On December 13, 2013, in Berkeley, California, David DePaap was sentenced to life in prison without parole for hitting Nancy Pelosi’s husband with a hammer. Michael Short/San Francisco Chronicle/AP Hide Caption
toggle caption
Michael Short/San Francisco Chronicle/AP
SAN FRANCISCO — A man sentenced to 30 years in federal prison for attacking former House Speaker Nancy Pelosi’s husband with a hammer in his California home was sentenced to 30 years in federal prison without the possibility of parole on Tuesday as a result of a separate state trial. He was sentenced to life imprisonment.
A San Francisco jury in June convicted David DePaap of charges including aggravated kidnapping, first-degree robbery and false imprisonment of an elderly person.
Before sentencing, Judge Harry Dorfman rejected an argument by DePaap’s lawyers for a new trial for the 2022 attack on Paul Pelosi, then 82.
“It is my intention that Mr. DePaap will never leave prison and he will never be eligible for parole,” Dorfman said as he handed down the sentence.
One of his defense attorneys, Adam Lipson, asked Dorfman to consider DePaap’s mental health and isolation, which left him susceptible to online propaganda, before sentencing.
“This is a man who has always been a peaceful, law-abiding individual up until his inception,” Lipson said.
When given the chance to address the court before his sentencing, DePape, dressed in prison orange and with his brown hair tied back in a ponytail, said Sept. 11 was an inside crime and that his ex-wife had been replaced by a Kagemusha. We talked about it at length. , and government-provided lawyers conspiring against him.
“I’m a psychic,” DePape said as he read aloud from the paper in court. “The more you meditate, the more inspired you become.”
In a letter read in court by the victim’s daughter Christine Pelosi, Paul Pelosi asked for capital punishment, saying, “When the defendant violently entered my home, forced his way into my bedroom, and stood up, he ‘s “last restful sleep” ended abruptly.” There was a hammer and zip ties on my bed, demanding to see my wife, and asking “Where’s Nancy?” ” he shouted. ”
The attack left him with a bump on his head, a metal plate in it, dizziness and nerve damage to his left hand, he said. When she sleeps alone at home, memories of the attack come back to her.
Previously, a federal jury convicted DePape of assaulting a family member of a federal employee and attempting to kidnap a federal employee. In May, he was sentenced to 30 years in federal prison in an unusual retrial resulting from a judicial error. State court penalties run concurrently with federal sentences.
DePaap’s lawyers said a state trial following a federal conviction amounted to double jeopardy. They argued that the two incidents resulted from the same act, even though the number of crimes was not exactly the same. The judge dismissed some of the state charges but stayed others that are not the subject of the federal lawsuit.
The attack on Paul Pelosi on October 28, 2022, captured on police body camera footage days before the midterm elections, shocked the political world. He suffered head injuries, including a skull fracture, which was repaired with plates and screws. His right arm and hand were also injured.
Mr. DePape, a Canadian national who has lived in the United States for many years, said in a federal court that if Nancy Pelosi did not admit to her lies, he would take her hostage, record the interrogation, and “break her kneecaps.” ” he admitted that he had intended to do so. She said she spoke about “Russiagate,” a reference to the investigation into Russian interference in the 2016 presidential election.
