U.S. District Judge Jacqueline Scott Corley has sentenced a man to 30 years in prison following his conviction on charges related to his 2022 hammer attack on Paul Pelosi, House Speaker Emerita Nancy Pelosi’s husband, in their San Francisco home.
“The violent assault on my husband Paul in the privacy of our home,” wrote Nancy Pelosi in a letter to Corley ahead of the sentencing of David DePape, “has had a devastating effect on three generations of our family.”
The letter concluded by stating Nancy Pelosi’s belief that a “very long” sentence was necessary, both as punishment for the attack as well as a deterrent to others considering violence against public officials.
Corley apparently agreed with the sentiment; she sentenced DePape to 20 years on one count of attempted kidnapping of a federal official, and 30 years on a second count of assaulting member of a public official’s family.
Corley said that the two sentences will run concurrently, which means that DePape will serve 30 years on the charges, with 18 months credit for time served. DePape will also be subject to five years of supervised release.
DePape, who appeared in court in an orange prison jumpsuit, listened but did not speak as Corley announced his sentence.
The sentencing memoranda
Prior to sentencing, the government and the defendant each submitted sentencing memoranda that explained their proposed sentences and the rationale they suggested that Corley should follow. Pelosi’s letter was included in a supplement to the government’s sentencing memorandum filed Friday.
In their sentencing memorandum, prosecutors argued for a sentence that would incarcerate DePape for 40 years (20 years on attempted kidnapping, 30 years on assault, 10 to be served concurrently, for a total of 40.)
The prosecutors urged the court to reject any suggestion that DePape should get credit for accepting responsibility for his actions and showing remorse. They argued that he has never expressed regret and in fact bragged about his conduct.
They quoted from a “statement” that DePape made on Jan. 27, 2022.
DePape said, “The tree of liberty isn’t dying. It’s been killed, systematically and deliberately. The people killing it have names and addresses. So I got their names and addresses so I could pay them a little visit and have a heart-to-heart chat about their bad behavior.”
DePape added, “I’m so sorry I didn’t get more of them.”
The government urged the court to apply a “terrorism enhancement” to his sentence to reflect that his crimes were crimes of domestic terrorism that were “calculated to influence or affect the conduct of government by intimidation or coercion, or to retaliate against government conduct.”
DePape’s sentencing memorandum from his attorneys suggested he receive 14 years.
That submission focused on the circumstances that allegedly led DePape to commit the offenses. His lawyers argued that his crimes had to be understood by the fact that “His entire adult life was indelibly shaped and distorted by an abusive, long-term relationship with a partner who exploited his innate vulnerabilities and immersed him in a world of extreme beliefs where reality is not reality.”
They argued that DePape’s personality and neuro-divergency made him “particularly susceptible to manipulation and unusual beliefs.”
They then recount how as a 20-year-old he fell under the influence of a woman ten years his senior who “cut him off from his family, accusing them of torturing and sexually abusing Mr. DePape as an infant and child as part of Satanic cult rituals.” (Facts that were not true.)
The woman was “domineering and controlling” and “verbally and emotionally abused him.” She introduced DePape into “the world of conspiracy theories” described as “a terrifying world in which Satanic pedophile cults have infiltrated the highest levels of political and cultural institutions.”
The tree of liberty isn’t dying. It’s been killed, systematically and deliberately. The people killing it have names and addresses. So I got their names and addresses so I could pay them a little visit and have a heart-to-heart chat about their bad behavior. … I’m so sorry I didn’t get more of them.
David DePape’s January 27, 2022 statement
DePape remained connected to the woman for years and after they broke up, he fell into an isolated and depressed life without social interactions that was filled with “hours upon hours of consuming online media amplifying conspiracy theories that demonized public figures.”
He was, the lawyers said, “ripe for radicalization.”
The lawyers frequently referenced an expert report on QAnon and radicalization that they filed under seal. In one place the sentencing memorandum says, partially quoting the report, “Mr. DePape’s beliefs, as extreme as they may be, are shared by tens of millions of Americans; polls suggest that ‘around 30 million American adults believe that there is a deep state of pedophile vampires who stole the election from Trump.’”
DePape’s lawyers urged that his sentencing be informed by the sentences of those convicted of crimes for participating in the Jan. 6, 2021 insurrection in Washington, D.C. They say that the sentences in ranged from three to 22 years, with an average of 11.5 years.
Those cases serve as an appropriate benchmark, according to the lawyers, because “Mr. DePape’s solo and unsophisticated conduct involving two victims and rooted in a firm, if not accurate, goal of protecting children and democracy — while undoubtedly harmful and dangerous — is not of the same scope, degree, and severity as the January 6 insurrection.”
DePape’s lawyers also sharply contested the idea that his sentence should be subject to a terrorism enhancement. They argued the offenses for which DePape was charged — attempted kidnapping and assault on a family member of a federal official — are not classified as federal crimes of terrorism. Moreover, they said the government did not prove that DePape intended to retaliate against “specific government conduct.”
The U.S. Probation Office submitted a sentencing memorandum that suggested 25 years followed by five years of supervisory release.
The break-in
DePape’s prosecution attracted widespread attention in part because of the bizarre nature of his conduct.
Trial testimony showed that DePape arrived at the Pelosi home shortly after 2 a.m. on Oct. 28, 2022, broke in via a glass door, woke up Paul Pelosi, and told him he was “looking for Nancy.”
Paul Pelosi told DePape that she was in Washington but DePape refused to leave. Then followed a cat and mouse game in which Pelosi sought to reach police without provoking an attack.
He was able to contact San Francisco police at 2:23 a.m. and when officers arrived at 2:31 a.m., they found Pelosi and DePape struggling over a hammer.
DePape gained control of the hammer and struck Pelosi in the head, knocking him unconscious, after which officers moved in to arrest DePape.
During an interview with San Francisco police approximately five hours after the alleged attack, DePape explained why he broke into the Pelosi residence.
“It originates with Hillary and the DNC,” referring to former presidential candidate Hillary Clinton and the Democratic National Committee, but it was Nancy Pelosi who was “on TV day in and out,” DePape said.
He said that Democrats “are the criminals” and are on an “endless crime streak.”
Prosecutors presented evidence that DePape intended to hold Nancy Pelosi hostage until “she told the truth” and that he would “break her kneecaps.”
He said that he had other targets, including actor Tom Hanks, California Gov. Gavin Newsom, and Hunter Biden, son of President Joe Biden.
State proceedings
DePape’s break-in at the Pelosi home resulted in state as well as federal charges.
In state court he was charged with attempted murder as well as a raft of other felonies, including residential burglary, elder abuse, and assault with a deadly weapon.
Trial on the state court charges is scheduled to begin in the next several weeks.
Judge Corley previously declined a defense request to delay federal sentencing until after the state trial is concluded.
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