David DePape, the man responsible for the brutal attack on former House Speaker Nancy Pelosi‘s husband, Paul Pelosi, has been sentenced to life in prison without the possibility of parole. The sentencing by a California judge on Tuesday.
DePape, 44, had already been sentenced to 30 years in federal prison for related federal charges stemming from the break-in and attack on October 28, 2022. His life sentence comes after a San Francisco jury found him guilty in June of multiple serious charges, including aggravated kidnapping, first-degree burglary, false imprisonment, and making threats against an elected official or their family. San Francisco County Superior Court Judge Harry Dorfman made it clear that DePape’s sentence would prevent any possibility of parole, declaring, “It’s my intention that Mr. DePape will never get out of prison.”
The attack itself was a terrifying ordeal for the Pelosi family. According to police and court records, DePape broke into the Pelosi home with a hammer, demanding, “Where is Nancy, where is Nancy?” before assaulting Paul Pelosi. Fortunately, Pelosi, 84, was able to discreetly contact 911, and when officers arrived, they encountered DePape and Pelosi both holding onto a hammer. DePape ultimately wrested the hammer from Pelosi and struck him in the head, a moment captured on police body cameras.
During the sentencing, DePape’s defense attorney, Adam Lipson, pleaded for leniency, arguing that DePape had led a crime-free life until falling into a “rabbit hole of conspiracies.” Lipson described his client as “a peaceful, law-abiding person” who had become caught up in dangerous ideas, including far-right conspiracy theories questioning the 2020 election results and alleging that the federal government was run by “devil-worshipping pedophiles.” In court, DePape himself took the opportunity to address the judge and repeated some of these theories, claiming, “I’m a psychic. … The more I meditate, the more psychic I get.”
San Francisco District Attorney Brooke Jenkins responded to the sentencing with a statement emphasizing the importance of accountability. She called DePape’s actions a “danger to democracy,” adding that “Mr. DePape is now being held accountable and will spend the rest of his life in prison without the possibility of parole.”
