THE disgraced influencer accused of kidnapping a baby wombat in Australia has been cuffed in the US over another hunting blunder.
Notorious social media star Sam Jones sparked online fury in March – after shocking footage showed her stealing a frightened animal from its mum.
Jones, whose real name is Samantha Strable, now faces fresh charges of lying about her address to obtain hunting tags.
The hunting influencer, 25, was jailed on November 21, according to a local media outlet.
She is suspected of falsely claiming she lives in the landlocked state in order to get hold of several local Wyoming resident hunting licenses, court documents say.
Strable now faces eight charges, including six counts of false swearing and one count each of taking wildlife without a licence.
The online star, who was once public enemy number one down under, has also been charged with nonresident hunting without a guide in a wilderness area.
Earlier this year, the Montana-based “outdoor enthusiast” fled the Oz after footage of her nicking a baby wombat sparked nationwide outrage.
Aussie Prime Minister Anthony Albanese even chimed in: “I suggest to this so-called influencer maybe she might try some other Australian animals.
“Try taking a baby crocodile from its mother and see how you go there.”
Her dramatic departure came after a petition to boot her out the country was signed by over 50,000 furious Australians.
In the controversial clip, Jones approaches the wombat joey as it walks with its mum before she suddenly snatches it and runs back to the cameraman.
The wombat can be seen struggling whilst its alarmed mother runs after the influencer.
Jones proclaims whilst she holds the distressed animal: “I caught a baby wombat!”
The cameraman even points out in the video: “Look at the mother, it’s chasing after her.”
Jones replies in the video: “OK mama’s right there and she is p***ed, let’s let him go.”
The post was met with a barrage of backlash – before local media later uncovered her track record with animals.
Leading up to her recent arrest, an anonymous tipster told US authorities: “Samantha Strable continues to buy resident tags even though she hasn’t resided in Wyoming over two years, and brags about it on social media to over 90,000 followers.”
Local media reported that public records showed she bought a Game and Fish licence for Wyoming in 2022.
But social media posts from April 2024 to June 2025 show her allegedly living in Montana, North Dakota, according to the New York Post.
She told Cowboy State Daily in 2022 that she wanted to hunt a black bear in Wyoming.
Jones also described her adventures “stalking red stags with a bow in Chile”, and “slaying a wild pig with a knife in New Zealand”.
Responding to the backlash of her more recent engagement with the helpless wombat, Jones defended herself and claimed she only held the joey momentarily before returning it to its mother.
She wrote: “For everyone that’s worried and unhappy, the baby was carefully held for ONE minute in total and then released back to mum.
“They wandered back off into the bush together completely unharmed. I didn’t think I would be able to catch it in the first place, and took an opportunity to appreciate a really incredible animal up close.”
But she later apologised for her response to the ordeal, saying she was “truly sorry for the distress”.
She said: “When we found the mother and joey on a road, not moving. I was extremely concerned.
“As wombats are so often hit on Australian roads, I stopped to ensure they got off the road safely and didn’t get hit.”
Australians demanded that Jones be reported to the Australian Department of Home Affairs “so they can ban her from ever stepping foot in Australia again”, before she eventually fled.
She was also slammed by RSCPA Australia who said the footage showed a “blatant disregard” for native wildlife, and that the distress to the baby and its mum caused by the “callous act” was clear.
Who is Sam Jones?
SAM Jones, from Montana, U.S., is a hunting influencer with nearly 100,000 followers on Instagram.
She describes herself as an “outdoor enthusiast” and a “hunter”.
The star has since deleted her controversial post and made her account private.
She also claims to be a “wildlife biologist” and “environmental scientist” with an MSc degree.
She has since deleted her TikTok account and made her Instagram private.
A new account which claims to be Jones was set up, and it said she was “really sorry about the wombat incident” and that it was a “mistake”.
The account posted another message saying that the “hate was too much for me to handle”.
The account added: “You guys are insane. I get hundreds of death threats for picking up an animal. WT*? Imagine someone just goes up to your child and curses at them? Let’s have some respect.”