Luigi Mangione Reward money: Tipster must await verdict

• Luigi Mangione was arrested in the killing of UnitedHealthcare CEO Brian Thompson.
• Rewards from NYPD Crime Stoppers and the FBI depend on Mangione’s sentence, which could take time.
• The 911 caller and the restaurant patron who recognized Mangione may both be eligible.

After a thick-browed 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 leading to the killer’s arrest or conviction. The Federal Bureau of Investigation followed suit and announced a $50,000 reward.

But the tipster who called 911 moved on Luigi Mangione need Mangione, who was arrested Monday and charged with the murder, to be convicted before they get the money.

A regular Crime Stoppers reward is under $3,500. In those cases, tipsters can be paid by arrest and prosecution.

However, when a reward is increased to exceed this amount, the money is not paid until a conviction, either at trial or through a plea of ​​guilty, according to a spokesman for the New York City Police Foundation, which administers the funds.

Officers in Altoona, Pennsylvania, arrested Mangione at a McDonald’s restaurant, accused of lying about his identity and illegally carrying a ghost gun police said was assembled from 3D-printed parts.

Mangione will likely be extradited to New York, where a warrant states he will be charged with murder, among other crimes. Mangione has not made any public statements since his arrest and has yet to enter a plea to the charges against him.

Thomas Dickey, an Altoona-based defense attorney representing Mangione on his charges in Pennsylvania, did not immediately return a request for comment from Business Insider.

According to New York Police Department officials, the 911 call was made by a fast food employee who was tipped off about Mangione by a restaurant patron.

Even if that person didn’t call Crime Stoppers directly, they could still potentially receive the reward, according to the foundation’s spokesperson.

“The person in Pennsylvania who called in a tip is eligible to receive the reward,” the spokesperson told Business Insider.

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More than one person could collect rewards

Crime Stoppers does not always pay out the maximum amount for their rewards. The sum is determined by a board overseen by the foundation, which acts on the recommendation of the commander of the NYPD’s Crime Stoppers unit.

Given the high profile of Thompson’s killing, it’s likely the tipster will be entitled to the full amount, said Joe Giacalone, a former New York police officer who oversaw the unit.

“Since this was a national manhunt, I would assume they would ask for the highest amount,” said Giacalone, now an adjunct professor at the John Jay College of Criminal Justice.

The board would also decide whether the reward should 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’s spokesman said.

“In the past, in other cases, sometimes they both got their reward,” the spokesman said. “Sometimes the reward is split half and half.”

It’s less clear whether the caller might get a share of the FBI’s $50,000 reward anytime soon.

The language on the FBI poster offered money for “information leading to the arrest and conviction of the person responsible for this crime,” also indicating that it would not pay unless a conviction was obtained.

An FBI representative said tips from the public are among the agency’s “best tools for preventing, detecting and deterring crime.” It did not answer questions about the Mangione tipster or its reward process.

“The FBI maintains a longstanding policy of not confirming 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 to protect privacy and to ensure the public’s continued cooperation and incentive with possible future assistance.”

Reward funds can help ease the financial burden on potential informants whose lives could be transformed if they become cooperating witnesses or ultimately testify at trial. Former prosecutor Opher Shweiki said they were instrumental in capturing and building the case against Ahmed Abu Khatallah, who was involved in the terrorist attack in Benghazi in 2012. The case was featured as one of the “success stories” of Rewards for Justice, a law enforcement program , which cooperates with the FBI in offering rewards.

“They sometimes put their lives on the line,” said Shweiki, now a national security partner at Akin Gump. “And so there’s a lot that goes into that equation.”

A verdict in the Thompson killing could take a long time, if at all. As Business Insider’s Laura Italiano reported, a savvy lawyer could delay extradition from Pennsylvania to New York for years — and that would be before Mangione would be charged with murder, which starts the formal process of 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 released. The location of the fast food restaurant where Mangione was arrested has increased securityNewsweek reported.

The standard 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 release identifying information about the tipsters, including the restaurant where the call was made.

An NYPD spokesman did not immediately return a request for comment on the disclosure.

“It was a mistake,” Giacalone said. “Because if you see what people are saying online about this person, they are in danger. And so is their family.”