FORT LAUDERDALE, Fla. — A 60-year-old Boca Raton woman was sentenced to 13 months in federal prison this week for threatening to bomb two properties owned by former President Donald Trump, a term significantly harsher than the probation recommended by prosecutors.
Martha Jane Schoenfeld pleaded guilty in September to making threats against a former president after leaving voicemail messages in June at Trump International Golf Club in Palm Beach, Florida, and Trump International Hotel in Las Vegas. In the calls, she falsely claimed to have planted bombs, explicitly targeting Trump.
“Hopefully you will get everyone evacuated except for Trump,” Schoenfeld said in one message to the Palm Beach club, according to court records.
U.S. District Judge Raag Singhal, a Trump appointee, rejected the plea deal’s recommendation of probation and sentenced Schoenfeld to over a year in a federal correctional facility.
“This was a lady in a condo that was watching too much MSNBC and got carried away,” her lawyer argued. “We agreed the probation and the embarrassment was enough. She’s been through enough.”
Authorities traced the calls to Schoenfeld’s phone hours after the threats were made and confronted her at her home. Initially denying her involvement, Schoenfeld confessed after agents presented evidence linking the calls to her.
Prosecutors dropped an additional charge of threatening a former president as part of the plea agreement. Schoenfeld’s sentencing highlights the severe legal consequences of making threats, particularly against public figures.
A Florida woman faces a year behind bars for bomb threats against Trump properties, despite prosecutors urging leniency.
