Sherri Papini, who admitted to faking her own kidnapping, claims she actually was abducted
Papini, 43 — who lied to the FBI in 2016 by claiming two Hispanic women had held her captive for three weeks — said she was in fact kidnapped during that time period by her former boyfriend James Reyes.
Papini took a lie detector test for a documentary.
ID
Papini said she never told police the truth about her disappearance because she was afraid of Reyes and also afraid of her then-husband.
'I'm not actually asking anyone to believe anything,' Papini told ABC News in an interview promoting her memoir.
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'I just am free now, and I have the capacity to speak for myself without being afraid and without having to lie and not being as fearful as I have been before.'
Papini was sentenced to 18 months in prison for the hoax.
AP
During their investigation, the feds found that Papini was secretly staying with Reyes while her husband, two children and officials desperately searched for her.
She pleaded guilty in April 2022 to lying to the FBI about the fake kidnapping and was sentenced to 18 months in prison.
Reyes could not immediately be reached for comment by ABC Friday.
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