By Janie Har and Olga R. Rodriguez | Associated Press
SAN FRANCISCO — The man convicted of attempting to hold former Speaker Nancy Pelosi hostage and attacking her husband with a hammer two years ago apologized in federal court Tuesday, but still received 30 years in prison at an unusual resentencing hearing that resulted from judicial error.
District Judge Jacqueline Scott Corley on May 17 sentenced David DePape to 20 years for attempting to kidnap Nancy Pelosi and 30 years for the October 2022 assault on Paul Pelosi, the maximum for both counts. The sentences would run simultaneously.
But she had failed to allow the defendant to address the court at that sentencing. Corley scheduled Tuesday’s hearing for the limited purpose of allowing DePape to speak for the purpose of mitigating his sentence.
On Tuesday, she apologized to DePape, 44, and to attorneys for her error and asked if he wished to address the court.
DePape, wearing an orange shirt and orange pants with his hair in a short ponytail, said yes and proceeded to speak quickly off of a piece of paper.
“I’m sorry for what I did,” he said, adding that he felt horrible and never meant to hurt Pelosi and that he should have left the house when he realized the former speaker was not there.
DePape said that looking back on that time in his life, he was not doing well. Since then, he said, he has reconnected with his mother and other family members, which is helping him to move forward. He became emotional at the end, prompting his lawyers to comfort him and pat his back.
Corley said the sentence needed to reflect the seriousness of the crime and act as a deterrence to others who may choose to break into the homes of elected officials and hold their spouses hostage and beat them.
“The message has to be out there that it’s absolutely unacceptable to our democracy,” she said.
DePape will serve 30 years with credit served for the 19 months he has already served, she said. His federal sentence should run…
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