Federal prosecutors are asking a judge to sentence to 40 years in prison a man who broke into former U.S. House Speaker Nancy Pelosi’s San Francisco home in an attempt to take her hostage and attacked her husband with a hammer.
Chronicle of San Francisco reported late Friday evening that prosecutors made the request ahead of David DePape’s sentencing hearing, saying he showed no remorse for the October 2022 attack.
“There is nothing in the defendant’s history or characteristics that warrants leniency,” federal prosecutors wrote in court papers. “The defendant admitted—and even bragged—that he knew what he was doing.”
DePape was convicted last year there was an attempted kidnapping of a federal official and an attack on the federal official’s immediate family. He is scheduled to be sentenced on Friday.
The attack on then 82-year-old Paul Pelosi, which was Police body camera video just days before the midterm elections, posted shock waves in the political world.
DePape confessed while testifying at trial that he broke into Pelosi’s home with the intention of taking the speaker hostage and “breaking her kneecaps” if she lied to him. He also admitted to beating Paul Pelosi with a hammer after police showed up at his home, saying his plan to end what he saw as government corruption was crumbling.
Defense attorneys said DePape was motivated by his political beliefs and was fascinated by conspiracy theories.
Nancy Pelosi was not home at the time of the attack. Paul Pelosi suffered two head wounds, including a skull fracture, which were healed with plates and screws that he will wear for the rest of his life. His right arm and hand were also injured.