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YouTube stars Alan and Alex Stokes at an award ceremony (2019): 160 hours of social service
Photo: CHRIS DELMAS / AFP
The two US YouTube stars Alan and Alex Stokes have been sentenced to suspended sentences by a court in California for an unsuccessful prank.
The twin brothers pleaded guilty on Wednesday (local time) of faking a bank robbery to post a video on their YouTube channel.
The incident led to a police operation in which an uninvolved Uber driver was briefly arrested.
The YouTubers, known to an audience of millions, disguised themselves as bank robbers in October 2019 and ordered a car from the transport service provider Uber while they were being filmed by employees.
The Uber driver, who was not privy to the prank, refused to take the two brothers with him.
When a witness who believed he was watching a real bank robbery and an attempted hostage-taking called the police, officers briefly arrested the driver at gunpoint.
The police warned the YouTubers but let them go.
Just hours later, they performed a similar prank on the University of California campus that resulted in another police operation.
"These crimes could easily have resulted in someone being seriously injured or killed," said prosecutor Todd Spitzer.
A bank robbery is not a routine occurrence for the police.
The officers on the field "literally risked their lives to help people they believed were in danger," he added.
It was "irresponsible and inconsiderate" that the Stokes brothers were more interested in increasing their fan base on the Internet than in the safety of police officers and that of the "innocent Uber driver."
Originally, the 23-year-old twins were charged with deprivation of liberty.
This is considered a capital crime in the USA and is punishable by up to five years in prison.
After the court downgraded the charge to a misdemeanor, the brothers pleaded guilty.
The court handed her a one-year suspended sentence.
In addition, both have to do 160 hours of social service and pay compensation.
The Stokes brothers have around 6.6 million fans on YouTube, and almost 30 million users follow them on the TikTok platform.
In their pranks, YouTubers usually target their own friends or relatives.
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