The man charged with assaulting former Speaker Nancy Pelosi’s (D-Calif.) husband in 2022 was sentenced Friday to 30 years in prison.
David DePape, 44, broke into Pelosi’s California home and violently attacked her husband, Paul Pelosi, with a hammer. DePape, who moved to the U.S. from Canada more than two decades ago, was found guilty by a jury in November last year.
Judge Jacqueline Scott Corley said she took into consideration the fact that he broke into the home of an elected official when determining the sentence.
“He actually went to the home, that is completely, completely unprecedented,” Corley said Friday, according to reporting from The Associated Press.
The Department of Justice (DOJ) was seeking a 40-year sentence for the attacker, demanding maximum penalties for the counts — including charges of federal assault and attempted kidnapping — that he was convicted of in 2022.
“The Pelosi family couldn’t be prouder of their Pop and his tremendous courage in saving his own life on the night of the attack and in testifying in this case, Aaron Bennett, a spokesperson for Pelosi, said in a statement Friday. “Speaker Pelosi and her family are immensely grateful to all who have sent love and prayers over the last eighteen months, as Mr. Pelosi continues his recovery.”
The attack on Pelosi, which occurred shortly before the midterm election in 2022, was captured on video.
Paul Pelosi was in the hospital for several days, while the then-leader of the lower chamber was in D.C. at the time of the attack. He reportedly detailed the incident at length, describing his shock upon waking up and finding DePape, who asked “Where’s Nancy?”
Testifying during the trial in his own defense, DePape admitted to breaking into the home and described to the jurors about how he went to speak to the former Speaker about alleged Russian involvement in the 2016 election.
Before he was sentenced this week, Paul Pelosi detailed the struggles he and his family endured following the incident.
“My head injuries continue to affect my life. My hair grew back — but I have bumps on my head from the hammer blows and a metal plate from skull surgery. The dizziness has not gone away,” Pelosi wrote to Judge Corley. “It has taken many months to reclaim my home and well-being. Even so, we do not answer our landline phone or our front door due to ongoing threats.”
“I ask that you consider the premeditated kidnapping of my wife, the vicious assault on my life, and the ongoing physical and mental injuries caused by the defendant and sentence him to the fullest extent the law provides,” he added in a Victim Impact Statement filed Friday.
