Sherri Papini, who drew worldwide attention in 2016 after claiming she was kidnapped while jogging near her home, has agreed to plead guilty to fraud and lying to the FBI, the Redding Record Searchlight reports. Papini, 39, of Redding, Ca., has signed an agreement admitting the charges, which include mail fraud and lying about the kidnapping, said a paralegal for William Portanova, Papini's attorney. Papini was charged in U.S. District Court in Sacramento with thirty-four counts of mail fraud and one count of making false statements. In the plea deal, Papini agreed to plead guilty to a single count of mail fraud and one count of making false statements. She was arrested on March 3.
The mother of two faces a maximum penalty of five years in prison and a fine up to $250,000 for making false statements. She faces a maximum penalty of 20 years in prison and a fine up to $250,000 for the count of mail fraud. Papini went missing on Nov. 2, 2016, claiming that two Hispanic women ordered her into a van at gunpoint while she was jogging near her home north of Redding. She returned on Thanksgiving Day on a remote country road north of Sacramento, bound with chains and her hair cut. Authorities allege that during the time she was missing, she stayed with an ex-boyfriend in Southern California.