Luigi Mangione pleaded guilty to federal stalking charges and admitted in federal court on Friday that he shot and killed a health care executive in Manhattan in 2024. 

“I shot Mr. Thompson in Manhattan. I understood that my actions would place him in fear of death of bodily injury. I knew what I was doing was illegal," Mangione told the judge, the New York Times reported. 

Judge Margaret M. Garnett accepted the plea and said she will sentence Mangione on Dec. 18. He faces a maximum of life in prison. 

Mangione, 28, was not charged with murder in the federal case, which accused him only of stalking Brian Thompson, CEO of UnitedHealthcare. He still faces a murder charge in state court, which is scheduled to go to trial next month. 

In federal court, Mangione faced one count of interstate stalking resulting in death and one count of stalking through use of interstate facilities resulting in death. Both charges carry a maximum potential sentence of life in prison.

Mangione addressed the court, describing the attack as resulting from years of severe pain from a back injury he experienced. He said he tracked down the location of the company's annual conference, posing as an investor to solicit information from the company. He said he shot Thompson using a gun he printed from a 3-D printer.