Crime Fix with Angenette Levy - Viral Baby Wombat Influencer in Major Trouble Again

Episode Date: December 6, 2025

Samantha Strable became internet-famous for all of the wrong reasons. The hunting influencer, who goes by Sam Jones online, sparked international outrage last Spring when she took a baby wombat from its mom for a selfie in Australia. The prime minister wanted her barred from the country. Now Strable is being accused of lying about being a resident of Wyoming so she could hunt elk, bear and antelope. Law&Crime's Angenette Levy looks at why Strable would possibly lie in this episode of Crime Fix — a daily show covering the biggest stories in crime.PLEASE SUPPORT THE SHOW: Grow your own audience today – go to https://opus.pro/crimefix and get 65% off an annual Opus Pro plan for the month of November.Host:Angenette Levy  https://twitter.com/Angenette5Guest: Steve Titus https://www.instagram.com/stevetitus/Producer:Jordan ChaconCRIME FIX PRODUCTION:Head of Social Media, YouTube - Bobby SzokeSocial Media Management - Vanessa BeinVideo Editing - Daniel CamachoGuest Booking - Alyssa Fisher & Diane KayeSTAY UP-TO-DATE WITH THE LAW&CRIME NETWORK:Watch Law&Crime Network on YouTubeTV: https://bit.ly/3td2e3yWhere To Watch Law&Crime Network: https://bit.ly/3akxLK5Sign Up For Law&Crime's Daily Newsletter: https://bit.ly/LawandCrimeNewsletterRead Fascinating Articles From Law&Crime Network: https://bit.ly/3td2IqoLAW&CRIME NETWORK SOCIAL MEDIA:Instagram: https://www.instagram.com/lawandcrime/Twitter: https://twitter.com/LawCrimeNetworkFacebook: https://www.facebook.com/lawandcrimeTwitch: https://www.twitch.tv/lawandcrimenetworkTikTok: https://www.tiktok.com/@lawandcrimeSee Privacy Policy at https://art19.com/privacy and California Privacy Notice at https://art19.com/privacy#do-not-sell-my-info.

Wondery Plus subscribers can binge all episodes of this Law and Crimes series ad-free right now. Join Wondry Plus in the Wondery app, Apple Podcasts, or Spotify. I got her baby Wombat. You probably remember the hunting influencer who sparked global outrage after she pulled a baby wombat from its mother in Australia. Look at the mother. It's like, oh, it's chasing after her. Well, guess what? She's in trouble again, this time here in the United States.

I'll tell you what the social media influencer is accused of doing and where. I'm Ann Jeanette Levy, and this is Crime Fix. Have you ever wondered how we are able to share so many clips from breaking news cases as they're unfolding? Well, here's a secret. Opus clip is an all-in-one AI editor that makes it a breeze to cut, create, and upload videos across any platform. Through AI, Opus Clip generates B-roll. It reframes footage and even cleans up audio. Just visit opus.pro slash crime fix.

Sign up and upload. In minutes, you'll have perfectly edited clips ready to go. For TikTok, shorts, or reels, it's a one-stop shop. Having Opus clip means our producers can post viral updates instantly. This is the most powerful tool for sharing ideas and editing like a pro. Go to opus.pro slash crime fix to create your videos today and for November only, you can get 65% off an annual plan. Let me tell you something. In Wyoming, hunting is serious business, and they do not take it lightly when you break their rules. Samantha Strable,

she's a hunting influencer who made a lot of waves earlier this year for snatching a baby wombat from its mom. And now she's in trouble in Wyoming. I'll have more on the charges she faces there very shortly. Strabo, you know, angered a lot of people when she picked up that baby wombat for a laugh. So many in that country were absolutely outraged and wanted her arrested. Things were so bad that Australia's prime minister called for revoking her visa, but Strabo left the country before that could actually happen. But there's a thing about karma, or at least some people say there is a thing about karma with this case. Strable, who apparently lives in Montana, was trying to lay low after leaving the land down under in disgrace. But an anonymous tip this past August promised to thrust

Strable back into the spotlight that she appears to crave on social media. The tipster wrote, Samantha Strable continues to buy resident tags even though she hasn't resided in Wyoming in over two years and brags about it on social media to over 90,000 followers. The state's fishing game agency launched an investigation and charged Strable with six misdemeanors related to claims that she lied about being a resident of the state. Court records show Strable faces six counts of false swearing. And according to court records, the influencer is charged with other counts of taking wildlife without a license as well as being a non-resident hunting without a guide in a wilderness area. Now, here's the rub. Samantha Strable actually lived in Wyoming at one point back in

2023. But if you leave the state for more than 180 days and you leave your home, you are no longer a resident of Wyoming. Court documents claim that Strable now lives in Great Falls, Montana. So why would she lie? We'll get into why Strable might lie later. But first, let's dig into the details about the allegations being made by investigators in the Cowboy State. Samantha Strable is accused of making a false statement on August 11th of this year by claiming she was a Wyoming resident when she procured a license for an elk. But before that, in May, wildlife officials say she made another false statement by procuring a license for a black bear. In January of this year, wildlife officials say Strable made another. false statement by claiming to be a Wyoming resident while procuring a mountain lion license. But before that, in September 2024, officials say she made another false statement by claiming

to be a Wyoming resident when she procured a 12-month fishing license. And in May of 2024, Strable made another false statement, according to officials, when she procured a license for an antelope. Then in April of 2024, officials say Strabo lied when she claimed to be a Wyoming resident when she procured an elk license. And finally, in October 24, Strabel is accused of killing an elk without a license during the closed season. On the same date, investigators say she was hunting for big trophy game when she wasn't accompanied by a licensed guide. Cowboy State Daily obtained an affidavit that detailed an investigator's October conversation with Samantha Strable. In it, she was asked about her residency, and she said it was tricky because she had

been back and forth the last couple of months and to Alaska. The investigator said Strable told him she had been in Wyoming for more than 180 days, but the investigator said his investigation determined she had only been in Wyoming for seven days in 2025. A hunting publication profiled her in 2023, and it sounded like she was willing to do just about anything to hunt big game. The writer actually commended her for her international trophy hunting. In the piece, Strable mentioned her goal of bagging her first black bear during the spring season. So it was clear. She was familiar with what it would take to trap a bear and the regulations related to baiting. She used her platform on social media to reach out to residents in Sublette County for any spearmeat for

her bait barrels. Strable told the writer her motivation for wanting to hunt and kill a bear goes beyond the challenge. She was quoted as saying she wanted to make sausage, roasts, and other dishes and soap out of the fat tallow. But some feel this wildlife biologist and environmental scientist isn't it for the wrong reasons? And that's because of that wombat video that sent shockwaves around the world earlier this year. Just caught a baby wombat. Okay, Mama's right there, and she is pissed. Let's let him go. Now he's right.

All right, let's let him go. Come here, Mama. Give you. Now that video has since been deleted, but as we know, nothing really ever disappears from the internet. The caption on the video read, my dream of holding a wombat has been realized. Baby and mom slowly waddled back off together into the bush. The man recording the video is an Australian man.

Both are heard laughing in the video, but having fun at the expense of Australia's beloved wildlife, that's a big no-no. It's not a joke to people there. According to Wires Wildlife Rescue, this behavior is criminal. Wombats are protected. In fact, all Australian animals are protected under

the country's Conservation Act. According to conservationists, baby wombat share a strong bond with their mother, and any separation could be very distressing and harmful. It's not clear whether the man in Strabo's wombat video ever faced any consequences for his part. Thousands of Australians, including the prime minister that I mentioned earlier, condemned these actions. And a petition was set up online to ban Strable from Australia forever. That petition got nearly 50,000 signatures before it was closed. The organizers wanted to raise awareness, and they wanted Strable to come forward with the location of the incident

so that a rescue organization could provide the wombats with medical care if necessary. Following all of the backlash, Strable, who also goes by Sam Jones online, apologized via Instagram. She wrote, am I a villain? Things, dear reader, are not as they seem. Overholding a wombat, thousands threaten my life. Let me be clear. These same people ought to understand.

understand the reality of Australia today. For the readers that are so angered by my mistaken attempt to help and that I am a hunter, do not be blind to your country. After that, her account went private. Strable was raised by a hunting family in Montana, and as a kid, she thought hunting was pretty gross, but as a teen, she was exposed to it more, and she later joined a hunting program for young people. She shot her first year, and after processing and cooking it, everything apparently clicked. Strabel says hunting gave her an abiding love for the outdoors and self-sufficiency. It's what inspired her to become a wildlife biologist. And then eventually, an influencer.

Come with me on a thousand mile trip to catch one of the largest species of freshwater fish in the world. Paddlefish. After driving all the way across the state, it was time to set up the fishing rod. We do this by making a loop in the line, wrapping the line around the. hook and then the barbs feeding line back through itself and then finally attaching a sinker. Then it's time to cast and cast some more. Last year this took me four days to snag into one but this year I snagged into one on the first morning. You'd be clear that because paddlefish are filter feeders the only way to catch them is through snagging and this is done on a heavily regulated season and I had a tag. This fish was my biggest yet, a 70 pound female. I quickly

attached my catch tag and then tried to snap a few photos and videos. This was so difficult because I'm alone with a tripod and because of how heavy this fish was. Nonetheless, I was absolutely elated to catch such a monster paddlefish, and then it was time to go take it to report the data and get it clean. Bear the fish biologists, weigh it, measure it, and take jaw samples to get the fish's age. Then there's this awesome conveyor belt that takes the fish away, the folks inside process it, and you get back this beautiful meat. This female was full of 13 pounds of caviar, and up next I'll show you to process. But now, her passion may have gotten her into some big trouble. So to discuss all of this, I want to bring in Steve Titus. He is a

criminal defense attorney based in Campbell County, Wyoming, and he deals with these types of cases. So, Steve, thank you so much for joining me. Thanks for coming on. You know, this case, you know, I'm not sure how typical these charges are. Are these common charges that you see in Wyoming? Wyoming's a beautiful state, and we get hunting, fishing, trapping from all over the country to come to Wyoming and really someone goes to their local convenience store, their local game and fish store and they go apply for a license and you know they want to save a few bucks so they apply to be an in-state in-resident license and you know there's really no verification at the point of purchase to determine whether you're a resident or not it's kind of an honor

system. When things go crazy is when you start to turn in your tags or when people start posting on social media, there starts to become a verification process through Game and Fish. Was this person actually a resident or not? And so this time of year when hunting is so big in Wyoming, we see these charges come out and they're really common. I mean, people that think they're residents of Wyoming that aren't, people that may have previously been residents of Wyoming and aren't anymore. We have some pretty strict laws on what a resident is in Wyoming and what a resident isn't

for game and fish purposes. And so these charges are more common than you think, but there are some pretty strong. strict penalties that come along with them. Well, that's confusing to me. And I would think it would be pretty clear cut. You would either know you're a resident of Wyoming or not. I mean, if I live in Wyoming and I have a Wyoming driver's license and I lay my head, you know, on my pillow at night in Wyoming for much of the year, I would think that that

would make me a Wyoming resident. So how are people confused about whether or not they're a Wyoming resident? It's very confusing in Wyoming. And I think this is really on the part of the legislature. We have different laws for if you can get a Wyoming driver's license. We have different laws on whether you can vote in Wyoming. We have different laws on whether you can be a resident for Wyoming game and fish purposes. And really, I mean, the laws for residency are almost a page long.

statute book that, you know, you have to be here for a year. You can't be gone for more than 180 days. And there's so many exceptions here, exceptions there. You would think if you have a Wyoming driver's license, you are a Wyoming resident for game and fish purposes, but the law is clear that that's not really the case. It's really a checklist that isn't in your face to determine whether you're a resident or not. And really, I've had a lot of clients over the years that are very confused. You know, I had a client last year that owns property in Park County, Wyoming. He has his vehicles registered. Durden Park County, Wyoming, but he worked for a Fortune 500 company out of California and spent

time there, even though for all intents and purposes, we would consider him a Wyoming resident. He even voted in Wyoming, but under the Gaming and Fis statue, he wasn't a resident. So we were going down this exact same road that we're dealing with here today. It seems pretty clear, though, from the little bit I know about it, that Samantha Strabble is a resident of Great Falls, Montana. And so that's apparently what has been talked about online. That's what came out when she was in trouble in Australia for picking up the wombat earlier this year.

So explain to me how you would work around that as far as the courts go. Well, I think one thing that you have to look at is what other states has she got residents or other states, she's applied for tags in and whether she claimed residency in those states or not, because the law is very clear, you can't claim residency in more than one state. And so I think that's the first thing we have to look at is where all, you know, she's very big on social media. She has, she hunts, fishes all over the world. Where exactly in these other jurisdictions did she claim her residency? Did she apply for out-of-state residency in Montana, claiming she was a Wyoming resident and things like

that. So I think that's the first thing we have to look at. The second thing is, is from what I've read through some of the investigative articles that are out there, including the affidavit of probable cause that's been filed with the courts, that she at one time may have been a Wyoming resident, and may have one time legally obtained Wyoming resident tags, but at least from what was filed with law enforcement. Remember, there's three sides of every story. There's, you know, the person that's been charged side of the story, gaming fish sides of the story, and there's the actual truth. So until you actually kind of figure out what, who is who and what is what, we really don't know what her residency is, but just according to, you know, the print on the affidavit of probable

cause that's filed with the court, it appears that she may be stretching it to have filed Wyoming residency. Let's talk about what the potential incentive is for saying you're a Wyoming resident when you're not. You said this really, you know, you get into trouble with this when you go to turn in your tags and all of this stuff with the hunting. I'm not a hunter, but I know a little bit about how it works. You have to claim what you hunt and kill, right? You have to, like, go register it at the station or whatever. So what's the incentive to lie about that, potentially?

When you go to register your kills or whatever and your tags, and say, I'm a Wyoming resident. Like, do you pay more if you're not a resident? Or what would the incentive be? Right. If you're an out-of-state resident, you don't have the preference for different tags and different areas to hunt in compared to a non-resident. As well, it's a little bit cheaper to be resident versus a non-resident.

So there's some incentive for residents to get preference points for preference areas, preference zones, and they have a greater chance of getting the tags requested than if you're an out-of-state resident. And talk to me about requesting the tag. What does that mean? You basically go to a lottery every year. You register through the Game and Fish website for what kind of areas you want, what kind of animals you want to hunt that year, and it goes through a lottery system for the most point,

for some of the more prestigious tags to determine if you're eligible to hunt in different areas are not for a given year. Okay. So I have to go into the lottery and say I want to kill or hunt this type of animal, and I can only do that if I get the tag through the lottery. That's correct. And those are for some of the more prestigious game meat, absolutely. What are these prestigious game meat?

Basically, the one that's really sought after is a grizzly tag every year. You want to be able to hunt bears. And I know she was given an in-state tag for a grizzly this year. I'm guessing that if she was an out-of-state resident, she wouldn't have had the likelihood of drawing that this last season. So, Steve, let's move on now to this other part of the charge. And she's charged with non-resident hunting without a guide in a wilderness area. So basically, they're saying, A, you're not a resident,

B, you're running around a wilderness area hunting, without a guide. So what's the issue there? Here, I think that it depends on what exactly they were hunting. And, you know, there's the allegations of that there was a grizzly. There may be a lot of first timers or people that are inexperienced in this area of the country that go try to shoot these, you know, these game that can really, if they don't know what they're doing, they could cause a lot of problems.

And so we kind of give the benefit of the doubt to the residents that they know what they're doing, but non-resident. there's a preference, I think, the legislature created for a guide to help to make sure that someone's not getting themselves hurt, either in a terrain that's unfamiliar with or an area where it's prone to be some of the more dangerous animals. And I do want to step back just a moment. There's this other count of taking wildlife without a license. So they're saying she killed an animal and didn't have a license to kill that animal.

So that almost sounds like that's a form of poaching or something like that. Right. And there's two ways to look at it. Either she killed an animal and didn't have a tag for it at that time, or she killed an animal and didn't have the proper tag. And I'm not sure how exactly that's being charged, but there's two different ways to look at that. Obviously, they're saying that she was an out-of-state resident.

She didn't have an out-of-state resident tag to kill something. So that's, to my understanding is the allegation is that she killed something without the proper tags. hunting is big business in Wyoming. So they take it pretty seriously. I mean, the rules are serious. They're in place for a reason. I know these are misdemeanor charges. But because she's an influencer,

because she's got this past of being in Australia and essentially kind of creating an international incident of sorts on social media by taking this poor little animal, this wombat and holding it up for a camera. and taking it from its mom, Ms. Joey. I mean, are they going to look to make an example out of her, do you think?

It's Wyoming, who knows. But I can tell you, it's not uncommon for jail time to be involved on this, long-term probation. And I think what's really important is for her and what she does social media is a long-term suspension of hunting, fishing, and trapping privileges. And Wyoming's part of the state where I believe it's 48 states in the country have reciprocal suspension.

So that means if her privileges get suspended in Wyoming, they're suspended around the country. And those are five-year minimum mandatory suspension. So there's a lot on the line here. Your freedom, I mean, these fines are outrageous. The court costs, jail time, probation, suspension of privileges. Wyoming does not take game and fish charges lightly. And absolutely, I mean, if Wyoming gets the opportunity to make an example to everyone that comes, comes to Wyoming to hunt and fish and say, hey, you can come here, but you're not getting

out. You're going to follow our rules. You're going to make sure you have proper tags. You're going to have proper licensers. And if you don't, you're going to leave on probation. Wyoming's going to take that opportunity, absolutely. And I don't want to speak for the courts. I don't want to speak for the prosecutors in the different counties she's charged in. But these are very, very serious allegations. And it's regularly people get jail time 30, 45, 60 days or more on situations like this. That's not unheard of. Yeah. And this is, I mean, it's not just one charge. I mean, it's like more than half a dozen. So it seems like they were pretty annoyed with her. Absolutely. And that's a game in fish tactic they've always done is they always throw everything at the wall and see what sticks. Here, I have counts. I believe we have about 15 or 20 charges here. I mean, this is very, very serious.

Yeah, misdemeanor charges, but they aren't playing around. That's for sure. Steve Titus, we really appreciate your time. Thank you so much. Thanks for the opportunity to be here and welcome everyone to come see this beautiful state and to hunt and fish and visit legally. I was just in Wyoming over the summer driving through and it was beautiful. So I was not hunting or fishing though. But it was beautiful. Steve, thank you so much. Thanks for the opportunity. Thank you. Samantha Strabel was released from custody the same day she was booked in. to the jail. Her charges carry large fines and the potential for jail time and we'll continue to follow the story and let you know how it ends. That's it for this episode of Crime Fix. I'm Anjanette Levy. Thanks so much for being with me. I'll see you back here next time.