New York man pleads guilty to cyberstalking in threats to relative of the late UnitedHealthcare CEO

ALBANY, N.Y. (AP) — An upstate New York man admitted to leaving a harassing and threatening voicemail for a family member of a murdered man UnitedHealthcare CEO Brian Thompson pleaded guilty to cyberstalking in federal court on Thursday.

Shane Daley, 40, He was indicted by federal prosecutors in August Multiple calls to a Thompson family member immediately after December 2024 pull and expressing joy over the murder of the insurance executive.

Thompson was fatally shot outside a New York City hotel by a man enraged by what he saw as corporate greed, according to prosecutors. Suspicious, Luigi MangioneHe did not admit his guilt and It faces lawsuits in state and federal courts.

As part of his guilty plea, Daley admitted to making multiple calls to the business line used by a member of Thompson’s family in the days after he was killed and leaving messages with threatening and abusive language. He expressed satisfaction with the murder and said the family member and Thompson’s children deserved to meet the same violent end, according to the U.S. Attorney’s Office for the Northern District of New York.

“Shane Daley celebrated the cold-blooded murder of Brian Thompson and senselessly sought to maximize the suffering of the Thompson family,” First Assistant U.S. Attorney John A. Sarcone said in a prepared statement.

Daley, who lives in Galway, about 40 miles north of Albany, will be sentenced on July 17. Daley faces a maximum penalty of five years in prison and a fine of up to $250,000.

Thompson led one of the largest health insurers in the United States, and his killing sparked an outpouring of anger. public disappointment With the country’s healthcare system. There are some people lionized Mangione as a vigilante hero of sorts.