A man who attacked the elderly husband of former US House Speaker Nancy Pelosi with a hammer was jailed on Friday for 30 years.

David DePape was convicted last year of breaking into the couple's San Francisco home and bludgeoning Paul Pelosi, who is 84.

At the time of the October 2022 attack, Democrat Nancy Pelosi was second in line to the presidency and a regular target of far-right conspiracy theories.

Jurors heard how DePape – a Canadian former nudist activist who supported himself with occasional carpentry work – had initially planned to target Nancy Pelosi, planning to smash her kneecaps if she did not admit to her party's "lies."

Nancy Pelosi was not at home the night of the attack.

Prosecutors had asked the federal court in San Francisco to sentence DePape to 40 years in prison. (AFP)