Inside Sherri Papini’s marriage as husband files for divorce and she pleads guilty to hiding with ex in faked abduction

REVELATIONS about the state of Sherri Papini’s marriage are coming to light after the mother of two pleaded guilty to faking her abduction while she was hiding out with her ex-boyfriend.

Keith Papini filed divorce papers two days after his wife confessed to the kidnapping hoax. A hearing is set for May 9, the Sacramento Bee first reported.

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Sherri Papini walks to the federal courthouse accompanied by her attorney, William Portanova, right, in Sacramento, California, April 13, 2022. She pleaded guilty to one count each of lying to a federal officer and mail fraud[/caption]

aseng@sacbee.com

Papini was reported “missing” in 2016 after she disappeared while out for an afternoon job in 2016[/caption]

In a copy of the filing obtained by PEOPLE, Mr Papini – the petitioner, has asked for custody of the pair’s two children.

When she first reappeared after falsely claiming she’d been kidnapped while out on a jog in 2016, her husband publicly supported her claims.

Thirty-nine year old Papini entered guilty pleas via Zoom on Monday to one count each of lying to a federal officer and mail fraud.

The California woman was arrested last month, nearly six years after she was reported missing. She was found on November 24, 2016, three weeks after she vanished with a chain around her waist.

Investigators say it was her over-the-top behavior that tipped them off to her lies.

Shasta County Sheriff Sergeant Kyle Wallace and Captain Brian Jackson, both worked on the case since her disappearance. They told “Dateline” something wasn’t right in the case from the start.

A tuft of Papini’s hair was found with her phone near where she was allegedly abducted. She told detectives she pulled the hair out when taken at gunpoint by her captors, so her husband would know where she was kidnapped.

In hindsight Wallace says “I think, ultimately, being able to look at each piece of evidence now with the clarity of what was going on, not just in the moments, but the drama or the theatrics that Sherri brought with every step of this investigation was really part of the undoing.”

Papini had claimed two Hispanic women took her. DNA on her clothing, however, led police to her ex-boyfriend, whom she was hiding out with the entire time.

When questioned, the former lover told detectives Papini asked him to hit her. He says he refused to do so, but agreed to hold up a hockey stick for her to run into. He also branded her when asked by her to do so.

Detectives say what made her story more confounding was the fact her lies had some truthful elements. For example, she was able to describe the pain of being branded, because it actually happened.

Papini is scheduled to be sentenced July 11. She has been ordered to pay more than $300,000 in restitution to federal, state and local agencies.

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Sherri Papini claimed she was abducted by two Hispanic women at gunpoint[/caption]

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Husband, Keith Papini filed for divorce two days after his wife’s guilty plea[/caption]