A California woman has agreed to plead guilty to concocting an elaborate fake kidnapping plot that gained nationwide attention and cost the public more than $150,000 in police resources.
Sherri Papini, accused of faking her own kidnapping in 2016, has agreed to plead guilty to charges of mail fraud and lying to law enforcement. It’s not entirely clear what consequences she’ll face under the plea deal, but penalties may include up to five years for lying to a federal officer and another 20 for receiving payments from the California Victim’s Compensation Board based on her fake story.
“I am deeply ashamed of myself for my behavior and so sorry for the pain I’ve caused my family, my friends, all the good people who needlessly suffered because of my story, and those who worked so hard to try to help me,” Papini said in a statement. “I will work the rest of my life to make amends for what I have done.”
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Papini was arrested in March after a Shasta County Sheriff’s Office detective uncovered evidence she had faked her abduction. However, she stuck to her story and continued giving false statements to law enforcement and requested more than 35 victim assistance payments totaling over $30,000, according to Justice Department officials.
Papini was reported missing by her husband in November 2016 after she told him she was going out for a run. She was found three weeks later on Thanksgiving Day on the side of the interstate about 140 miles from her home. She claimed she had been abducted by two women who kept her chained inside a closet, held her at gunpoint, and branded her with heated objects, but she was actually staying with her ex-boyfriend and gave herself injuries to support her story, investigators found.
“Not only did this charade take valuable resources away from real criminal investigative matters, but in a time where there is serious human trafficking cases with legitimate victims, Sherri Papini used this tragic societal phenomenon to gain notoriety and financial gain,” said Shasta County Police Sheriff Michael Johnson in a statement at the time of her arrest.
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Papini’s plea agreement has been delivered to the U.S. attorney’s office in Sacramento.
