The Stokes Twins, popular Youtube pranksters, are facing up to four years in state prison for their role in two fake bank robberies. The brothers, who boast over 4.8 million subscribers, have been accused of pretending to rob a bank after ordering an Uber back in October 2019.
When police arrived, they ordered the Uber driver out at gunpoint, before releasing him when they realized he was uninvolved. According to the district attorney’s office, the police let the brothers go with a warning the first time. Just a few hours later however, police received emergency calls about the Stokes’ allegedly doing the same thing on the University of California, Irvine, campus.
Orange County District Attorney Todd Spitzer denounced the twins, calling the robberies a "twisted attempt to gain more popularity on the internet," adding "These were not pranks… these are crimes that could have resulted in someone getting seriously injured or even killed."
On Wednesday, the brothers were charged with one felony count of false imprisonment affected by violence, menace, fraud, or deceit and one misdemeanor count of falsely reporting an emergency, also known as “swatting.”
The robbery video is no longer live and the brothers seem to have gotten back to their regularly scheduled programming. Their newest video, published Tuesday, shows them and their friends attempting to eat 100,000 calories in 24 hours.
The Stokes twins are not the only Youtube stars who have had recent run-ins with the law. On Wednesday, the FBI searched Jake Paul’s house "in connection with an ongoing investigation" as the Arizona police dropped charges against him for criminal trespass and unlawful assembly. As said best by Offset and Cardi B, “they do anything for clout.”