SAN FRANCISCO 鈥� The man who was sentenced to 30 years in federal prison the husband of former House Speaker Nancy Pelosi with a hammer in their California home was sentenced Tuesday to life in prison without the possibility of parole following a separate state trial.
A San Francisco jury in June found David DePape guilty of charges including aggravated kidnapping, first-degree burglary and false imprisonment of an elder.
Before issuing the sentence, Judge Harry Dorfman dismissed arguments from DePape's attorneys that he be granted a new trial for the 2022 attack against Paul Pelosi, who was 82 years old at the time.
鈥淚t鈥檚 my intention that Mr. DePape will never get out of prison, he can never be paroled," Dorfman said while handing out the punishment.
One of the defense attorneys, Adam Lipson, asked Dorfman before the sentence was handed down to consider DePape鈥檚 mental health and isolation that made him susceptible to online propaganda.
鈥淭his is a man who has always been a peaceful, law-abiding person up until his activation,鈥� Lipson said.
When given the chance to address the court prior to his sentencing, DePape, dressed in prison orange and with his brown hair in a ponytail, spoke at length about Sept. 11 being an inside job, his ex-wife being replaced by a body double, and his government-provided attorneys conspiring against him.
鈥淚鈥檓 a psychic,鈥� DePape told the court, reading from sheets of paper. 鈥淭he more I meditate, the more psychic I get.鈥�
In a letter read in court by the victim's daughter, Christine Pelosi, Paul Pelosi called for the maximum sentence, saying the 鈥渓ast peaceful sleep鈥� he had ended abruptly 鈥渨hen the defendant violently broke into my home, burst into my bedroom and stood over my bed with a hammer and zip ties demanding to see my wife, yelling 鈥榃here鈥檚 Nancy?鈥欌��
He said the attack left him with bumps on his head, a metal plate in it, dizziness and nerve damage in his left hand. Sleeping alone at home evokes memories of the attack, he said.
Previously, a federal jury convicted DePape of assaulting a federal official鈥檚 family member 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 judicial error. The punishment in the state trial will run concurrently with the federal sentence.
DePape鈥檚 attorneys have said the state trial amounted to double jeopardy following his federal conviction. Even though the criminal counts were not exactly the same, the two cases stem from the same act, they argued. The judge did dismiss some of the state charges but kept others that were not covered by the federal case.
The Oct. 28, 2022, was captured on police body camera video just days before the midterm elections and shocked the political world. He suffered head wounds, including a skull fracture that was mended with plates and screws. His right arm and hand were also injured.
DePape, a Canadian citizen who has been living in the U.S. for years, admitted during his federal trial that he planned to hold Nancy Pelosi hostage, record his interrogation of her, and 鈥渂reak her kneecaps鈥� if she did not admit to the lies he said she told about 鈥淩ussiagate,鈥� a reference to the investigation into Russian interference in the 2016 presidential campaign.
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