Manhattan prosecutors are signaling they could fight a federal plea deal for Luigi Mangione if it threatens to derail his upcoming New York murder trial in the killing of UnitedHealthcare CEO Brian Thompson.In a newly unsealed letter reviewed by Fox News Digital, the Manhattan District Attorney's Office said it is aware of reports that Mangione could seek a guilty plea in his separate federal case before the state trial begins.Prosecutors warned that if such a deal would interfere with New York's prosecution, they could ask the federal judge to take that into account before accepting it.The filing follows a June hearing in federal court, where U.S.District Judge Margaret Garnett pushed Mangione's federal trial to January 2027, clearing the way for his New York murder trial to move forward first.LUIGI MANGIONE'S FEDERAL TRIAL PUSHED TO NEXT YEAR IN ASSASSINATION OF UNITEDHEALTHCARE CEOLuigi Mangione appears at an evidence suppression hearing at the Manhattan Supreme Court in New York City, May 18, 2026.
(Steven Hirsch/New York Post via Pool)Mangione, 28, has pleaded not guilty in both the state and federal cases stemming from the December 2024 killing of UnitedHealthcare CEO Brian Thompson, who was shot outside a Manhattan hotel as he headed to a conference."If a proposed federal guilty plea would operate to defeat a just outcome in the state prosecution, the People could advise the federal district court of that consequence, and the court should consider that fact in deciding whether to accept the plea," Assistant District Attorney Joel Seidemann wrote in the July 2 letter.LUIGI MANGIONE'S EMOTIONAL DISTURBANCE DEFENSE MAY HAVE HUGE IMPACT IN HIS OTHER CASE: LAWYERProsecutors added that the court should also consider any opposition from Thompson's family before accepting such a plea.The letter marks the clearest sign yet that Manhattan prosecutors are prepared to push back against any deal they believe could keep the state's high-profile murder case from ever reach...