What Exactly Did Sherri Papini Do? The Events Leading Up To Her 18-Month Sentence For Kidnapping Hoax

The California wife and mother who faked her own kidnapping in 2016 was sentenced Monday to 18 months in prison.

Sherri Papini, 40, could have been sentenced to up to five years for making false statements to the FBI as well as a 20-year sentence for mail fraud.

U.S. District Judge William Shubb in Sacramento gave Papini a longer sentence than the government prosecutors' recommendation.

In April, Papini agreed to plead guilty to receiving over $30,000 in victim compensation, and two counts of mail fraud and making false statements to federal agents about her fake kidnapping.

Her husband Keith has since filed for divorce and requested custody of their two children.

What exactly did Papini do? The case drew national attention due to the complexity of Papini's abduction hoax and for the similarities with the plot of the novel and film, "Gone Girl."

The kidnapping ruse started in November 2016, when Papini was reported missing after she failed to return from a jog near her Shasta County home. Papini was found injured and alone about 140 miles away from her home three weeks later on Thanksgiving.

Papini told police she was kidnapped and tortured by two masked Hispanic women, who were armed and kept her chained in a closet. She also claimed they used a heated tool to brand her.

The authorities launched a large-scale search to find the suspects but were unsuccessful. There were no leads until 2020 when investigators used new technology to test unknown male DNA found on Papini's clothing.

Genetic genealogy allowed investigators to link the DNA to a relative of Papini's ex-boyfriend. They then took the former boyfriend's DNA and determined he was a match.

An interview with the ex-boyfriend revealed he allowed Papini to stay at his Southern California home to help her "run away" from an allegedly abusive relationship. She reportedly slept at her ex-boyfriend's home in Costa Mesa but did not have sex with him.

The ex-boyfriend went on to reveal Papini asked him to brand her with a heated tool for the hoax, and she had injured herself while chopping wood. The ex-boyfriend claimed Papini was also responsible for cutting off her own hair and that she starved herself.

After corroborating his account, investigators confronted Papini, who stood by her original story about the kidnapping.

In March 2022, charges were brought against Papini, who agreed to a plea deal a month later. Prosecutors said Papini and her husband spent $50,000 they received from GoFundMe to pay off credit card debt.

Papini's attorney William Portanova had requested a sentence of one month in prison and seven months of home detention for the kidnapping hoax.

"Her name is now synonymous with this awful hoax," he wrote in a sentencing memorandum.

"There is no escaping it. There is only the hard work of moving forward, however slowly, towards a balanced, open, and honest life. There seems to be little or no chance for Sherri to go backwards now. The lies are out, the guilt admitted, the shame universally seen.

"It is hard to imagine a more brutal public revelation of a person's broken inner self. At this point, the punishment is already intense and feels like a life sentence."

Prosecutors had sought a sentence of eight months in prison and three years of supervised release.

"Papini planned and executed a sophisticated kidnapping hoax, and then continued to perpetuate her false statements for years after her return without regard for the harm she caused others," prosecutors stated in a sentencing memo.

"As a result, state and federal investigators devoted limited resources to Papini's case for nearly four years before they independently learned the truth: that she was not kidnapped and tortured."