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The stranger-than-fiction story of Sherri Papini has received the Lifetime movie treatment. The tale of a California mom who staged her own kidnapping is dramatized in Hoax: The Kidnapping of Sherri Papini, which premieres Jan. 28. 

In the movie, Jaime King plays Papini, an overwhelmed mom of two who vanished mysteriously while out for a jog. Eventually, she resurfaced, claiming she’d been snatched off the street by two Hispanic women. But after investigators eventually realized that Papini had orchestrated her own abduction, she ended up being the one charged with a crime. 

Sherri Papini’s kidnapping hoax led to a prison sentence  

Jaime King, sitting on a hospital bed, as Sherri Papini in the Lifetime movie 'Hoax: The Kidnapping of Sherri Papini' Papini is now in prison in California.
Jaime King in ‘Hoax: The Kidnapping of Sherri Papini’ | Lifetime

Papini disappeared in November 2016 near her home in Redding, Calif. She reappeared 22 days later, spinning a tale of how she’d been kidnapped, held captive, and even branded by two Hispanic women. Law enforcement officers spent significant time and resources trying to track down Papini’s abductors, to no avail. 

Eventually, investigators uncovered evidence that indicated Papini had fabricated her story. She hadn’t been kidnapped but had instead been staying with an ex-boyfriend during the time she was missing. When FBI agents confronted her, she continued to lie and insist she’d been abducted. 

In April 2022, Papini was charged with 34 counts of mail fraud and one count of making false statements. She pleaded guilty to the latter charge, as well as one count of mail fraud. In September 2022, she was sentenced to 18 months in prison followed by 36 months of supervised release. Papini must also pay $309,902 in restitution for losses to the California Victim Compensation Board, the Social Security Administration, the Shasta County Sheriff’s Office, and the FBI.

Sherri Papini is now in prison in California

At her sentencing, Papini apologized “to the many people who have suffered” because of her actions, the BBC reported. 

“I am choosing to humbly accept all responsibility,” she said. 

Papini is currently serving her 18-month sentence at FCI Victorville, a medium-security prison that is home to about 1,600 inmates, in addition to another 200+ prisoners at an adjacent minimum-security satellite camp. FCI Victorville is also where Dance Moms star Abby Lee Miller served her time after pleading guilty to bankruptcy fraud. 

Papini’s release date is currently set for Feb. 11, 2024. Prison consultant Larry Levine predicted that her time behind bars would not be pleasant. 

​​“The bottom line is, [the other inmates] are going to treat her like crap, ’cause she’s like a spoiled, arrogant, little girl that’s refusing to take responsibility, sort of, for what she did,” he told KRCR. “And there’s women there that are serving a substantial amount of time.”  

Jaime King says she is Sherri Papini’s ‘advocate’

Papini ended up going to prison for her crimes, but King, who stars in Hoax: The Kidnapping of Sherri Papini, has sympathy for the woman she portrays in the movie. 

“Sherri Papini – I am grateful to be your advocate,” the actor wrote in a Jan. 9 Instagram post. “My intention is to give Sherri her rights back. Not so fun fact- when someone is a convicted felon they [lose] all rights to their story, name and likeness. The salacious headlines are BS- we must dig deeper and recognize someone who has been abused and the mental health issues that are denied. California decided to make an ‘example’ of her.”

Hoax: The Kidnapping of Sherri Papini airs Saturday, Jan. 28 at 8 p.m. ET on Lifetime. 

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