William Robert Braddock III, a former Republican congressional candidate from Florida, has been sentenced to three years in federal prison for threatening his onetime primary opponent, U.S. Rep. Anna Paulina Luna.
In 2021, during a phone call with GOP activist Erin Olszewski, Braddock threatened to have Luna killed by a “Russian-Ukrainian hit squad” if she continued to perform well in the polls. Investigators found no evidence that Braddock had ties to organized crime or had made any concrete plans to carry out the threat.
The Independent has more:
Braddock, a former marine, at the time claimed Luna was “his only obstacle to winning that race,” and would disparage her as a way to interject himself into her life, the Department of Justice said in a press release.
Damning evidence revealed that Braddock threatened to have Luna murdered if she continued to poll well in the race, telling an acquaintance of hers on the phone he would “call up my Russian-Ukrainian hit squad” and make Luna “disappear.”
“I will be the next congressman for this District. Period. End of discussion. And anybody going up against me is f***ing ignorant for doing so,” he told the acquaintance, according to the DOJ.
A recording of the phone call was also leaked to Politico in 2021, revealing the extent of Braddock’s threats.
“I really don’t want to have to end anybody’s life for the good of the people of the United States of America. That will break my heart. But if it needs to be done, it needs to be done,” Braddock said.
“Luna is a f—ing speed bump in the road. She’s a dead squirrel you run over every day when you leave the neighborhood.”
After the incident, Braddock left the United States, living in Thailand before eventually settling in the Philippines. He surrendered to U.S. authorities in Manila in 2023 and was extradited back to face prosecution.
Braddock pleaded guilty in February 2025 to transmitting an interstate threat of injury. U.S. District Judge William F. Jung handed down the sentence in federal court in Tampa.
Luna, who ultimately won both the primary and general elections, was reelected by a comfortable margin in 2024.
READ NEXT: [REVEALED] Trump’s Latest Move To Crush Democrats In 2026
Should of been a longer sentence