Sherri Papini, husband allegedly paid off credit cards with $49,000 donated to kidnapping hoax

With each passing day, Sherri Papini's once sympathetic story becomes more repulsive.

According to investigators, the California "super mom" didn't only fake her own kidnapping: Papini and her husband Keith allegedly used over $50,000 given to the search for her to pay off their credit cards instead.
Papini was detained on Thursday on suspicion of staging her own kidnapping in 2016, a terrifying three-week disappearance that drew international attention and a flood of popular support.
Papini allegedly used $49,070 contributed through the "Bring Sherri Home Safe" GoFundMe campaign to pay off credit card debt and other personal costs, according to federal authorities in California. Her husband Keith and an unnamed ex-boyfriend, it appears, were at least aware of her deception.
On Nov. 7, 2016, five days after he reported her missing, Keith Papini posted on the GoFundMe website, "Thank you all so much for your generosity." "The Papini family is grateful for your contributions, concern, and prayers."
Prosecutors claim he wrote a $31,818.13 check to himself from the GoFundMe account just one month later, on Dec. 6, much of which was used to pay off credit card debt. The remaining cash were deposited into the couple's bank accounts and used for personal purposes.
Papini allegedly lived with her ex-boyfriend during her kidnapping ruse, according to prosecutors.
Courtesy Local sheriffs discovered Keith Papini Papini, 39, of Redding, Calif., battered and tied on a Yolo County road on Thanksgiving morning 2016. She detailed her kidnapping by two Hispanic women and terrible confinement, including allegations that she was made to use a trash can as a toilet and had her right shoulder severely branded.

Prosecutors claim she spent the entire three weeks with an old boyfriend, and he was the one who branded her using a wood-burning instrument he bought at a local Hobby Lobby.
On Friday, Papini, who is being held at the Sacramento County Jail, had a virtual hearing with US Magistrate Judge Jeremy Peterson via Zoom. He ordered that she be held in custody until her next court appearance on Tuesday.
Sherri Papini claimed she was kidnapped and assaulted by two Hispanic women.
Michael Borges, her attorney, took use of the occasion to raise her worries about the quality of the jail food.
"She has allergies that make it difficult for her to eat the meals provided to her at the Sacramento County Jail," Borges explained. "Apart from a piece of apple, she had not been given any nourishment." She hasn't been able to eat since she was arrested early yesterday."
Papini has been charged with mail fraud and providing false statements to a federal law enforcement officer. If convicted of both charges, she may face a sentence of up to 25 years in prison. A state compensation board also paid her more than $30,000 for fabricating the kidnapping story.