- David DePape received a 30-year prison sentence.
- Moments before the 2022 midterm elections, Paul Pelosi, then eighty-two, was attacked.
- DePape stated in court that he had intended to record his questioning of the Democratic speaker.
David DePape, the man who used a hammer to forcefully batter her spouse after breaking into the residence of former House Speaker Nancy Pelosi, received a 30-year prison sentence.
Nevertheless, as mandated by federal law, prosecutors then filed a motion alleging that the court did not give David DePape, the defendant, a chance to be heard or to provide any evidence to lessen the sentence. To provide him with that choice, they requested that the court reopen the sentencing phase.
Nancy Pelosi’s husband
In November, a jury found DePape guilty of trying to abduct a government official and assaulting a member of the official’s close family. A 40-year prison sentence was what the prosecutors had demanded.
Moments before the 2022 midterm elections, Paul Pelosi, then eighty-two, was attacked. The incident was caught on police body camera footage and shocked the political community. Two head injuries occurred to him, one of which was a fracture to his skull that was fixed with lifelong plates and screws. There were injuries to his hand and right arm.
DePape received the maximum punishment possible from Judge Jacqueline Scott Corley for both the attack and the attempted kidnapping, which is 20 years each. There will be a parallel run of the sentences. For the 18 months that he was detained, he was additionally granted credit.
Noting that DePape had no past criminal record, was going through a trying time in his life, and had untreated mental health concerns, his public defense lawyers had asked the judge to sentence him to 14 years. DePape stated in court that he had intended to record his questioning of the Democratic speaker—who was not at her San Francisco home at the time of the attack—while donning an inflatable unicorn costume and posting it online.
The claims against DePape, according to his defense team, are unfounded because of his political convictions rather than his desire to obstruct Nancy Pelosi from carrying out her official duties as a member of Congress. The 30-year prison sentence is the same as receiving the death penalty, Sky Gonzalez, the son of David DePape, told reporters outside the courtroom.