Prosecutors seek 40 years in prison for man who attacked Nancy Pelosi’s husband – The Irish Times

The man who broke into former U.S. House Speaker Nancy Pelosi’s home and beat her husband with a hammer should serve a 40-year prison sentence for his conviction on federal charges amounting to a terrorism crime, prosecutors demanded on Friday.

In a sentencing memorandum filed in U.S. District Court in San Francisco, prosecutors said David Wayne DePape has shown no remorse, does not deserve leniency and should receive the maximum statutory sentence on each of the two charges on which he was convicted last year.

“At a time when extremism has led to attacks on public and elected officials, this case is an opportunity to speak with others who harbor ideologically motivated violent dreams and plans,” the memorandum said.

Sentencing is scheduled for May 17.

In November, a federal court jury found DePape guilty of attempting to kidnap Pelosi, then-Speaker of the U.S. House of Representatives, and assaulting her husband, Paul Pelosi, both in connection with her official duties as a member of Congress.

Prosecutors recommended that DePape receive the maximum prison sentence for each count – 20 years for attempted kidnapping and 30 years for assault – with the second count being 20 years after the first count, for a total of 40 years behind bars.

Although he was not convicted of terrorism, DePape’s crimes — a week before the 2022 congressional midterm elections — met the federal definition of terrorism as a crime “intended to influence or impair the conduct of the government through intimidation or coercion.” prosecutors said.

The prosecutors viewed this circumstance as a “tightening” of the punishment.

DePape entered Pelosi’s San Francisco home in the early hours of October 28, 2022, confronted her husband and hit him in the head with a hammer before police called to the scene managed to subdue the intruder.

The Speaker of the House of Representatives, who is second in the constitutional order of presidential succession, was in Washington at the time. Paul Pelosi, then 82, was in the hospital for several days with skull fractures and injuries to his hands and right arm.

Evidence at trial showed that DePape, a Canadian citizen who had been in the United States illegally for 14 years at the time of the attack, was fueled by far-right conspiracy theories and embraced the fictions spread by the extremist QAnon movement.

The sentencing cited DePape’s own testimony in court, in which he admitted that his intention was to kidnap Nancy Pelosi, interrogate her and break her kneecaps if she was found to be lying.

The jury also listened to a recording of an interview DePape gave to a television station in 2023 in which he said, “I’m sorry I didn’t get more of that. … I should have been better prepared.”

In addition to reiterating DePape’s lack of remorse, prosecutors said that because of the seriousness of the crime and to deter others from similar acts, the harshest sentence was warranted.

DePape still faces separate state charges for the burglary and attack on Pelosi, including attempted murder, which carry a possible sentence of 13 years to life in prison. He has pleaded not guilty. – Reuters