Oklahoma City, Oklahoma - BIRDIE JO HOAKS, 47, and BECKY JO HOAKS, 47, both of Choctaw, Oklahoma, were sentenced today to 60 and 48 months respectively in federal prison for conspiring to steal U.S. postage stamps, announced Mark A. Yancey, United States Attorney for the Western District of Oklahoma.
On May 18, 2017, the defendants, who are identical twins, were indicted on one count of conspiracy and one count each of theft of government property. The Indictment alleged that from June 2016 through February 2017, they opened personal checking accounts at various banks, using small cash deposits ranging from $5 to $200. Working together, they wrote dozens of bogus checks-i.e., checks backed by insufficient funds and checks written on closed accounts-at United States post offices and contract postal units throughout the Western District of Oklahoma to obtain thousands of U.S. postage stamps.
Both defendants pleaded guilty to conspiracy on June 27, 2017. Each agreed to pay $61,993.38 in restitution, mostly to the U.S. Postal Service.
Today U.S. District Judge David L. Russell sentenced Birdie Jo Hoaks to 60 months in prison, the statutory maximum. He sentenced Becky Jo Hoaks to 48 months in prison. Both women will serve three years of supervised release after their prison terms.
The sisters have extensive criminal histories of fraud spanning more than two decades and in jurisdictions from New York to California. In May 2007, for example, they were featured in a Chicago Tribune article entitled "The Incredible True-Life (mis)Adventures of the Hoaks Sisters: Deception, Confusion, Theft, Betrayal, Foot Surgery." And in July 2012, Birdie Jo Hoaks was the subject of a Dateline NBC investigative report. These are their first federal criminal convictions.
This case is the result of an investigation conducted by United States Postal Inspection Service. Assistant U.S. Attorney Amanda Maxfield Green prosecuted the case.
Source: U.S. Department of Justice, Office of the United States Attorneys
