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Sherri Papini leaves the courthouse in Sacramento, California, after the verdict was announced: she is scheduled to begin her sentence on November 8th
Photo: Rich Pedroncelli/AP
A US woman has been sentenced to 18 months in prison after faking her own kidnapping.
The Sherri Papini case caused a stir in the United States and beyond.
At the end of 2016, the mother of two from Redding, Northern California, was missing for three weeks.
Relatives and investigators searched for her in several states, and the media reported on the case.
A GoFundMe campaign raised more than $49,000.
When Papini reappeared on her own on November 24, she described her alleged kidnapping in bizarre details: Two Hispanic women dragged her into an SUV and kidnapped her.
She was chained for three weeks.
She was beaten and branded.
Then they were finally released on a roadside.
In fact, it was all made up.
Earlier this year, Papini was arrested.
As part of a deal with authorities, she admitted to faking the kidnapping.
Investigators concluded that she was staying with a former partner about 1,000 miles away in Southern California at the time.
Papini self-inflicted injuries to make her story more believable.
"I am guilty of lying"
Judge William Shubb now imposed the 18-month prison sentence – according to his own statements, to deter possible imitators.
In making his judgement, he took into account the seriousness of the crime and the number of people affected.
This included the investigators who were looking for Papini.
The people in her community who would have believed her for years.
And those who would have lived in fear because of their fabricated story.
According to reports, this includes, for example, Hispanic women in the area, some of whom no longer wanted to drive in SUVs or take to the streets in pairs.
In court, Papini apologized.
"I'm guilty of lying," said the 40-year-old.
'What has been done cannot be undone.
It cannot be undone.”
As part of her deal, Papini has also agreed to pay authorities more than $150,000 to search for her and her alleged kidnappers.
She is also scheduled to reimburse $128,000 in disability payments since her return.
According to Judge Shubb, however, she is unlikely to be able to raise those sums "unless she wins the lottery."
aar/AP