.w.org\/{rel}","templated":true}]}}