SACRAMENTO, Calif. (KNX) — A Northern California woman charged last month with faking her own kidnapping five years ago has accepted a plea bargain put forward by prosecutors on Tuesday.
Sherri Papini’s defense attorney said his client will plead guilty to charges of lying to a federal officer, as well as mail fraud.
“I am deeply ashamed of myself for my behavior and so very 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, 39, of Redding, said in a statement. “I will work the rest of my life to make amends for what I have done.”
Papini’s purported disappearance triggered a three-week search across California and neighboring states, grabbing international headlines before she reappeared on Thanksgiving Day in 2016.
The defendant had ligature marks and bruises on her body and injuries including a “brand” on her right shoulder.
Federal prosecutors alleged that she was in fact staying with an ex-boyfriend nearly 600 miles away in Orange County and injured herself to back up the story of her kidnapping. Papini’s attorney told the Associated Press he wasn’t sure why she made it all up.
“Honestly I don’t know if anybody does. I don’t know if she knows,” he said.
“In my opinion it is a very complicated mental health situation, but one that has to be confronted and dealt with — and that includes admission and acceptance and punishment,” he said.
The charges carry penalties of up to five years in federal prison for lying to a federal law enforcement officer, and up to 20 years for mail fraud. Under the plea agreement, Papini will serve between eight and 14 months behind bars, and will also pay restitution of more than $300,000.
Papini is scheduled to be arraigned on Wednesday and plans to enter her guilty pleas later in the week.
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