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It was a hoax all along.

More than five years after Sherri Papini claimed that she'd been
kidnapped while out jogging in her rural Redding, Calif.,
neighborhood by "two Hispanic women," the 39-year-old mother of
two is finally admitting it was all a fabrication.

Her attorney, William Portanova, confirmed that Papini, who was
arrested by federal authorities on March 3, signed a plea
agreement Tuesday morning in which she will plead guilty to
counts of lying to a federal officer and mail fraud.

"I am deeply ashamed of myself for my behavior and so 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 in a statement released
through Portanova. "I will work the rest of my life to make
amends for what I have done."

Papini's story began on Nov. 2, 2016, when she had said she'd
gone out for a run and was kidnapped by the two armed, masked
Hispanic women, whom she claimed had tortured her, branded her
and kept her chained in a bedroom.

RELATED: Locals Who Aided in Search for Sherri Papini Speak Out
After She Pleads Guilty for Faking Her Kidnapping

She was later found wandering in a parking lot 22 days later —
on Thanksgiving Day. Her family, including her children ages 2
and 4, welcomed her back and the community of Redding, which had
spent days searching for her, largely rallied around her.

But after investigating her alleged kidnapping, the DOJ found
that Papini had fabricated the incident.

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"In truth, Papini had been voluntarily staying with a former
boyfriend in Costa Mesa and had harmed herself to support her
false statements," investigators with the Department of Justice
said in a press release following her arrest.

RELATED: The Piece of Evidence That Broke Open the Sherri Papini
Case

According to a 53-page charging document released last week by a
U.S. District Court, the telltale clue was male DNA on the
sweatpants and underwear that Papini was wearing when she was
found on Thanksgiving Day 2016. The DNA didn't belong to her
female abductors. Nor did it belong to Papini's husband,
authorities concluded.

Papini's alleged staged kidnapping cost the California Victim's
Compensation Board over $30,000 in therapy visits and an
ambulance trip, the statement said.

"The 22-day search for Sherri Papini and subsequent five-year
search into who reportedly abducted her was not only taxing on
public resources but caused the general public to be fearful of
their own safety, a fear that they should not have had to
endure," Shasta County Sheriff Michael L. Johnson said in the
release.

https://people.com/crime/sherri-papini-guilty-plea-kidnapping-
hoax/

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