Keith Papini said later in public interviews that he had noticed, from the very beginning, that something wasn’t right. He described sensing something was off when he first saw her in the hospital, then feeling guilty for suspecting her when he looked at her injuries. He had suppressed the doubt and accepted the account because the physical evidence of harm appeared to support it. The injuries had been real. Their cause had been fabricated.
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## From Discovery to Arrest: March 2022
More than a year and a half passed between the August 2020 confrontation interview and Papini’s arrest. The investigation continued to develop its evidentiary foundation, building the documented basis for federal charges.
On March 3, 2022, the FBI arrested Sherri Papini. She was charged with making false statements to federal agents and with mail fraud. She was released five days later on a $120,000 bond.
The mail fraud count required a mailing — a use of the postal service in connection with a fraud. The fraud was her application to the California Victim Compensation Board, filed on November 28, 2016, just four days after her reappearance. The Board is a state program that provides compensation to victims of violent crime and their families. Papini had submitted a claim as a kidnapping victim. Between 2017 and 2021, she received approximately $30,694.15 from the Board.
The original federal charge included thirty-four counts of mail fraud and one count of making false statements — thirty-five counts in total.
March 3, 2022, was also the day Keith Papini filed for legal separation, initiating the process that led to their divorce. He filed for divorce and sole custody of their two children in April 2022, days after her guilty plea.