California mom Sherri Papini — who was sentenced to 18 months in prison for faking her own kidnapping — has been reportedly released from prison.
The 41-year-old mom-of-two will be staying at one of the state’s Residential-Reentry Management Field Office halfway house locations, according to the Sacramento Bee.
Officials said Papini’s ex-boyfriend helped her escape her home in Redding to hide in Costa Mesa – 600 miles south of her home – for three weeks.
Papini’s husband and friends raised alarms after she disappeared, gaining nationwide attention.
The prosecutor said Papini began planning the kidnapping hoax with her ex around December 2015 and instructed him to obtain prepaid cell phones. On November 2, 2016, Papini texted Reyes and told him to pick her up.
She reappeared three weeks later on Thanksgiving near Woodland, wearing a chain around her waist and arm. She told police two Hispanic women kidnapped her at gunpoint.
Her lies would fall apart after investigator found her DNA on a piece of clothing that would led back to her ex-boyfriend, who dropped her off in Woodland when she decided to reappear.
She would later plead guilty to mail fraud and making a false statement. She received more than $30,000 from the California Victim Compensation Board, as well as $49,000 from GoFundMe, and $127,567.50 from social security disability payments.
After she reappeared, Alegria said Papini applied for and used funds from the California Victim Compensation Board to buy new blinds for her home and pay for other costs, including therapy for her alleged anxiety and PTSD.
A judge ordered she pay $309.902.23 in restitution.
Papini was arrested in March 2022, more than five years after her disappearance.
She will be fully released on October 26 of this year.
