Judge blocks prosecutors from seeking death penalty for Luigi Mangione

A federal judge ruled on Friday that Luigi Mangione is exempt from the death penalty after he was accused of murdering UnitedHealthcare CEO Brian Thompson roughly one year ago.

Judge Margaret Garnett of the U.S. District Court for the Southern District of New York blocked federal prosecutors from pursuing the death penalty in the case, which was triggered in December 2024, when Thompson was mysteriously gunned down on a Manhattan street. Mangione is still facing a maximum sentence of life in prison without parole, as the case proceeds to trial on other counts.

The development marks a blow to Attorney General Pam Bondi’s office. Last April, Bondi instructed prosecutors to seek the death penalty, calling Thompson’s killing “a premeditated, cold-blooded assassination that shocked America.”

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