SACRAMENTO, Calif. — Sherri Papini, who is accused of faking her own abduction back in 2016, was was released on a $120,000 bail Tuesday afternoon.
During a virtual court hearing, a judge said Papini could be released on bond if she surrenders her passport, restricts her travel to the eastern district of California, surrenders all her firearms, and has no contact with witnesses other than family in the presence of her attorney. She was also ordered to participate in a psychiatric program.
Papini is a 39-year-old mother and wife from Redding, Calif. Her name made headlines after her disappearance and mysterious reappearance set off a frantic three-week search more than five years ago. She was found Thanksgiving Day with bindings on her body and injuries after weeks of searching in California and several nearby states.
Papini told authorities at the time that she was kidnapped at gunpoint by two Hispanic women and even provided descriptions to an FBI sketch artist along with extensive details of her purported abduction.
However, authorities said she was actually staying with a former boyfriend nearly 600 miles away from her home in Orange County, in Southern California, and hurt herself to back up her false statements.
She was recently arrested on March 3 and accused of lying to federal agents about being kidnapped and defrauding the state's victim compensation board of $30,000.
She faces a mail fraud charge related to the reimbursement requests that carries a penalty of up to 20 years in prison, while lying to a federal officer has a maximum five-year sentence.
Papini reunited with her family outside the jail in a grey hoodie before running over to her sister's arm in tears. Family members shielded her from nearby media attempting to ask questions.
Neither Papini or family members made any comments as they ushered her into an SUV waiting for her a block away from the jail.
Prosecutors said Papini’s fabricated story stoked fear and cost taxpayers upwards of $150,000 and countless hours of manpower.
Her attorney Michael Borges argued against a GPS ankle bracelet, saying it would exacerbate her complex PTSD diagnosis. He also noted the notoriety of her case would prevent her from being a risk to others or a flight risk.
In a contentious moment, prosecutors argued Papini has gone to extremes such as branding and starving herself and proved she could disappear for weeks while evading law enforcement.
They added that when an FBI agent arrested her, he came up with a rouse about her car to get her to come out of her children’s piano lesson, and when she realized she was under arrest, she screamed "no" and ran away from the agent.
Papini’s attorney argued she was just trying to protect her children.
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