Sherri Papini signs plea deal in California kidnapping hoax

Sherri Papini, the California “super mom” accused of orchestrating her own kidnapping in 2016 and triggered a nationwide search, has signed a plea deal, The Post has learned. 

Papini, who was facing up to 25 years if convicted of the charges of making false statements to a federal law enforcement officer and mail fraud, signed the agreement Tuesday morning in which she will plead guilty one count of mail fraud and one count of making a false statement, US Attorney Phillip A. Talbert said.

“I am deeply ashamed of myself for my behavior and so sorry for the pain I’ve caused my family, my friends, all the good people who needlessly suffered because of my story and those who worked so hard to try to help me,” Papini said in a statement to The Post provided through her attorney, William Portanova.

“I will work the rest of my life to make amends for what I have done.”

The court has yet to schedule a date when Papini will enter her guilty plea. She has been out on $120,000 bond.

It’s not clear how much time Papini will get, but she faces a maximum of five years behind bars on the count of making false statements and 20 years for the mail fraud charge, the Eastern District of California US Attorney’s office said.

“The actual sentence … will be determined at the discretion of the court after consideration of any applicable statutory factors and the Federal Sentencing Guidelines, which take into account a number of variables,” the office said in a statement.

Portanova, who took over the case in late March from Papini’s former defense attorney, Michael Borges, told the Sacramento Bee that the plea deal comes as they are “taking the case in an entirely new direction.”

“Everything that has happened before stops today,” said Portanova.

Papini, 39, of Redding, was arrested on March 3 after prosecutors said the mom of two lied when she told investigators that she was kidnapped at gunpoint by two Hispanic women, and even provided a false description to an FBI sketch artist. 

She also told investigators the women beat her up, chopped up her blond hair and played mariachi music in the vehicle before she was finally set free on Thanksgiving in 2016.

Shasta County Sheriff’s Office Capt. Brian Jackson told The Post investigators worked tirelessly both during the 22 days when Papini was thought to be missing and after she reappeared on Thanksgiving to finally come to this conclusion.

“It’s a little late because this has been going on for about six years, but at the end of the day, I think it’s a good start for her,” Jackson said in reaction to the news of Papini’s plea deal. “This case caused a lot of concern and worry not only in our community here in Shasta County but spread throughout the state of California and across the nation.”

He added, “This instilled a fear in everyone in so many communities that was completely unnecessary. I can only imagine the impact it had on people in certain groups, who were unfairly looked at in a different manner. Everyone became suspicious of one another. There were just a lot of layers to what occurred and it affected the entire community.”

Authorities said Papini made the whole thing up and was instead staying at an apartment in Costa Mesa, Calif. with her ex-boyfriend, James Reyes. 

According to the complaint, an Honest Green Tea bottle found in a Costa Mesa trash can matched Reyes’s DNA collected from Papini’s clothing, which eventually helped officials determine she was with Reyes.

Cell phone records also indicated that Reyes exchanged text messages with Papini the morning she disappeared, prosecutors said in the criminal complaint.

Nether Reyes, nor Papini’s husband, Keith, have been charged. Shasta County Sheriff Michael Johnson said last month that he believed the “super mom” did not act alone.

“I certainly wouldn’t be surprised,” Johnson said in an interview with ABC’s “Good Morning America” when asked on March 7 if potential new charges against Papini or anyone else close to the case. “I wouldn’t necessarily say I suspect it. It’s gonna go to the grand jury, they’ll dole out the indictments that they feel is appropriate. But I certainly wouldn’t be surprised, ‘cause she didn’t pull it off by herself and there’s other people involved.”

However, Jackson told The Post on Tuesday that he does not expect charges would be filed against anyone else.

“I think once this gets through the rest of the court process, we’ll have some clarity, but I don’t anticipate at this stage that we’re going to file charges against anybody else because we’re getting a lot more clarity about what went on, especially after her statement came out,” Jackson said. “I don’t anticipate there will be any other charges but if there is something that comes up, we will reassess that and charge appropriately if it’s within the confines of the law.”

Federal prosecutors claim in court papers that Papini’s husband used approximately $8,212 of donations to an online fundraiser to pay off some of his personal credit cards. The “Bring Sherri Home” GoFundMe page had raked in $49,070 altogether, prosecutors said.

Papini was also reimbursed more than $30,000 by a state compensation board based on her false kidnapping tale.

Jackson said there is no evidence that Keith Papini knew about the hoax that was planned by his wife. 

“As far as Keith to be held accountable for the use of that money, there would have to be some evidence that he knew that the information that Sherri reported early on was not truthful,” Jackson said. “We looked at all of that information and we deemed Keith did not have any knowledge of what was going on, and we still stand by that.”