A Greybull woman accused of stealing more than $150,000 from her parents could get up to 40 years in prison if convicted on four felony charges related to the allegations.
Samantha Cook, born in 1975, made her first court appearance Friday after her Wednesday arrest on two charges each of exploitation of a vulnerable adult and theft, according to documents filed in Big Horn County Circuit Court.
Between 2015 and March 2025, Cook had access to the financial accounts of her parents, both 82, for the purpose of paying their bills and living expenses, according to an affidavit filed in her case by Big Horn County Sheriff’s Deputy Jason Beal.
She’s accused of also using their money without permission to access cash and pay her own bills to the tune of nearly $155,000, the affidavit says.
She also allegedly ran up an $8,300 bill on a credit card in her mother’s name. When the bill wasn’t paid and went to collections, Cook arranged installment payments to come out of her parents’ bank account, Beal wrote.
Over the years, she paid back nearly $62,000, showing her parents are still owed more than $101,000, the affidavit says.
When confronted about how she managed the accounts, Cook “stated that she had exclusive access to (her parents’) accounts and did spend their money on personal things,” the affidavit says.
She also told investigators that she paid back a reasonable amount.
“She also stated that she put funds back into their account to reimburse them for purchases she might have made,” the affidavit says. “Cook stated that she felt the reimbursements she made to (her parents) were fair.”
No Permission
The Big Horn Sheriff’s Office got involved in the case in October 2025 after a tip had come to law enforcement, Beal wrote.
The investigation revealed that Cook took over managing bills and expenses for her parents sometime in 2015 after her mother, who used to do that, had an accident.
The parents also were clear and firm during that time that Cook wasn’t to use the money herself unless she had permission, the affidavit says.
Her father told law enforcement that “if Cook needed money, she could ask, but she was never given permission to take or use any of their resources without permission,” Beal wrote. “They began to have Cook start paying their bills and managing their finances in or around 2015.”
The arrangement was that she would “have access to all of the (parents’) bank accounts to pay their bills and living expenses,” the document continues. “If Cook needed money for herself, the (parents) would try and work something out to assist her.
“(They) made it clear to Cook that she had to obtain permission … before she could use any of their funds for herself.”
Her father began to become suspicious after being shown in 2025 how to access his financial accounts online, the affidavit says. That’s when he noticed charges for things he didn’t know about.
Around that same time in March 2025, the father was notified by a bank that Cook had written a bad check for $300 on their account, “and that if the did not get to the bank, they would be receiving another overdraft fee,” the affidavit says.
“(He) called Cook to try and determine what was going on,” Beal’s affidavit continues. “Cook told (her parents) she took the money from the bank account without permission because she needed the funds to repair her pellet stove, and that she would pay them back.”
That’s when the parents closed their accounts and opened new ones Cook doesn’t have access to.
‘Under No Circumstances’
Along with sending a number of people Venmo payments from her parents’ account, Cook also is accused of cashing out their certificate of deposits, giving money to other family members, and running up a bill on a credit card, the affidavit says.
At one point, Cook told her parents they were running low on money and needed to cash out their CDs to cover the shortfall, Beal wrote. So, they closed out four smaller CDs totaling about $5,300.
They still had a larger certificate of deposit of more than $24,000 that the parents were adamant was earmarked for death and funeral expenses, the affidavit says.
That CD also was cashed, and the money put into the parents’ savings account.
“(The father) stated he told Cook that under no circumstances as she to touch the money that went into their savings account,” the affidavit says. “The funds in the savings account were to be used for funeral and burial expenses, and that was all they were to be used for.”
Beal’s affidavit also details an alleged misuse of a credit card in 2017. The card was opened specifically to take advantage of a special 90-day financing promotion to buy a refrigerator. The appliance was to be bought with the card and paid off within the 90 days.
While the balance was paid in full, the card wasn’t closed as the parents thought, the affidavit says. Instead, the billing address was switched to Cook’s and, for the next six years, was used to build a balance of $8,300, the affidavit says.
“These charges were a combination of purchases and cash advances that were made by Cook without authorization from (her parents),” according to the affidavit. “After charging approximately $8,300, Cook allowed the credit card account to become delinquent and it was transferred to a collection company.”
In collections, Cook then arranged for monthly installment payments to the credit card company to pay down the debt, but set those automatic payments to come out of her parent’s account, the affidavit says.
The parents “did not authorize the expenditures on the credit card, nor the automatic payments made to pay the delinquent balance,” the affidavit adds.
Each felony charge calls for a penalty of up to 10 years in prison, a $10,000 fine, or both. That puts her maximum sentence if convicted at up to 40 years in prison, up to $40,000 in fines, or both.
Greg Johnson can be reached at greg@cowboystatedaily.com.
