Man who spent 30 years in prison for attacking Nancy Pelosi's husband has been sentenced to life in prison on state charges

SAN FRANCISCO (AP) — The man 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 in a separate state. hearing.

In June, a San Francisco jury found David DePape guilty of charges including aggravated kidnapping, first-degree burglary and false imprisonment of an elder.

Before sentencing DePape to life in prison for kidnapping, Judge Harry Dorfman rejected arguments from defense attorneys that he be given a new state trial. Attack on Paul Pelosi in 2022He was 82 years old at the time.

“It is my intention that Mr. DePape will never be released from prison, that he will never be paroled,” Dorfman said at sentencing. He then said: “I have no sympathy for you. “I sympathize with the victim in this case who is lucky to be alive.”

San Francisco assistant public defender Adam Lipson had asked Dorfman to consider DePape’s mental health and isolation, which made him vulnerable to online propaganda.

“This man was always a peaceful, law-abiding person until his activation,” Lipson said before sentencing.

When given the chance to speak in court before his sentencing, DePape, who wore an orange prison garb and had his brown hair pulled back into a ponytail, explained at length that 9/11 was an inside job and that his ex-wife had been replaced by a stunt double. and government-provided lawyers are conspiring against him.

“I’m a medium,” DePape told the court, reading from papers. “The more I meditate, the more psychic I become.”

The judge interrupted DePape repeatedly to ask if he wanted to address the jury’s verdict or his behavior on the night of the attack, but DePape ignored the overtures.

In a letter read in court by the victim’s daughter, Christine Pelosi, Paul Pelosi called for the maximum sentence, saying the “last peaceful sleep” ended abruptly when the defendant violently broke into my home, entered my bedroom and stood there. My bed with hammers and zip ties demanding to see my wife and asking ‘Where’s Nancy?’ “he shouts.”

He said the attack left him with blows to his head, a metal plate, dizziness and nerve damage in his left hand. He said sleeping at home alone brought back memories of the attack.

In a statement following Tuesday’s sentencing, the Pelosi family said “legal justice has been served” after two difficult years.

“Today’s sentence of life without parole provides our Pope with some civil justice and hopefully sends the message to others that political violence against elected officials or their family members will not be tolerated, disdained, or condoned,” the statement said. “We must all do our part to build a peaceful democracy.”

A federal jury previously found DePape guilty of assaulting a family member of a federal official and attempting to kidnap a federal official. He was sentenced in May 30 years in federal prison.

Although DePape expressed remorse for his actions in the federal sentencing order, he did not do so Tuesday. Judges in both cases said they could not ignore the seriousness of targeting elected officials.

Judge Dorfman sentenced DePape to additional years on Tuesday for the other crimes, but all sentences, including the federal sentence, will run concurrently. He said if the appeals court overturns the sentence of life in prison without parole, he will ask for the case to be sent back to the court for resentencing.

Lipson told reporters after the hearing that he would appeal the decision. “This was a truly tragic end to a tragic story,” he said.

Prosecutors, San Francisco assistant district attorneys Sean Connolly and Phoebe Maffei, said in a statement that the sentence reflects the seriousness of DePape’s conduct and the harm he caused an innocent man.

“There is nothing to be happy about in such situations. There are no winners,” he said.

The defense argued that the state case amounted to double jeopardy, saying the two cases stemmed from the same act even though the state and federal counts were not exactly the same. The judge dismissed some of the state charges but kept others that were not included in the federal case.

Attack on Paul Pelosi on October 28, 2022 Video captured on police body camera Just a few days before the midterm elections and Shocked the political world. He suffered head injuries, including a skull fracture, which was repaired with plates and screws.

DePape, a Canadian citizen who has lived in the United States for years, admitted during his federal trial that he planned to take Nancy Pelosi hostage, record her interrogation, and “break her kneecaps” if Pelosi did not confess her lies. He said he was referring to “Russiagate,” a reference to the investigation into Russia’s interference in the 2016 presidential campaign.

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