An American woman with a “very complicated mental health situation” has admitted to falsifying her own abduction and lied to the FBI six years after claiming it happened.
Sherry Papini, 39, told the judge in tears that she felt “very sad”, but did not explain why she lied that she had been abducted in 2016.
As she pleaded guilty in a 30-minute court hearing in Sacramento, California, U.S. Senior District Judge William Schub asked his wife and mother of two, “Were you abducted?”
“No, your honor,” she said.
“Did you lie to government agents when you told them you were kidnapped?” Mr. Schub continued.
“Yes, your honor,” she said.
Image: Papini’s lawyer William Portanova says she probably doesn’t know why she forged the abduction
Papini’s carefully planned scam in November 2016 sparked a massive three-week search in several western US states.
She claims to have been abducted by a gun by “two Spanish-speaking women”, but is in fact staying with an ex-boyfriend 600 miles (966 km) in Orange County, Southern California.
When he left her on the interstate nearly 150 miles from her home three weeks later, she had self-inflicted injuries, including a swollen nose.
Papini also had ligaments on his body and a blurred “mark” on his right shoulder, as well as other bruises and rashes on many parts of his body, traces of ligatures on his wrists and ankles, and burns on his left forearm.
She continued to lie about her disappearance in August 2020, but agreed to plead guilty last week after reaching a deal with prosecutors.
As part of this agreement, her sentence will be at the lower end of the range, somewhere between eight and 14 months in prison, instead of the maximum allowed 25 years.
It will also pay more than $ 300,000 (£ 228,000) to cover the costs of the investigation and search.
Although she finally got clean, Papini did not explain why she did it, and her lawyer, William Portanova, said last week that she doubted even she knew.
He said she had a “very complicated mental health situation” and that her long-delayed acceptance of responsibility and punishment was part of the healing process.
Papini of Reading, California, said Monday that she had received $ 30,000 (£ 23,000) in psychiatric care for anxiety, depression and post-traumatic stress disorder after her return.
The treatment was covered by a state compensation scheme for victims and is now part of its restitution.
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