Federal prosecutors have recommended a 40-year prison sentence for the man who broke into the San Francisco home of former U.S. House Speaker Nancy Pelosi in 2022 and attempted to kidnap her. Nancy Pelosi was convicted of attacking her husband with a hammer.
In a sentencing memorandum filed in U.S. District Court in San Francisco, prosecutors said David DePape failed to accept responsibility for his crimes and showed no remorse. They also believe his sentencing should include enhanced terrorism elements.
Prosecutors called DePape’s crimes “an attack on our democracy and fundamental values.”
“At a time when extremism leads to attacks on public officials and elected officials, this case provides a moment to speak with others who harbor ideologically motivated dreams and plans for violence,” prosecutors wrote.
DePape’s attorneys, federal public defenders Jodi Linker and Angela Chuang, asked for a 14-year prison sentence, arguing that their client had “an abusive, long-term relationship with a partner.” , the partner took advantage of his inherent vulnerability and plunged him into a world of extreme beliefs, while reality trapped him in a world of extreme beliefs.” Not reality. “
“Her influence began at a formative and critical period in his life and extended well beyond the end of their relationship, leaving him completely uncontrollable in the years leading up to the crime, when he through his obsessive consumption of media “Extreme beliefs were amplified and further radicalized,” DePape’s attorneys wrote in the sentencing memorandum.
They also argued that DePape showed remorse for his actions, citing his trial testimony “in which he explained that he felt ‘really scared.'” [Mr. Pelosi’s] Life.
Sentencing is scheduled for Friday.
During DePape’s trial last year, Assistant U.S. Attorney. Laura Vartain Horn and Helen Gilbert detail the night in October 2022 when DePape traveled from her East Bay residence to Pelosis’ home in Pacific Heights His “violent plan”.
Prosecutors said in the memo that DePape broke into the couple’s home around 2 a.m. on October 28 with plans to take Pelosi hostage and break her knees if she lied to him. Pelosi was not home, but her husband, Paul, was and called 911.
When police arrived, Pelosi opened the door and DePape then struck Pelosi three times, twice in the head, before police restrained him, prosecutors said.
In court, prosecutors showed jurors graphic police body camera video of DePape beating Pelosi, breaking down the situation–The 82-year-old man was hit in the skull and suffered serious injuries to his right arm and left hand.
“At this moment, Paul Pelosi was attacked in her home late at night, lying on the floor in a pool of her own blood,” Gilbert said during closing arguments, which were shown on a courtroom screen.
Jurors heard portions of a police interview in which DePape said he considered Speaker Pelosi the “leader” of the Democratic Party and said he would be punished if she did not admit to corruption and other baseless human trafficking accusations. Will “break her knees”. He told the official that Pelosi would have to go into Congress where other lawmakers could see “the consequences of being the most evil person on earth.”
DePape’s lawyers argue that their client was inspired by elaborate and baseless conspiracy theories that may appear “false” but remain deeply held beliefs on his part.
Zhuang said Pelosis’ home was just the first stop in a transnational plan to target other powerful people in the United States who he believed were involved in criminal conspiracy theories like “QAnon.” His goal is to “eradicate the corruption of the ruling class cabal, stop child molestation, and expose the truth to everyone.”
jury DePape was found guilty of attempting to kidnap a federal official or employee and assaulting a member of the immediate family of a federal official after spending a day deliberating the two federal charges.
In a letter to the judge, DePape’s mother, Shirley Jane Lawrence, asked him to have mercy on her son, saying he “messed up.”
“How did this come to be. This is not the child I raised. This is not my David,” she wrote. “I love my son dearly and in my heart I know who he really is… He is not a monster.”
Times staff writer Hannah Wiley contributed to this report.
