A California woman who was arrested last month on charges including making false statements to federal law enforcement in connection with a kidnapping hoax has signed a plea deal.
Sherri Papini, 39, has agreed to plead guilty to making materially false statements to FBI agents and committing mail fraud “based on her being a kidnapping victim,” U.S. U.S. Attorney Phillip A. Talbert said on Tuesday. In a U.S. District Court criminal information also filed on Tuesday, Papini was charged with a total of 34 counts of mail fraud and one count of making false statements. Under the terms of the deal, she will plead guilty to one count each of mail fraud and making false statements.
In a statement shared with the Associated Press through attorney William Portanova, Papini said she was “deeply ashamed” of what she had done.
“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 said. “I will work the rest of my life to make amends for what I have done.”
The Sacramento Bee was first to report the plea deal. Papini was initially reported missing in November 2016, spurring a number of search efforts in the Shasta County area of California, and elsewhere. Later that same month, Papini was found in Yolo County, initially telling law enforcement that she had been “abducted and held by two Hispanic women at gunpoint.” As the investigation moved forward, it was soon determined that Papini had lied and had instead been staying with an ex-boyfriend. She had also given herself injuries in an effort to back up the fabricated story of having been kidnapped.
It’s not currently known when Papini will formally enter her pleas. She currently faces a maximum of five years behind bars (and a fine of as much as $250,000) in connection with the making false statements charge. The mail fraud count, meanwhile, carries a maximum of 20 years, as well as its own fine of up to $250,000.
The AP report, however, notes that prosecutors have agreed to recommend a lower sentence for Papini, with the publication stating that the current estimates is between eight and 14 months. Also called for in the plea deal is hundreds of thousands of dollars in restitution.
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