• Luigi Mangione was arrested in connection with the murder of UnitedHealthcare CEO Brian Thompson.
• Rewards from NYPD Crime Stoppers and the FBI depend on Mangione’s conviction, which could take some time.
• The 911 caller and the restaurant patron who recognized Mangione could both be legitimate.

After a thick-browed man was caught on camera shooting UnitedHealthcare CEO Brian Thompson, authorities put a bounty on his head.

The NYPD’s Crime Stoppers program offered a $10,000 reward for information that could lead to the arrest or conviction of the killer. The Federal Bureau of Investigation followed suit and offered a $50,000 reward.

But the tipster who called 911 Luigi Mangione Mangione, who was arrested Monday and charged with murder, must be sentenced before they receive the money.

A typical Crime Stoppers reward is less than $3,500. In these cases, tipsters can be paid upon arrest and indictment.

However, if a reward is raised that exceeds this amount, the money will not be paid out until a conviction is obtained. either in court or through an admission of guilt, said a spokesman for the New York City Police Foundation, which manages 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 that police said was assembled from 3D-printed parts.

Mangione will likely be extradited to New York, where an arrest warrant says he is charged with murder, among other things. Mangione has made no public statements since his arrest and has not yet filed a plea for the charges against him.

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

According to New York Police Department officials, the 911 caller was a fast food employee who had received a tip about Mangione from a restaurant customer.

Even if that person didn’t call Crime Stoppers directly, they may still be able to receive the reward, according to the foundation spokesperson.

“The person in Pennsylvania who gave a tip is entitled to the reward,” the spokesperson told Business Insider.

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There could be more than one person collecting rewards

Crime Stoppers does not always pay out the maximum amount of their rewards. The total amount is determined by a board overseen by the foundation, acting on the recommendation of the commanding officer of the NYPD’s Crime Stoppers unit.

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

“Because it was a nationwide manhunt, I assume they would ask for the highest reward,” said Giacalone, now an associate professor at John Jay College of Criminal Justice.

The board would also decide whether the reward would go to either the restaurant patron who appeared to be the first to recognize Mangione, or the employee who called 911, or both. These details will be “clarified between Crime Stoppers and the Police Foundation,” the foundation spokesman said.

“In other cases in the past, both have sometimes been rewarded,” the spokesman said. “Sometimes the reward is halved.”

It’s less clear whether the caller will be able to collect a portion of the FBI’s $50,000 reward any time soon.

The wording on the FBI poster offered money for “information leading to the arrest and conviction of the person responsible for this crime,” and also suggested that it would not be paid out unless there was a conviction.

An FBI official said tips from the public are among the agency’s “best tools to prevent, detect and deter crime.” No questions were answered about the Mangione tipster or his reward process.

“The FBI maintains its longstanding policy of not confirming the identity of anyone who assists the FBI by providing tips or information,” the representative said in an email. “Furthermore, the FBI will not comment on whether or to whom reward funds were paid. The FBI takes this position to protect privacy and to ensure the public continues to cooperate and incentivize future assistance.”

Reward funds can help ease the financial burden on potential informants, whose lives may change if they become cooperating witnesses or ultimately testify in court. Former prosecutor Opher Shweiki said they helped capture and build 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” of Rewards for Justice, a law enforcement program that partners with the FBI to offer rewards.

“They sometimes turn their lives upside down,” said Shweiki, now national security partner at Akin Gump. “And there are a lot of things that go into that equation.”

A conviction in the Thompson murder case could take a long time, if it happens at all. As Business Insider’s Laura Italiano reported, a smart lawyer could delay extradition from Pennsylvania to New York for years — and that would be before Mangione is charged with murder and the formal criminal trial process begins.

Mangione’s status as a folk hero has led to a flood of online threats against the employee who called 911, whose name has not been publicly released. Newsweek reported that the location of the fast food restaurant where Mangione was arrested had tightened security.

The normal NYPD Crime Stoppers process is designed to be completely anonymous to protect tipsters. Callers are given identification numbers and their identities are not even known to police officers – even when they accept the reward.

Given the threats and heightened emotions surrounding the case, Giacalone said New York Police Department officers were wrong to reveal personal information about the tipsters, including the restaurant where the call was made.

An NYPD spokesman did not immediately respond to a request for comment on the revelation.

“It was a mistake,” Giacalone said. “Because if you look at what people are saying about this person online, they are in danger. And the same goes for her family.”