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A man serving a 30-year sentence for attacking Nancy Pelosi’s husband is sentenced to life on state charges.
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A man serving a 30-year sentence for attacking Nancy Pelosi’s husband is sentenced to life on state charges.

SAN FRANCISCO (AP) — The man who was sentenced to 30 years in federal prison for attacking former House Speaker Nancy Pelosi’s husband with a hammer in their California home was sentenced Tuesday to life in prison without possibility of paro.

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

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

Before handing down the sentence, Judge Harry Dorfman rejected arguments from DePape’s lawyers that he would benefit from a new trial in the case. 2022 attack on Paul Pelosiwho was then 82 years old.

“It is my intention that Mr. DePape never gets out of prison, he will never be eligible for parole,” Dorfman said in imposing the punishment.

One of the defense attorneys, Adam Lipson, asked Dorfman before the sentence was handed down to take into account DePape’s mental health and isolation that made him vulnerable to online propaganda.

“This is a man who was always a peaceful, law-abiding person up until his activation,” Lipson said.

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

“I’m a medium,” DePape told the 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 called for the maximum sentence, saying his “last peaceful sleep” ended abruptly “when the defendant violently broke into my home, burst into my room and stood over me. my bed with a hammer and restraints demanding to see my wife, shouting “Where’s Nancy?” »

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

Previously, a federal jury found DePape guilty 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 resulting from a miscarriage of justice. The sentence imposed at the state trial will run concurrently with the federal sentence.

DePape’s lawyers said the state trial amounted to double punishment following his federal conviction. Even though the charges are not exactly the same, the two cases stem from the same act, they argued. The judge dismissed some state charges but upheld others that were not covered in the federal case.

The October 28, 2022 attack on Paul Pelosi took place captured on police body camera video just 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, a Canadian citizen who has lived in the United States for years, admitted during his federal trial that he planned to hold Nancy Pelosi hostage, record her interrogation and “break her kneecaps” if she didn’t wouldn’t admit the lies he had told. said he spoke about “Russiagate,” a reference to the investigation into Russian interference in the 2016 presidential campaign.

Janie Har, Associated Press