The man accused of assaulting the husband of former House Speaker Nancy Pelosi (D-Calif.) 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 gavel. DePape, who moved to the US 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 account the fact that he broke into the home of an elected official when determining the sentence.
“He actually went home, this is 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 sentences for the charges – including federal assault and attempted kidnapping charges – for which he was convicted in 2022.
“The Pelosi family could not be more proud of their father and his tremendous courage in saving his own life on the night of the attack and in testifying in this case, said Aaron Bennett, Pelosi spokesman, in a statement Friday. “Speaker Pelosi and her family are immensely grateful to everyone who has sent love and prayers over the past eighteen months as Mr. Pelosi continues his recovery.”
The attack on Pelosi, which occurred just before the 2022 midterm elections, was captured on video.
Paul Pelosi spent several days in the hospital while the then-lower house leader was in DC at the time of the attack. He reportedly went into great detail about the incident, 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 house and described to jurors what it was like talking to the former president about alleged Russian involvement in the 2016 election.
Before he was sentenced this week, Paul Pelosi detailed the struggles he and his family faced following the incident.
“My head injuries continue to affect my life. My hair has grown back – but I have bumps on my head from hammer blows and a metal plate from skull surgery. The dizziness has not gone away,” Pelosi wrote to Judge Corley. “It took many months to recover my home and my well-being. Still, we don’t answer our landline or our door due to ongoing threats.”
“I ask that you consider the premeditated kidnapping of my wife, the cruel attack on my life, and the ongoing physical and mental harm caused by the defendant and sentence him to the fullest extent provided by law,” he added in an Impact Statement from Victim. filed Friday.
This story originally appeared on thehill.com read the full story
