A 28-year-old Boca Raton man is being held without bond after authorities arrested him for making death threats against Florida State Representative Peggy Gossett-Seidman, a Republican who represents District 91, which covers Boca Raton and Highland Beach.
The Florida Department of Law Enforcement coordinated the investigation with local police after the representative’s office reported receiving alarming messages. According to court and police records, Luke David Schlauder left a series of threatening voicemails. In one, he vowed to slit her throat if her office sent him another piece of mail. The threats were reportedly triggered by political campaign mailers sent to his address.
Schlauder was charged with intimidation and making written or electronic threats to kill or inflict bodily harm, a second-degree felony that carries up to 15 years in state prison. At his hearing, a judge ordered him held without bond. His attorney, Scott Simmons, argued that the statute on written or electronic threats does not cover phone voicemails. Prosecutors said the recordings amounted to a true threat, and the court kept him detained while the case proceeds.
Gossett-Seidman, first elected in 2022 and now seeking a third term, said she feared for her safety and that of her staff. She thanked FDLE and the State Attorney’s Office for the arrest. Schlauder remains in the Palm Beach County jail.
