
Sherri Papini, the northern California woman arrested last week for allegedly lying to federal agents and faking her own kidnapping in 2016, was released from jail oHer family posted a $120,000 bond for her release.
Her release was approved by a judge on the condition that she undergo psychiatric treatment and surrender her passport.
During a virtual detention hearing, Jeremy D Peterson, US magistrate judge, agreed with Papini's lawyer that she was not a flight risk or a threat to the community.
On Thursday, Papani was arrested for lying to federal agents about the kidnapping and for defrauding the state's victims' compensation board of $30,000.
In her argument against her release, deputy US attorney Veronica Alegria said Papini screamed "no" and ran away from FBI agents when they attempted to arrest her last week. Papini's lawyer argued that Papini was running towards her children.
A search for Papini, a resident of Redding, dragged on for three weeks in California and several nearby states before she was found on Thanksgiving Day in 2016. Among her injuries were a swollen nose, bindings on her body, and a "brand" on her shoulder.
She provided extensive details of her purported abduction, including descriptions of the two Latinas who supposedly held her at gunpoint, to an FBI sketch artist who then drew a sketch based on the descriptions.
According to authorities, she had actually moved nearly 600 miles away from her Orange County, California, home to live with a former boyfriend. She then injured herself to substantiate her false statements.
It is estimated that Papini's abduction hoax cost Shasta county, state and federal taxpayers, crime victims and donors more than $200,000.
Her arrest sent shockwaves throughout the small town of Redding, even though local investigators questioned her account at the time. Last week, Papini's family responded to the arrest by saying they were "appalled," but didn't directly contest the FBI's findings.
(With inputs from agencies)