Luigi Mangione reward money: Tipster in UnitedHealthcare CEO shooting needs to wait for payout
Luigi Mangione led from the Blair County Courthouse after an extradition hearing in Hollidaysburg, Pennsylvania.
After a densely eyebrowed man was caught on camera shooting UnitedHealthcare CEO Brian Thompson, authorities put a bounty on his head.
The New York Police Department’s Crime Stoppers program offered a $10,000 reward for information that could lead to the killer’s arrest or conviction. The Federal Bureau of Investigation followed suit, touting a $50,000 reward.
But the tipster who called 911 on Luigi Mangione needs Mangione, who was arrested Monday and accused of the killing, to be convicted before they get the money.
An ordinary Crime Stoppers reward is under $3,500. In those cases, tipsters can be paid upon arrest and indictment.
But when a reward is raised to exceed that amount, the money isn’t disbursed until a conviction, either at trial or through a guilty plea, according to a spokesperson for the New York City Police Foundation, which administers the funds.
Officers in Altoona, Pennsylvania, arrested Mangione at a McDonald’s restaurant, on charges that he lied about his identity and illegally carried a ghost gun police said was assembled from 3D-printed parts.
Mangione will likely be extradited to New York, where a warrant indicates he will be charged with murder, among other crimes. Mangione has not made any public statements since his arrest and has not yet entered a plea for the charges against him.
Thomas Dickey, an Altoona-based defense attorney representing Mangione on his Pennsylvania charges, didn’t immediately return a request for comment from B-17.
According to New York Police Department officials, the 911 caller was a fast-food worker who was tipped off about Mangione by a restaurant patron.
Even though that person didn’t call Crime Stoppers directly, they can still potentially receive the reward, according to the foundation spokesperson.
“The individual in Pennsylvania, who called in a tip, is eligible to receive the reward,” the spokesperson told B-17.
More than one person could collect rewards
Crime Stoppers doesn’t always pay out the maximum amount of their rewards. The total is determined by a board overseen by the foundation, which acts upon the recommendation of the commanding officer of the NYPD’s Crime Stoppers unit.
Given the high profile of Thompson’s killing, it’s likely the tipster will be eligible for the full amount, Joe Giacalone, a former New York police officer who oversaw the unit, said.
“Since this was a national manhunt, I would assume they would ask for the highest amount of award,” said Giacalone, now an adjunct professor at John Jay College of Criminal Justice.
The board would also decide whether the reward would go to either the restaurant patron, who first apparently recognized Mangione, or the employee who called 911, or both. Those details “would be ironed out between Crime Stoppers and the police foundation,” the foundation spokesperson said.
“In the past, on other cases, sometimes they both get their reward,” the spokesperson said. “Sometimes the reward is split half-and-half.”
It’s less clear whether the caller can get a piece of the FBI’s $50,000 award anytime soon.
The language on the FBI poster offered money for “information leading to the arrest and conviction of the individual responsible for this crime,” also indicating it wouldn’t pay out unless a conviction is reached.
An FBI representative said tips from the public are among the agency’s “best tools in preventing, detecting, and deterring crime.” It did not answer questions about the Mangione tipster or its reward process.
“The FBI maintains longstanding policy not to confirm the identity of individuals who assist the FBI by providing tips or information,” the representative said in an email. “Additionally, the FBI will not comment on whether reward money has been paid and to whom. The FBI takes this position for privacy protection, and to ensure the public’s continued cooperation and incentivization with any future assistance.”
Reward funds can help ease the financial burden of potential informants, whose lives may be transformed if they become cooperating witnesses or ultimately testify at trial. Former prosecutor Opher Shweiki said they were helpful in capturing and building the case against Ahmed Abu Khatallah, who was involved in the 2012 Benghazi terrorist attack. The case was featured as one of the “Success Stories” from Rewards for Justice, a law enforcement program that works with the FBI to offer rewards.
“They’re sometimes upending their lives,” said Shweiki, now a national security partner at Akin Gump. “And so there’s a lot that goes into that equation.”
A conviction in the Thompson killing could take a long time if it happens at all. As B-17 reported, a savvy lawyer could delay the Pennsylvania-to-New York extradition for years — and that would be before Mangione would be arraigned on murder charges, kicking off the formal process for the criminal case.
Mangione’s folk hero status has led to a cascade of online threats against the employee who called 911, whose name has not been publicly disclosed. The fast food restaurant location where Mangione was arrested has beefed up security, Newsweek reported.
The ordinary NYPD Crime Stoppers procedure is designed to be completely anonymous to protect tipsters. Callers are given ID numbers, and their identities are not even known to police officers — even when they collect the reward.
Given the threats and heightened emotions surrounding the case, Giacalone said NYPD officials were wrong to disclose identifying information about the tipsters, including the restaurant where the call was made.
A spokesperson for the NYPD didn’t immediately return a request for comment on the disclosure.
“It was a mistake,” Giacalone said. “Because, if you’re watching what people are saying online about this person, they’re in danger. And so is their family.”
