On Wednesday, a former Republican congressional candidate from Florida was sentenced to three years in federal prison for stalking and allegedly planning to have his main rival killed by a fictitious foreign hit squad.
According to court documents, St. Petersburg resident William Robert Braddock III, 41, was sentenced in federal court in Tampa. In February, he entered a guilty plea to transmitting a threat of harm across state lines.
Braddock and U.S. Representative Anna Paulina Luna ran in the 2021 primary to represent Florida’s 13th Congressional District in the U.S. House of Representatives.
In the end, Luna emerged victorious in both the primary and general elections. Last year, she was elected again.
According to investigators, Braddock tried to inject himself into Luna’s life and spent months disparaging her.
In a phone conversation with Luna’s friend, Republican activist Erin Olszewski, in June 2021, Braddock threatened to have Luna killed by a “Russian-Ukrainian hit squad” if she kept up her strong 13th District polling.
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Braddock, a former Marine, was not shown to have any contacts in foreign organized crime or to have taken any action to carry out a murderous plot.
According to officials, Braddock flew to Thailand later that year before relocating to the Philippines.
He stayed there until 2023, when he turned himself in to Manila authorities. Last fall, he was returned to the United States for trial.
