Luigi Mangione will not face the death penalty in his upcoming federal trial for the murder of UnitedHealthcare CEO Brian Thompson, a judge ruled on Friday, January 30.
U.S. District Judge Margaret M. Garnett said in court documents obtained by Us Weekly that she would dismiss the only capital punishment charge against Mangione, murder through the use of a firearm, as well as another count, discharging a firearm that was equipped with a silencer in furtherance of a crime of violence.
The decision marked a major loss for the U.S. Department of Justice, which had directed federal prosecutors to seek the death penalty for Mangione.
“Luigi Mangione’s murder of Brian Thompson — an innocent man and father of two young children — was a premeditated, cold-blooded assassination that shocked America,” Attorney General Pam Bondi said in April 2025. “After careful consideration, I have directed federal prosecutors to seek the death penalty in this case as we carry out President [Donald] Trump‘s agenda to stop violent crime and Make America Safe Again.”
Mangione’s defense team, which is led by Karen Friedman Agnifilo, called Bondi’s statement “explicitly and unapologetically political” at the time, arguing that it violated their client’s constitutional rights.
Friedman Agnifilo then filed a motion in September laying out six reasons for Garnett to dismiss the death penalty indictment against Mangione, including Bondi’s “extrajudicial statements” (a legal term for comments made outside of a courtroom) and the defense’s concern that “the government allowed the grand jury to be prejudiced” by not screening them for “exposure” to the AG’s remarks.
After Friday’s dismissal, Mangione, 27, still faces two federal charges, interstate stalking resulting in death and stalking through use of interstate facilities resulting in death, for which he could face a maximum punishment of life in prison without parole if convicted.
Mangione was also hit with 11 charges in a separate New York state case, but he scored a victory in September when Judge Gregory Carro dropped the two most serious counts against him due to insufficient evidence: first-degree murder in furtherance of an act of terrorism and second-degree murder as a crime of terrorism.
Mangione has pleaded not guilty to fatally shooting Thompson, 50, in both cases. The Ivy League graduate is being held at the notorious Metropolitan Detention Center in Brooklyn.
Since his arrest at a McDonald’s in Altoona, Pennsylvania, in December 2024, Mangione has received $1.4 million in donations from supporters toward his legal fund in addition to thousands of letters in jail. He has said he is “overwhelmed” by the support, which has “transcended political, racial and even class divisions.”
New York prosecutors have requested that Mangione’s trial begin on July 1. Garnett said she would set a start date of October 13 for the federal case, with jury selection beginning on September 8.
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