David DePape: Man Serving 30 Years for Attacking Nancy Pelosi’s Husband, Sentenced to Life Without Parole in CA

SAN FRANCISCO — The man who was sentenced to 30 years in federal prison for attacking former House Speaker Nancy Pelosi’s husband with a hammer at their California home was sentenced Tuesday to life in prison without the possibility of parole following a process separate from the state.

A San Francisco jury in June found David DePape guilty of charges including aggravated kidnapping, first-degree burglary and false imprisonment of an elderly person.

Before handing down the sentence, Judge Harry Dorfman rejected arguments by DePape’s lawyers that he be granted a new trial in the 2022 attack against Paul Pelosi, who was 82 at the time.

“My intention is that Mr. DePape will never get out of prison, he will never be eligible for parole,” Dorfman said as he handed down the sentence.

One of the defense attorneys, Adam Lipson, asked Dorfman before sentencing to consider DePape’s mental health and isolation, which made him susceptible to online propaganda.

“This is a man who was always a peaceful, law-abiding person until he was activated,” Lipson said.

When given a chance to address the court before sentencing, DePape, dressed in dark orange and with his brown hair in a ponytail, talked at length about 9/11 being an inside job, his ex-wife being replaced by a body double. , and his government-supplied lawyers conspiring against him.

“I’m a psychic,” DePape said in court, reading from sheets of paper. “The more I meditate, the more psychic I become.”

In a letter read in court by the victim’s daughter, Christine Pelosi, Paul Pelosi asked for the maximum sentence, saying his “last peaceful sleep” ended abruptly “when the defendant violently entered my home, burst into my bedroom and rose above. my bed with a hammer and zip ties demanding to see my wife, shouting ‘Where’s Nancy?’

He said the attack left him with swelling on his head, a metal plate in it, dizziness and nerve damage to his left hand. Sleeping alone at home brings back memories of the attack, he said.

A federal jury previously convicted DePape of assaulting a family member of a federal official and attempting to kidnap a federal official. In May, he was sentenced to 30 years in federal prison during an unusual resentencing hearing that resulted from a miscarriage of justice. The sentence in the state case will run concurrently with the federal sentence.

DePape’s attorneys said the state lawsuit constituted double jeopardy following his federal conviction. Even if the criminal seizures were not exactly the same, the two cases stem from the same fact, they argued. The judge dismissed some of the state charges but kept others that were not covered by the federal case.

The October 28, 2022 attack on Paul Pelosi was caught on police video camera days before the midterm elections and shocked the political world. He suffered head injuries, including a fractured skull that was repaired with plates and screws. His right arm and hand were also injured.

DePape admitted during his federal trial that he planned to hold Nancy Pelosi hostage, tape his interrogation and “break her kneecap” if she didn’t admit the lies he said he told them about “Russiagate” , a reference to the investigation into it. Russian interference in the 2016 presidential campaign.