Sherri Papini appeared in federal court Wednesday afternoon in Sacramento to be arraigned on charges related to faking her own kidnapping. She is scheduled to be back in court on Monday to likely enter guilty pleas.
Papini, the Redding woman who was arrested on charges of lying to federal agents about her mysterious 2016 kidnapping, had signed a plea deal admitting her kidnapping was a hoax.
A news release from the U.S Department of Justice said, "Papini agreed to plead guilty to a single count of mail fraud and one count of making false statements."
Her attorney, Bill Portanova, did the talking as Papini was quiet and had her hands clasped together before court.
"Life is very complicated and all we can do at the end of the day is the right thing and it’s never too late to do the right thing we are sorry we are going to try and fix this thing," Portanova said.
In the plea deal, Papini also waives her right to trial by jury and is ordered to pay restitution to all her victims. It includes at least $308,000 to the California Victim Compensation Board, Shasta County Sheriff's office, Federal Bureau of Investigations and Social Security Administration
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. Prosecutors agreed as part of the plea bargain to recommend a sentence on the low end of the sentencing range, estimated for Papini to be between eight and 14 months in custody.
Former Sacramento County Deputy District Attorney Alana Mathews said Papini may also have to pay people back who may have given to any fundraisers to help her after she returned in Nov. 2016.
"I believe that there is language that addresses the victims even though they aren’t specifically named or they may not be victims of a specific charge," Mathews said.
The Shasta County Sheriff's Office said in a statement they wish Sherri Papini would have admitted her kidnapping hoax earlier.
"The Sheriff’s Office appreciates Ms. Papini finally taking responsibility for her actions although wish she would have done so much earlier to prevent the amount of resources and staff hours that were put into this investigation," the Shasta County Sheriff's Office told ABC10.
The 39-year-old issued a statement through her attorney, apologizing for the pain she caused her loved ones.
"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. I will work the rest of my life to make amends for what I have done," Papini said in a statement.
At the time of her disappearance, Papini told authorities 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.
(Editor's Note: A push alert for this article said Papini plead guilty today. However, the plea is scheduled for Monday. We regret the error.)
