Jan. 29—After more than 500 days incarcerated in Payne County Jail, Samantha Ricks was released Friday after District Judge Phillip Corley issued her final sentencing at District County Court that morning.

Ricks had been convicted for taking one of her own biological children from the child’s Stillwater-designated foster home.

Her jury-recommended sentence included several fines and nine months in jail, receiving credit for time served.

According to an affidavit, in August 2022, the Payne County Sheriff’s Office arrested Ricks and her accomplice, Elijah Erlebach, on child-stealing charges when the duo grabbed a girl from outside her foster home while she was riding her bike. They intended to go back for a boy, her brother, but were instead thwarted by law enforcement.

Also according to affidavit, while they did not use the weapons, Erlebach and Ricks had loaded guns in their vehicle.

The child-stealing case garnered national attention at the time because Ricks and Erlebach insisted they were sovereign citizens — people who, according to the Southern Poverty Law Center’s definition, “believe they are not under the jurisdiction of the federal government and consider themselves exempt from U.S. law.”

The sovereign citizen movement is part of a “sub” QAnon conspiracy theory group that gained traction and members.

At the time of the incident, the arresting deputy said Ricks told him the State of Oklahoma wrongfully took her children and she was reclaiming them.

Prior to the incident, in December 2021, Oklahoma Child Protective Services placed Ricks’ then 6-year-old daughter and 5-year-old son in foster care.

According to an OCPS report, among the concerns when removing the children from Ricks’ custody was the act of exposing her children to inappropriate sexual behavior.

Ricks appeared in court before a jury prior to sentencing and was found guilty of child-stealing, but was acquitted of the second charge: firearm possession.

When asked by the judge if she had anything to add at her sentencing, Ricks said no.

Prior to Ricks’ sentencing, Erlebach was convicted by a Payne County jury in November 2023.