Former Powell River resident David DePape was handed a life sentence in a California state court on October 29 for an attack on former US house speaker Nancy Pelosi’s husband Paul.
DePape had previously been sentenced to 30 years of incarceration in a federal trial for the 2022 incident that took place in the Pelosi home in San Francisco. DePape’s latest sentence in state court means that there is no possibility of parole for DePape, who has been living in the United States for years.
According to an account from the Associated Press, a San Francisco jury found DePape guilty of several charges, which included aggravated kidnapping, first-degree burglary and false imprisonment of an elder.
In the Associated Press account, judge Harry Dorfman said: “It is my intention that Mr. DePape will never get out of prison; he can never be parolled.”
Before the sentence was handed down, defence attorney Adam Lipson asked Dorfman to consider DePape's mental health and isolation that made him susceptible to online propaganda, according to the Associated Press.
"This is a man who has always been a peaceful, law-abiding person up until his activation," said Lipson.
The October 28, 2022, attack on Paul Pelosi was captured on police body camera video just days before midterm elections and shocked the political world, according to the Associated Press account. Pelosi suffered head wounds, including a skull fracture that was mended with plates and screws. His right arm and hand were also injured.
DePape admitted during his federal trial that he planned to hold Nancy Pelosi hostage, record his interrogation of her, and "break her kneecaps" if she did not admit to the lies he said she told about "Russiagate," a reference to the investigation into Russian interference in the 2016 presidential campaign.
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