Twin YouTube pranksters plead guilty to staging fake bank robberies

FILE PHOTO: 2019 Kids Choice Awards – Arrivals – Los Angeles, California, U.S., March 23, 2019 – Alan and Alex Stokes. REUTERS/Danny Moloshok/File Photo

LOS ANGELES (Reuters) - YouTube stars Alan and Alex Stokes, twins known for provocative video gags, have pleaded guilty to charges stemming from two fake bank robberies they staged in California, one of which led to police drawing their guns on the brothers' unsuspecting Uber driver.

The 23-year-old brothers were originally each charged with one felony count of false imprisonment by violence, menace or fraud, and two misdemeanor counts of falsely reporting an emergency in connection with the Oct. 15, 2019, pranks in the city of Irvine.