Did Sherri Papini go to jail? Details of her fake kidnapping and more, explored

Perfect Wife: The Mysterious Disappearance is currently streaming on Hulu(Image via Hulu)
Perfect Wife: The Mysterious Disappearance is currently streaming on Hulu (Image via Hulu)

The Sherri Papini kidnapping fraud involves Sherri Papini faking her own kidnapping to hide her affair. While she stayed with her boyfriend in Costa Mesa, California, her husband believed she had been abducted. After 22 days, Papini returned and claimed she was kidnapped by two Hispanic women. The case gained significant media attention, and Papini was asked to provide her account to federal agents. When it was discovered that she had fabricated the story, she was arrested.

On March 3, 2022, she pleaded guilty to lying to federal agents and faking her kidnapping, receiving a fine of $300,000 and an 18-month prison sentence. She was released in August 2023 and placed in a halfway house. The documentary series Perfect Wife: The Mysterious Disappearance of Sherri Papini covers this case and was released on June 20, 2024, on Hulu.


What is the Sherri Papini kidnapping fraud?

youtube-cover

On November 2, 2016, Sherri Papini, a 34-year-old from Redding, California, disappeared while jogging near her home. After a three-week search, she was found on the side of County Road 17 near Interstate 5 in Yolo County, wearing restraints. She claimed she had been kidnapped and tortured by two Hispanic women.

However, DNA testing and inconsistencies in her story revealed she was lying. During her supposed abduction, Papini was actually staying with her then-boyfriend, James Reyes, who she had asked to injure her to make her abduction story believable. She faked the kidnapping to hide her affair from her husband.

Soon after all the revelations concerning Papini's fake kidnapping were found she was arrested. She was expected to serve at least 25 years in jail for her misdemeanor. However, she signed a plea deal in which she admitted to faking her abduction. This reduced her sentence substantially as she received only 18 months in prison.


Where is Sherri Papini now?

Papini was released from prison in August 2023, approximately 11 months after she was sentenced. She was then shifted to a halfway house under the custody of Sacramento-based federal authorities.

In August 2023, records from the Federal Bureau of Prisons suggested that 41-year-old Papini was being housed by the Residential Reentry Management Field Office in Sacramento. The records also suggested that her release date was October 29, 2023.

As of writing this article, Papini is residing in Redding, California. She stays close to her ex-husband, Keith and their children, Tyler and Violet. According to an interview given by Keith to TV Line, Sherri gets to speak to her children every week and see them each month under strict supervision.


Why did Papini and her husband separate?

Soon after Sherri admitted to having faked her abduction to hide her affair, Papini and her then-husband Keith started living separately. Then after a few days when she was arrested on charges of falsification, Keith filed for divorce soon after.

He also opted for and was granted full custody of his two kids. As mentioned, previously, Papini only gets to visit her children occasionally now, and under supervision.


Perfect Wife: The Mysterious Disappearance of Sherri Papini is currently streaming on Hulu.

Check out Apple TV+'s cutest new show HERE

Edited by Meghna
Sportskeeda logo
Close menu
WWE
WWE
NBA
NBA
NFL
NFL
MMA
MMA
Tennis
Tennis
NHL
NHL
Golf
Golf
MLB
MLB
Soccer
Soccer
F1
F1
WNBA
WNBA
More
More
bell-icon Manage notifications