TALLAHASSEE — A onetime congressional opponent of Republican U.S. Rep. Anna Paulina Luna was sentenced to a few years in jail Wednesday for threatening to have her killed.
William Braddock, 41, was secretly recorded in 2021 saying he had entry to a “hit squad” and that he might make Luna “disappear,” in line with the U.S. Division of Justice.
Braddock briefly ran towards Luna within the Republican major for Congressional District 13 earlier than she was first elected.
In keeping with courtroom proof, Braddock mentioned he could be the subsequent consultant for the district and mentioned Luna was “ignorant so I don’t have an issue taking her out, however I’m not going to do this soiled work myself clearly.”
The St. Petersburg Police Division investigated Braddock’s feedback in 2021 however initially closed their investigation without any criminal charges. That very same 12 months, a Pinellas-Pasco circuit decide denied Luna’s temporary stalking injunction against Braddock.
On the conclusion of these instances, Braddock flew to Thailand after which settled within the Philippines till he surrendered to authorities there in June 2023.
Upon his return to america in 2024, he was federally charged with interstate transmission of a risk to injure, which carries a most sentence of 5 years in jail. He pleaded responsible earlier this 12 months.
Luna has since gained election and reelection to workplace because the consultant for Florida’s thirteenth Congressional District.
