Prosecutors are calling for a 40-year prison term for the man who attacked the husband ofCalifornia Rep. Nancy Pelosi at their San Francisco home in 2022 as part of a plot to kidnap the lawmaker.
Federal prosecutors contended in a sentencing memo that the attack by David Wayne Depape, who was convicted of the crime in November, was an act of terrorism and that he should get more than the sentencing guidelines.
"The defendant planned a violent hostage-taking" of Nancy Pelosi, who was speaker of the House at the time, and "then nearly killed her husband. The defendant planned and unleashed violence and has stayed true to his belief that the actions were necessary," said the memorandum.
The memo emphazised that Depape has no remorse for the attack.
Paul Pelosi had been asleep seconds before the crime when Depape — then 42, of Richmond, California — entered his bedroom looking for Nancy Pelosi, who was in Washington at the time.
Minutes after Pelosi managed to make a 911 call, two police officers responding to the Pelosi residence witnessed Paul Pelosi and DePape struggling over a hammer, and DePape striking Pelosi in the head. The attack was capturred on police body cam.
Officers immediately restrained and arrested Depape while Pelosi lay injured on the ground. Pelosi suffered two skull fractures that had to be repaired in emergency surgery, along with a wound to his arm and to his hand.
Officers discovered Depape was carrying a roll of tape, white rope, a second hammer, a pair of rubber and cloth gloves, and zip ties from the crime scene which investigators said he had planned to use to kidnap Nancy Pelosi and break her kneecaps if she lied to him during questioning about various political issues.
