A former Florida Republican congressional candidate gets 3 years for threatening primary opponent

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TAMPA, Fla. (AP) — A former Florida Republican congressional candidate accused of stalking and plotting to have his primary opponent murdered by a purported foreign hit squad was sentenced Wednesday to three years in federal prison.

William Robert Braddock III, 41, of St. Petersburg was sentenced in Tampa federal court, according to court records. He pleaded guilty in February to sending an interstate transmission of a threat to injure.

In 2021, Braddock and U.S. Rep. Anna Paulina Luna were both candidates in the primary election to represent the 13th Congressional District of Florida in the U.S. House of Representatives. Luna eventually won the primary and later the general election. She was re-elected last year.

Braddock spent months disparaging Luna and attempting to inject himself into her life, investigators said. During a June 2021 telephone call with Luna's friend, GOP activist Erin Olszewski, Braddock threatened to have Luna murdered by a “Russian-Ukrainian hit squad” if she continued to poll well in the race for the 13th District.

There was no evidence that Braddock, a former Marine, had such contacts in foreign organized crime or took any steps to carry out a murder plot.

Later that year, Braddock flew to Thailand and eventually settled in the Philippines, officials said. He remained there until surrendering to authorities in Manila in 2023. He was taken back to the U.S. last fall to face trial.