Sherri Papini released on $120K bond despite ‘extreme flight risk fears after mom resisted arrest for FAKE abduction’
A FEDERAL judge ruled Tuesday that stay-at-home mom, Sherri Papini, will be released from a Sacramento jail on a $120,000 bond.
During a virtual court hearing, a judge ordered Papini to surrender her passport, firearms and restrict her travel to the eastern district of California.
Prosecutors argued that Papini was a flight risk and that “even putting an ankle bracelet on her” wouldn’t be able to ensure her appearance in court.
It was also alleged that Papini “resisted arrest” as the mother on charges of making false statements to police and engaging in mail fraud.
However, Papini’s attorney Michael Borges stated that the mother was at a piano lesson with her children when she was arrested.
Borges argued that officers lured Papini out of where the lesson was being held under “a ruse about her vehicle.”
“She was grabbed after being told she was under arrest. She took a few steps toward her children and was forcibly detained,” said Borges.
Papini had been held at the Sacramento County Jail for nearly a week before the judge ruled she be released.
Most read in The Sun
Prosecutors accuse the 39-year-old mother of planning a sophisticated and elaborate ruse when she allegedly faked her own abduction, staying at an ex-boyfriend’s house instead.
The mom-of-two vanished while out jogging in Redding, California on November 2, 2016, but mysteriously reappeared 22 days later on Thanksgiving Day, claiming to have been abducted and held captive by two gun-wielding Hispanic women.
No arrests were ever made in the case with police struggling to identify a motive for the seemingly random crime.
'SELFISH ACTS'
In an interview with The Sun, Shasta County Sheriff Michael L. Johnson blasted Papini for wasting the more than half a decade of police time and resources that were spent investigating her "bogus claims."
Johnson also called Papini "selfish" and "callous" for sowing needless fear in the local community, adding that he has "zero sympathy" for her in the wake of her arrest.
"Shasta County is a pretty tight-knit community and a safe community, so when Sherri reported this abduction - or should I say charade - it really caused a lot of anxiety," Johnson said.
"People were afraid to go out for jogs or to be out in public alone.
"They thought we had abductors and sex traffickers lurking around here at a profound rate."
As the case gained national attention, Johnson said his department also came under increasing scrutiny for how its officers were handling the case.
"It's okay to be questioned and second-guessed at times if the case is legitimate," he said, "but when we come to find out it was all a charade it's really frustrating for us."
Johnson continued: "So I've got to tell you, from the point of when she is now having been charged, we're really happy that a person who wasted so much money and resources, and who through her selfish acts created so much hysteria in our community, is now being held accountable for what she's done."
UNCORROBORATED STORY
Skepticism has long surrounded Papini's abduction claims, despite her detailed account to authorities about what happened.
Papini disappeared on November 2, 2016, leaving family members fearful she'd been abducted while out on a jog.
Hours before she vanished, Papini sent a message to her husband Keith asking if he would be home for lunch, but he said that he wouldn't be.
She then failed to pick up her kids from a daycare center and was reported missing later that afternoon.
Keith told Good Morning America at the time: "Everybody who knows my wife knows that there's no reason for her to leave ... She was definitely taken against her will."
A motorist then found Papini on November 24 in rural Yolo County, around 150 miles from her Redding home.
She was emaciated and bound at the waist by a chain, which was tethered to her left wrist with a zip tie. Hose clamps were fixed to her ankles in what the Shasta County Sheriff’s Office later described as “pain compliance restraints.”
Papini was also covered in bruises, had her long blond hair shaved off, a "brand" on her right shoulder, and had suffered a broken nose.
'ATTENTION HUNGRY WOMAN'
In a statement last Thursday, US Attorney for the Eastern District of California Phillip A Talbert said the almost six-year investigation into the case revealed that Papini fabricated the entire story, even going as far as harming herself to substantiate her claims.
Investigators said they were able to determine that Papini was with an ex-boyfriend - who hasn't been named - who was in on the ruse from the beginning.
The bogus kidnapping was reportedly plotted on pre-paid cell phones, an affidavit released by Talbert's office this week claims.
Described in the report as an "attention-hungry woman" who had numerous affairs, Papini asked her former lover to pick her up and then spent the next few weeks at his apartment, the ex-boyfriend confessed to cops.
The ex-boyfriend also allegedly told police how he hired a rental car to drive her back to her family's neighborhood on Thanksgiving Day, 2016.
"When a young mother went missing in broad daylight, a community was filled with fear and concern,"; Talbert said.
"Shasta County Sheriff's Office immediately began investigating, calling on the assistance of the FBI. Countless hours were spent following leads, all in an effort to bring this woman back to her family."
Talbert added: "Three weeks later, she was found 146 miles south of where she disappeared, and the focus went from trying to find her to trying to find her abductors.
"Ultimately, the investigation revealed that there was no kidnapping and that time and resources that could have been used to investigate actual crime, protect the community, and provide resources to victims were wasted based on the defendant's conduct."
READ MORE SUN STORIES
Papini is currently facing mail fraud charges and could receive a sentence of up to 20 years in jail.
She also faces up to five years in prison after being accused of lying to investigators.
We pay for your stories!
Do you have a story for The US Sun team?
Email us at [email protected] or call 212 416 4552.
Like us on Facebook at and follow us from our main Twitter account at