Sherri Papini kidnapping hoax

rdf:langString Sherri Papini kidnapping hoax

rdf:langString An American woman named Sherri Papini disappeared on November 2, 2016, reportedly while out jogging a mile from her home in Redding, California. Papini was 34 years old at the time. She reappeared three weeks later on Thanksgiving Day, November 24, having been reportedly freed by her captors at 4:30 that morning still wearing restraints, on the side of County Road 17 near Interstate 5 in Yolo County, about 150 miles (240 km) south of where she disappeared. The case garnered major media attention, with national law enforcement experts reporting doubts or otherwise baffled as to the unlikely details and inconsistencies of the reported abduction. On March 3, 2022, Papini was arrested on charges of making false statements to federal law enforcement officers and for mail fraud. According to the Department of Justice, Papini fabricated the story of her abduction. She had reportedly been staying with a former boyfriend (James Reyes) during the time she was supposedly missing and had harmed herself in order to give credence to her lies. In August 2020 she stood by her story when questioned by a federal agent and a detective from the Shasta County Sheriff’s Office, despite being advised that it was a crime to lie to a federal agent. Papini was charged with mail fraud as she had received over $30,000 from the California Victim's Compensation Board between 2017 and 2021. On March 9, 2022, Papini was released from jail before her trial on a $120,000 bond and after surrendering her passport. She and her lawyer had no comment on the allegations against her. Papini had faced up to 25 years in prison between the charges of mail fraud and lying to a federal officer. However, six weeks after her arrest, Papini signed a plea deal admitting that she had orchestrated the hoax. In September 2022, she was sentenced to 18 months in prison and fined $300,000.