The man who assaulted Speaker Emerita Nancy Pelosi’s (D-CA) husband was once again sentenced to 30 years in prison.
David DePape, 44, was already sentenced to 30 years on May 17, but he had to be retried due to a judicial error during his sentencing. His resentencing came up with the same result, falling 10 years short of the 40 years prosecutors were arguing for.
District Judge Jacqueline Scott Corley had to reopen the case after realizing that she did not give DePape time to speak, as required by federal law.
DePape took his time to speak on Tuesday to apologize for his actions, saying that he never meant to hurt Paul Pelosi. Nevertheless, his address, intended to mitigate his sentence, had no effect.
David DePape was previously convicted by a jury of not only assaulting Paul Pelosi but also attempting to kidnap then-House Speaker Nancy Pelosi. Prosecutors argued that a sentence of 40 years in prison was needed to assure elected officials that they wouldn’t live in fear.
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“Here, it is not the public that needs protecting, but the public officials. Our public officials should not live in fear of their lives, but attacks like the defendant’s breed fear and dissuade people from running for office or otherwise taking roles in the public sphere,” prosecutors wrote. “At this moment in time, this defendant continues to present as a strong risk — to the Speaker Emerita and others — because of his failure to accept responsibility.”
In a trial lasting less than a week, DePape was convicted by a jury late last year of attempted kidnapping of a federal official and assault upon an immediate family member of a federal official. He didn’t show emotion while the conviction was read out.