Infamous twin sisters Birdie Jo Hoaks and Becky Jo Hoaks pleaded guilty Tuesday in Oklahoma City federal court to conspiracy to commit wire fraud.
The sisters, who will be sentenced at a later date, have gained national notoriety over the years for their exploits across the country — especially for cons in which Birdie Jo Hoaks posed as a young homeless boy at churches and group homes.
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Tuesday morning, the twins appeared separately in court and admitted to writing bad checks to purchase postage stamps in the Oklahoma City area. Prosecutors alleged the offenses occurred between June 2016 and February.
Dressed in orange jail uniforms with shackles around their ankles, each soft-spoken sister respectfully answered the judge's questions with, "Yes, sir," during the hearings.
Documents show the U.S. Postal Service lost nearly $60,000 from the sisters' scheme. At sentencing, U.S. District Judge David L. Russell could sentence each sister to up to five years in prison, as well as a fine and restitution. The twins are 47.
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Birdie Jo Hoaks pretended to be a young boy in more than a dozen states from the late 1980s and into the 2000s, according to news reports. She has told news reporters she was able to fool people because she looked young and did it to "get a place to stay and some food to eat."
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She attempted the hoax numerous times in her 20s and 30s. And in some instances, Becky Jo Hoaks participated in the ruse, playing the character of “Aunt Becky,” according to news reports.
The twins have rarely spent much time in jail or prison. Records show the twins have lived in Oklahoma off and on since the early 2000s. Since then, each has racked up multiple felony convictions in the state.
Beginning in 2011, both spent more than a year in prison after Tulsa County convictions for bogus check and grand larceny offenses, records show.
