Sherri Papini, 40, pleaded guilty last spring to staging the abduction and lying to the FBI about it. As part of a plea bargain, she is required to pay more than $300,000 in restitution.
Probation officers and Papini’s attorney had recommended that she spend a month in custody and seven months in supervised home detention, while prosecutors wanted her to serve the eight months behind bars. But Senior U.S. District Judge William Shubb said he opted for an 18-month sentence in order to deter others.
She didn’t speak to reporters as she was surrounded by more than a dozen supporters outside the courtroom, some of whom hugged her tightly. They included her husband’s sister, with whom she has been living she split with her husband, who filed for divorce and sought custody of their children after she pleaded guilty.Speaking briefly outside of the courthouse after the hearing, defense attorney William Portanova called it “a fair sentence, even though it’s longer than we wished.
Portanova blamed it on “what sounds like a fierce storm that was going on for a long time inside her head” but said she is now a changed woman. “There was a community that lived in fear. ... Miss Papini took money from real victims,” Alegria said. “Victims of crimes may not believe they will be believed by law enforcement because of this hoax.”