Sherri Papini was released Tuesday from jail on $120,000 bond. She is a California woman who was accused of fabricating the headline-making abduction story in 2016.
The 39-year old Mountain Gate resident was arrested on Thursday for lying to federal law enforcement and mail-fraud.
She ran towards her family after she was released from a Sacramento County Jail on Tuesday.
U.S. Magistrate Judge Jeremy Peterson from the U.S. District Court, Sacramento ordered her to surrender her passport. He made the following conditions for her release: no alcohol or illegal drug, no travel outside of the region, no guns, and no psychiatric treatment.
Her attorney did not respond immediately to a request for comment.
Chris Thomas, a representative of the Papini families, stated in a statement that she has their support.
The family stated that Sherri is loved and they were appalled at the way law enforcement entrapped her in front of her children.
Papini was reported missing by her husband on Nov. 2, 2016. Prosecutors said that this led to extensive and costly searches both in the region, and outside of the state.
Later that month, officers from California Highway Patrol responded to calls about a woman running on Interstate 5 in suburban Sacramento. They found Papini with a truck driver, who stopped to help.
Prosecutors claim she made up a story about being kidnapped by two Latina women with guns, which triggered a law enforcement search.
Federal and local investigators eventually found out that Papini had lied to the authorities and was living with a Costa Mesa ex-boyfriend, 590 miles from her home.
According to prosecutors, Papini was given evidence in August 2020 during a meeting with a local detective and a federal agent. According to them, lying to a federal agent was a crime.
Prosecutors said she remained true to her story.
They also stated that Papini accepted more than $30,000 from California Victims Compensation Board based upon her abduction story. Prosecutors also charged Papini with mail fraud because at least one of the payments was sent by mail.
Maximum sentences for Papini include five years imprisonment for lying to a federal agent, and 20 years prison time on mail fraud.
