Luigi Mangione, who stands accused of killing UnitedHealthcare CEO Brian Thompson in 2024, will not face the death penalty if found guilty, a federal judge ruled Friday.

The judge threw out two of the most severe federal charges against Mangione—including one that would have qualified him for capital punishment. This ruling marks the latest legal win for the 27-year-old Ivy League alum, whose attorneys also successfully got terrorism-linked state charges against him dismissed in September.

Nevertheless, he remains charged with numerous offenses at both the state and federal levels.

Mangione was taken into custody on December 9, 2024—five days after he allegedly shot Thompson in Midtown Manhattan while the CEO was walking to a conference. He later faced a long list of charges in New York, Pennsylvania (where he was arrested), and federally.

Mangione has pleaded not guilty to all federal and state charges against him. New York does not enforce the death penalty, and none of his Pennsylvania charges make him eligible for capital punishment.

Attorney General Pam Bondi announced in April that the Department of Justice (DOJ) would seek the death penalty against Mangione, calling Thompson’s shooting “a premeditated, cold-blooded assassination that shocked America.” This decision aligned with President Donald Trump’s directive to the DOJ to resume pursuing capital punishment—following President Joe Biden’s 2021 moratorium on federal executions and his subsequent commutation of sentences for most people on federal death row.

In response to Bondi’s announcement, Mangione’s lawyers argued that “the United States government intends to kill Mr. Mangione as a political stunt.”

Two days before Friday’s federal court ruling, a Minnesota man allegedly tried to free Mangione from the detention facility where he is being held by posing as an FBI agent with a court order to release him, authorities said. The suspect is now detained in the same jail.

Here’s an update on where Mangione’s case stands following these latest developments.

What the judge ruled on Friday

U.S. District Judge Margaret M. Garnett dismissed two charges against Mangione: one for using a firearm to commit murder (carrying a maximum sentence of death) and another firearms-related count.

Legally, the murder charge can only apply if committed alongside another “crime of violence.” Prosecutors argued that Mangione’s stalking charges meet this standard, but Garnett disagreed.

The judge stated in her ruling that the firearms charges did not “meet the federal statutory definition of a ‘crime of violence’ as a matter of law,” noting her decision was “solely to foreclose the death penalty as an available punishment to be considered by the jury.”

“The analysis contained in the balance of this opinion may strike the average person — and indeed many lawyers and judges — as tortured and strange, and the result may seem contrary to our intuitions about the criminal law,” Garnett wrote. “But it represents the Court’s committed effort to faithfully apply the dictates of the Supreme Court to the charges in this case. The law must be the Court’s only concern.”

Garnett also ruled that key evidence seized during Mangione’s arrest can be used in his trial. This includes items from his backpack: a gun federal authorities say matches the weapon used to kill Thompson, a loaded magazine, fake IDs, and a notebook prosecutors allege contains entries expressing “hostility” toward the U.S. healthcare system and “wealthy executives in particular.” Mangione’s lawyers tried to have the evidence dismissed, claiming it was obtained via an illegal search.

What charges does Mangione still face?

While dismissing two of Mangione’s four federal charges, Garnett kept two stalking charges intact—these carry a maximum sentence of life in prison without parole.

At the state level, Mangione faces nine charges in New York, including second-degree murder. A conviction there could result in 25 years to life in prison.

He also faces multiple counts in a separate Pennsylvania case, where authorities apprehended him at an Altoona McDonald’s, ending the nationwide manhunt for Thompson’s killer. Those charges include providing fraudulent ID to police and possessing an unlicensed firearm.

Jury selection for the federal trial is set to start on September 8, with opening statements scheduled for October 13.

No dates have been set for his state trials. New York prosecutors requested on Wednesday that Mangione’s state trial be held in July, before the federal trial begins.