Ex-congressional candidate will get 3 years for threatening to have opponent killed
Tampa, Fla. — A former Florida Republican congressional candidate accused of stalking and plotting to have his major opponent murdered by a purported international hit squad was sentenced Wednesday to 3 years in federal jail.
William Robert Braddock III, 41, of St. Petersburg, was sentenced in Tampa federal court docket, in keeping with court docket information. He pleaded responsible in February to sending an interstate transmission of a menace to injure.
In 2021, Braddock and U.S. Rep. Anna Paulina Luna have been each candidates within the major election to symbolize the thirteenth Congressional District of Florida within the U.S. Home of Representatives. Luna ultimately received the first and later the final election. She was re-elected final 12 months.
Chris Urso / Tampa Bay Occasions by way of AP
Braddock spent months disparaging Luna and making an attempt to inject himself into her life, investigators stated.
Throughout a June 2021 phone name with Luna’s good friend, GOP activist Erin Olszewski, Braddock threatened to have Luna murdered by a “Russian-Ukrainian hit squad” if she continued to ballot effectively within the race for the thirteenth District.
Ben Curtis / AP 
Politico reported on the time that Braddock stated the hit squad may kill Luna inside 24 hours.
“Luna’s going to go down and I hope it is by herself,” Braddock says within the recording, in keeping with Politico, which stated it had obtained the recording. “For the higher or the nice of nearly all of the folks, we have to sacrifice the few.”
In response to Politico, Braddock described the “hit squad” as being armed for “close-battle fight” to verify nothing was left to likelihood.
There was no proof that Braddock, a former Marine, had such contacts in international organized crime or took any steps to hold out a homicide plot.
Later that 12 months, Braddock flew to Thailand and ultimately settled within the Philippines, officers stated. He remained there till surrendering to authorities in Manila in 2023. He was taken again to the U.S. final fall to face trial.
