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Sherri Papini, a Northern California woman who pleaded guilty earlier this year to lying to federal agents about being kidnapped, was sentenced on Monday to 18 months in prison.
Papini, 40, created a "nonsensical fantasy," her lawyer said, referring to Papini claiming in November 2016 that she had been abducted at gunpoint by two Latinas. Papini had been missing for
22 days, and when she returned home with bruises and a branding, she said the women had suddenly decided to set her free. At first, Papini was hesitant to talk to law enforcement about the
ordeal, and her husband passed along details to officers, including that the room Papini had been held in had orange carpet. During and after her disappearance, the Papini family received
tens of thousands of dollars in GoFundMe and victim's compensation funds.
Nearly six years later, federal prosecutors announced Papini had made everything up, and continued to lie about the kidnapping even when investigators presented evidence against her. They
said Papini contacted an ex-boyfriend living in Southern California and told him her husband was abusive and she needed help leaving. On Nov. 2, 2016, the day Papini disappeared, the former
boyfriend drove up to Shasta County, picked her up, and took her back to his apartment, where she spent the next three weeks.
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Catherine Garcia has worked as a senior writer at The Week since 2014. Her writing and reporting have appeared in Entertainment Weekly, The New York Times, Wirecutter, NBC News and "The Book
of Jezebel," among others. She's a graduate of the University of Redlands and the Columbia University Graduate School of Journalism.