'AWFUL HOAX'
SHERRI Papini, the woman who faked her own kidnapping to be with a secret ex-boyfriend, has spoken out ahead of her sentencing.
The California mom, now 39, has admitted to the "awful hoax" through her lawyer saying the severe shame and guilt is "already intense and feels like a life sentence," court documents reveal.
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Papini pleaded guilty in April to mail fraud and making false statements after sparking a frantic search that involved family members, police, and the FBI when she went missing on November 2, 2016.
The California mom lied about being abducted as cops later discovered she had actually been staying with an ex-partner who lived around 600 miles away from her home.
Now, she has broken her silence in a tragic plea to the public as prosecutors are asking the court to make her pay more than $300,000 in restitution from GoFundMe accounts and state victims' funds.
She spoke through attorney William Portanova who suggested that Papini face a "term of no more than eight months with one month in custody and seven months of home detention under appropriate terms and conditions."
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Portanova claimed in a sentencing memorandum that his client has already faced enough scrutiny and punishment after being slammed by the public for her decisions, Law & Crime reported.
"Ms Papini maintained the lie for years thereafter, terrified that she had actually destroyed the one thing in her life that brought her true love and happiness, her family, desperately praying that the day of discovery would never come," Portanova said on her behalf.
"Once discovered, she lied against until there was nowhere else to go but to admit the truth of the matter."
SICK LIE
Papini created a frantic search that involved family members, police, and the FBI after her 2016 disappearance.
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Her family feared that she had been abducted after going for a jog.
Papini's husband Keith even burst into a meeting with Redding lawmakers begging for help after she failed to pick their two young children up from daycare.
She was found on Thanksgiving Day - 22 days after she vanished.
A driver spotted her on the side of an interstate – 150 miles from her home.
The mom-of-two told cops that she was abducted and alleged that she was held at gunpoint.
She claimed she was kidnapped by two Hispanic women and provided sketches of the alleged kidnappers.
Papini was found tied up, had a broken nose, and had a "brand" on her right shoulder.
However, cops revealed that the injuries were "self-inflicted," according to NBC.
Following a six-year investigation, Papini admitted her kidnapping claims were a complete fallacy and she'd actually been shacked up with her ex-boyfriend when she was presumed missing.
BROKEN MARRIAGE
Two days after Papini's bombshell confession, Keith filed for divorce claiming both he and their two children had been left "traumatized" by her successive lies.
"The whole problem started in November 2016 when Sherri left our children at a daycare and simply disappeared," Keith is seen writing in a declaration for the Shasta County Family Court in documents obtained by The US Sun.
"Both I and, especially, our children were traumatized by her disappearance and I spent much time and money trying to find my wife," Keith writes.
"The trauma inflicted on our children at the unexpected loss of their mother was heartbreaking," he added.
In the filing, Keith further charges that his children are "having a hard time" dealing with the fact their mother would lie to them about "such a major issue."
Keith also claims that Papini suffers from "significant" mental health issues and is in no fit position to provide "good parenting" to their kids, ages nine and seven.
Seeking full custody of the children, Keith adds: "We, both children and I, need time to recover and stabilize.
"I am asking that the court help me protect my children from the negative impact of their mother's notoriety."
'THE LIES ARE OUT'
Portanova is now asking the public to acknowledge the pain Papini has experienced as she is set to be sentenced Monday.
"That day of reckoning has arrived, and anyone who cares to read about it knows the darkest depths of her sickest mind," the defense wrote.
"The most shameful part of her is now a matter of public discourse, and she sees that knowledge every day in the eyes of most of the people she encounters.
"But the real pain is knowing the hurt she has caused so many people, and that she must spend the rest of her life trying to repair the damage she has done to her children.”
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While the feds maintain their call for restitution, they also recommended the lying mother serve eight months in prison.
She is set to be sentenced in federal court Monday.
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