Sherri Papini, 39, of Redding, gave no explanation for her complicated prank during the half-hour hearing, answering only “Yes, Your Excellency” and “No, Your Excellency” in a trembling voice as a district attorney. of the USA William Shubb. described the charges and evidence against her. “I feel very sad,” she said in tears when Shubb asked her how she was feeling. Papini agreed to plead guilty to an agreement reached with prosecutors last week and is scheduled to be sentenced on July 11. Prosecutors agreed to propose a sentence for the lower limit of the sentence, which is estimated to be between eight and 14 months in prison, up to a maximum of 25 years for the two charges. He also agreed to pay compensation in excess of $ 300,000. That includes the cost of her search, which covered many western states, and the subsequent search for the “two Hispanics” who she said were abducted at gunpoint. Papini actually lived with an ex-boyfriend, nearly 600 miles away, in Orange County, southern California. Three weeks later, he left her along Interstate 5, almost 150 miles from her home. She had straps on her body and self-injured, including a swollen nose and a blurred “mark” on her right shoulder. She had other bruises and rashes on many parts of her body, signs of ligation on her wrists and ankles and burns on her left forearm. The married mother of two continued to lie about it only in August 2020, when in fact there was no abduction, she admitted her guilt. Papini has not explained why she did it. Her lawyer, William Portanova, said last week that she even doubted she knew. He suggested “a very complicated mental health situation” and said that the long-delayed acceptance of responsibility and punishment is part of the treatment process. Papini said Monday that she has been receiving psychiatric treatment for anxiety, depression and post-traumatic stress disorder since she returned – treatment worth more than $ 30,000 for which she billed a state victim compensation fund and is now part of her rehabilitation. “It is a mistake to assume that mental illness is the cause of unusual behavior,” said Dr. Ian Lamoureux, a medical examiner and frequent witness who teaches at the University of Arizona College of Medicine and the Mayo Clinic. There could be a logical, albeit mysterious, explanation, Lamoureux said, although he warned that he had not considered Papini and that many factors in the case remained unknown to the public. Prosecutors say her fake abduction was not impulsive and that she had been planning it for more than a year without her husband knowing. The ex-boyfriend told investigators they did not have sex while she was with him. Papini’s organization and planning seem to make situations such as schizophrenia, bipolar disorder and depression an unlikely explanation, said Lamoureux, who specializes in complex criminal and civil cases. Maybe she expected the kidnapping prank to bring her “fame and fortune,” he said. And he benefited financially: in addition to compensating the victim, he has to repay almost $ 128,000 in disability payments. Separately, a GoFundMe campaign raised more than $ 49,000 to help the family. As a possible factor, Lamoureux has investigated the false hero or the phenomenon of the “pathological hero” who exploits the treatment of victims by society as heroes. Those who pretend to be their own victim may seek recognition or popularity, and if mental illness is involved it may indicate a narcissistic or historical personality disorder. Another possible explanation is that she pretended to be abducted to avoid any further adverse consequences, she said, usually something like divorce or dismissal, even though Papini was a stay-at-home mom. Lamoureux said building a crisis could be a way for those with fragile egos and poor coping skills to try to prevent a bad outcome.
