Kriti Mehrotra
When 34-year-old mother of two, Sherri Papini, disappeared on November 2, 2016, while on a jog a mile from her home in Redding, California, the entire nation was left baffled. However, just as suddenly, she reappeared in restraints 22 days later on Thanksgiving Day, claiming that she had been violently kidnapped by two Hispanic women before being freed. Little did anyone know at the time that she would eventually go to prison on charges related to fabricating her abduction, only to later claim again that she was a victim. In 20/20: 20/20 ‘Sherri Papini: Where the Truth Lies’ and ID’s Sherri Papini: Caught In The Lie, the divorced felon states that her ex-boyfriend, James Reyes, was not her accomplice but her kidnapper, which also leaves us wondering more about her personal and financial status as of writing.
How Did Sherri Papini Earn Her Money?
Born on June 11, 1982, to Loretta and Richard Graeff as the younger of their two daughters, Louise Graeff-Papini’s early years growing up in Northern California were far from stable. That’s because, according to Hulu’s ‘Perfect Wife: The Mysterious Disappearance of Sherri Papini,’ there was a lot of alcohol and drug abuse involved in their small household, which unsurprisingly affected their financial situation. What no one initially realized was that Sherri was getting traumatized at every step, that is, until she began acting out as a teenager before deciding to drop out of school and run away at 16. She did eventually return home following a few years in Los Angeles as well as the Bay Area, yet she continued down a dark path by vandalizing, stealing, and hurting those close to her.
Sherri even went as far as to make several unauthorized cash withdrawals from her father’s bank account, but they reportedly later managed to resolve most of their issues on their own. It was not long after that she came across Keith Papini, the man she soon believed to be the love of her life, resulting in them tying the knot in a beautiful, intimate ceremony in October 2009. By this point, both of them were working professionals and head over heels in love, despite the latter one claiming that his partner had a tendency to embellish her past to a grand extent.
According to records, Sherri told her husband that she graduated from a college in Southern California, used to study ballet, and once also had a job as a car salesperson, yet none of it was true. Keith ultimately realized that his wife was not only rather attention-seeking but also bad with money, per the Hulu show, so he got a post-nuptial agreement before they started a family. Initially, this wasn’t a problem for either of them, as they had their own money. However, the mother of two was later laid off from her position as an Account Executive at AT&T in late 2015.
Sherri was reportedly given a rather large severance package owing to her previous hard work at the company and the circumstances of her exit, so she decided to become a stay-at-home mom. The couple’s son, Tyler, and daughter, Violet, were around 3 and 1 at the time, so it seemed fitting; however, she still continued to send them to a nearby day care for a few hours every weekday. Therefore, this is exactly where the kids – 4 and 2 – were when their mother was allegedly abducted on November 2, 2016, before being “found” three weeks later, more than 150 miles away.
During this period, the family had managed to raise $49,000 through a GoFundMe account to facilitate their extensive searches for Sherri, all the while also making several media appearances. However, despite the 34-year-old’s subsequent inconsistencies about her alleged kidnapping, the emotion of everyone involved or witnessing the ordeal was relief over a family being reunited. But then, as investigations continued, several other aspects that didn’t seem to make sense came to light, and officials eventually confirmed the mother of two had faked her abduction.
Sherri Papini’s Net Worth
Sherri was arrested at the home she shared with her family on March 3, 2022, for charges related to her hoax, more specifically, 34 counts of mail fraud and one count of making false statements. This stems from the fact that she had applied for assistance money from the California Victims’ Compensation Board in 2017, citing alleged “post-traumatic stress” from being abducted, which was approved. As a result, from 2017 to 2021, she received over $30,000 in financial assistance from them. Furthermore, the government also spent money in her case by conducting searches for her and her alleged kidnappers, executing nearly 20 search warrants, and using additional resources.
Thus, in April 2022, after Sherri pleaded guilty to one count each of making false statements and mail fraud, she was sentenced to 18 months in prison, followed by 36 months of supervised release. As a part of her deal, 33 other counts of mail fraud were dropped, but she was still ordered to pay $309,902 in restitution for the losses incurred by the California Victims’ Compensation Board, the Social Security Administration, the Shasta County Sheriff’s Office, and the Federal Bureau of Investigation. In the end, while it’s unclear whether she has even started making payments for the same, we do know she was released from prison in August 2023 and has since resettled in Northern California.
It’s imperative to note that Keith Papini filed for divorce as well as sole custody of their children almost immediately after Sherri’s plea deal, so she now only has supervised visits with the kids. She is reportedly trying to establish shared custody, and because stability is arguably the most significant aspect that the courts look for in a parent’s home, she has started working again. According to reports, the now 42-year-old has since told her kids that she is currently working on two books as well as hoping to build a foundation to help better supervised visitation centers. Yet despite these aspirations, her financial situation remains deeply uncertain.
Sherri may have accumulated some assets over the last several years, if we assume she has been gainfully employed. But the fact of the matter is, her liabilities far outweigh any assets she might own: she was ordered to pay $309,902 in restitution, with likely legal fees in the tens of thousands of dollars. That means her total liabilities are upwards of $400,000. Even if we assume that she may have struck a book deal to tell her story and was paid some advance, advances are typically modest and royalties don’t start accruing until after the book has recouped the advance—if it ever does. Based on everything in the public records, we estimate that Sherri Papini’s net worth would realistically be closer to –$300,000, placing her in significant financial debt as she attempts to rebuild her life post-incarceration.
Read More: Where is James Reyes Now? Update on Sherri Papini’s Ex-Boyfriend
