The federal Department of Justice is pushing a 40-year prison sentence for David DePape, the man convicted of attacking the husband of former House Speaker Nancy Pelosi — seeking a “terrorism enhancement” to bump up the assailant’s time behind bars.
US attorneys, in a Friday filing, argued that the US District Court for the Northern District of California should override the 25-year jail term recommended by the federal Probation Office, even though DePape, 44, was not convicted of any terrorism charges.
“The violent lessons that the defendant wanted to teach are not permitted in this country,” US Attorney Ismail J. Ramsey wrote in his sentencing memorandum.
“Defendant intended to promote a federal crime of terrorism and therefore, the terrorism enhancement should apply here,” Ramsey concluded.
In November, a federal jury in San Francisco found DePape guilty of attempted kidnapping of a federal official and assault on the immediate family member of a federal official in retaliation for the performance of their duties.
Police body camera footage documented DePape’s brutal hammer attack on Paul Pelosi, the congresswoman’s husband, in their San Francisco home on Oct. 28, 2022 — an assault that left the 83-year-old with a fractured skull and other serious injuries.
DePape, who took the stand during the week-long trial, tearfully apologized for harming Paul Pelosi.
“He was never my target and I’m sorry he got hurt,” DePape said.
Instead, DePape said, he planned to get the former Speaker and other famous “targets” to admit to membership in a cabal of Satan-worshiping Democrat elites who run a global pedophile sex ring — conspiracy theories fueled by his devotion to fringe political podcasts.
DePape faces federal sentencing on May 17, after which he will stand trial on state charges of attempted murder and assault with a deadly weapon.
