Federal prosecutors and Luigi Mangione's defense team will hold a special court conference Friday morning in Manhattan federal court, raising intense speculation the two sides may have reached a plea agreement.
The two sides requested the surprise hearing before Judge Margaret Garnett less than a month before Mangione's state trial is set to begin. Asked about the purpose of the session at a press conference Wednesday, the U.S. attorney for the Southern District of New York James McDonald declined to comment.
"There's a conference scheduled for 11 a.m. on Friday, that's all we can say at this time," McDonald said.
Mangione faces criminal charges in both state and federal court following the murder of Brian Thompson, the UnitedHealthcare CEO who was gunned down on a Manhattan street in December 2024.
"Why would they be going to federal court tomorrow when they should be preparing for the state trial?" said Gary Galperin, a professor of law at Cardozo School of Law and former prosecutor in the New York County district attorney's office. "It would be reasonable to speculate that they may be trying to enter a guilty plea."
After a nationwide manhunt, Mangione was later arrested in Altoona, Penn. Police officers seized a pistol and a notebook that included writings critical of the U.S. healthcare and insurance industries.
The case has drawn intense media scrutiny. Mangione, despite facing state and federal murder charges in what some are characterizing as a vigilante-style action against soaring medical costs, has attracted surprising levels of public support.
Federal charges against Mangione that threatened him with a possible death penalty were tossed by a judge in January 2026. Remaining charges, including a count of "interstate stalking resulting in death" could bring a sentence of life behind bars.
NPR sent a request for comment on the scope of any possible plea deal to federal prosecutors and to Mangione's attorneys, but received no immediate response.
Legal experts say a federal plea deal could limit or even derail efforts to try Mangione in state court on separate murder charges. That's because New York state has especially strict rules limiting "double-jeopardy" prosecutions, where a defendant is tried more than once on related charges.
The same rules prevented state prosecutors from bringing fraud charges against former Trump campaign manager Paul Manafort in 2019. A panel of state judges ruled that Manafort had already been convicted on similar counts in federal court. Manafort was later pardoned by President Trump.
To avoid that kind of legal bottleneck, the Manhattan district attorney's office maneuvered to hold Mangione's state trial first, with jury selection scheduled to begin on Sept. 8. The federal trial is expected to start in January.
In a letter sent last month to state Judge Gregory Carro, assistant Manhattan district attorney Joel Seidemann warned of possible complications if a federal plea deal is reached before a jury can hear the case.
"If a proposed federal guilty plea would operate to defeat a just outcome in the state prosecution, the people [the Manhattan DA's office] could advise the federal district court of that consequence, and the court should consider that fact in deciding whether to accept the plea, as well as any opposition by the victim's family to such a resolution," Seidemann wrote.
NPR asked the Manhattan DA's office if they expect to play any role in Friday's hearing. A spokesperson directed all questions to the U.S. attorney's office.
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