Sherri Papini admits to faking 2016 kidnapping, says she’s ‘so sorry’

The Mother in California accused of lying about a kidnapping case in 2016 That began a nationwide search that admitted on Tuesday that her story of the abduction was fake, saying she was “deeply embarrassed” and that she would spend the rest of her life left her to try to modify.

Sherri Papini, 39, said in a statement released by her lawyer that she is “deeply sorry for the pain I have caused my family, my friends, all the good people, who There’s no need to put up with my story and those who have worked so hard to try and help me.”

“I’m going to work for the rest of my life to fix what I’ve done,” she said.

Under the plea agreement filed Tuesday in U.S. District Court for the Eastern District of California, Papini agreed to plead guilty to two counts of mail fraud and lying to a law enforcement officer – first-time charges with maximum sentences of 20 years and 5 years respectively.

Sacramento Bee first reported pleas.

According to the document, Papini will pay more than $300,000 in compensation to federal, state and local agencies. Prosecutors said they would recommend a reduced sentence.

Papini, a mother of two from Redding, was arrested last month, nearly six years after she was reported missing. On November 24, 2016, three weeks after she disappeared, she was found 146 miles south, on Interstate 5, with a leash around her waist.

Federal authorities said last month she had injuries that authorities believe she caused herself and a “brand” on her shoulder that she blamed on her kidnappers, federal authorities said. said last month.

Papini describes her kidnappers as two Hispanic women who held her against her will – an allegation that prompted an FBI sketch artist to develop a portrait and lead to a five-year search in California and other states, authorities said.

The US Attorney’s Office said in a statement: “Truthfully, Papini voluntarily stayed with an ex-boyfriend in Costa Mesa and harmed herself to support her false claims. she”.

The ex-boyfriend told authorities he picked her up at Redding after she told him she needed to go. He also admitted to branding her with a wood-burning tool.

In August 2020, authorities said Papini lied to officers when they confronted her with evidence that the kidnapping was fake, the prosecutor’s office said.

And between 2017 and 2021, she requested $30,000 in victim assistance funds to be used to help pay for her medical visits and an ambulance to take her to the hospital after she was found.

Federal court records say Papini will be arranged on Wednesday.

at Blogtuan.info – Source: nbcnews.com – Read the original article here