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By Jenna Sundel
News Reporter
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The man convicted in the attack of Paul Pelosi, husband of former House Speaker Nancy Pelosi, was sentenced to life in prison on Tuesday.
David DePape addressed the court on Tuesday before his sentence was handed down. He spoke about a wide range of topics, including Sept. 11 being an inside job, his ex-wife being replaced by a body double, and his government-provided attorneys conspiring against him.
"I'm a psychic," DePape said. "The more I meditate, the more psychic I get."
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DePape broke into the Pelosi home in 2022, demanding to see Nancy Pelosi. She was not home at the time, but DePape had a confrontation with her husband, some of which was caught on the body camera of a police officer who responded to the break-in.
DePape attacked Paul Pelosi with a hammer. Pelosi was hospitalized for multiple injuries following the attack. He underwent surgery to repair a skull fracture and injuries to his right arm and hands.
In June, a California jury found DePape guilty on multiple charges, including aggravated kidnapping, first-degree burglary and false imprisonment of an elder.
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DePape was also found guilty on federal charges of attempted kidnapping of a federal official and assault on the immediate family member of a federal official in November of 2023. He was sentenced to 30 years in prison on those charges.
His legal team requested the judge for a new trial on Tuesday. One of his attorneys, Adam Lipson, said DePape struggled with mental health and isolation that made him susceptible to online propaganda.
"This is a man who has always been a peaceful, law-abiding person up until his activation," Lipson said.
Judge Harry Dorfman dismissed the request.
"It's my intention that Mr. DePape will never get out of prison, he can never be paroled," Dorfman said.
DePape will serve his state sentence concurrently with his federal sentence.
Christine Pelosi, Paul Pelosi's daughter, read a letter written by her father in court. In the letter, Paul Pelosi called for the maximum sentence. He said the "last peaceful sleep" he had ended when 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 'Where's Nancy?'"
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He said the attack left him with bumps on his head, a metal plate in his head, dizziness and nerve damage in his left hand.
Nancy Pelosi reflected on the attack in her book The Art of Power. She appeared on The View last month to talk about it.
"He's coming along a little more time. He was hit on the head three times," Pelosi said. "It was a horrible thing, and that was physical, but the traumatic effect for him, for us, for the family, but also for other political families as well. Violence has no place in any resolution of any discussion you may have."
She also called out political leaders and other prominent figures who made jokes about the attack.
"We have to stop the violence," Pelosi said.
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