WICHITA COUNTY (KFDX/KJTL) — Both women accused in a Wichita Falls checking kiting scheme have now been sentenced to prison.

According to court documents, on Friday, January 27, 2023, Debra Jo Carroll pleaded guilty to four charges in 78th District Court. She received sentences of eight years in prison for forgery and 12 months state jail for three theft charges. All sentences will be served concurrently.

In October, Angela Carroll, who told police she was Debra’s sister, was sentenced to five years in prison for forgery of an elderly victim and had other charges dismissed.

Police said the pair targeted victims for decades with forgeries and thefts. They said Debra has 25 convictions for forgery, theft or burglary, and also has 26 aliases. Her 38 arrests include 16 forgery charges.

Angela and Debra were arrested in May 2021 for allegedly setting up a bank account with checks from a closed account in Georgia, then withdrawing more than $11,000 before bank officials caught on. Bank officials said they later discovered the accounts were opened with personal checks from a closed account in their names at a bank in Georgia.

Bank officials said the scheme allowed the two to obtain checks and debit cards and to withdraw money from ATMs and point-of-sale purchases.

The bank said the women immediately deposited fraudulent checks and withdrew funds through ATMs and purchases.

Wichita Falls Police financial crimes detective recognized the suspects’ names from previous investigations of fraud and theft by check cases and, in fact, was investigating another fraud case involving the two at another Wichita Falls bank.

Bank officials said even after the scheme was uncovered, the two women returned to the bank and tried to deposit more fraudulent checks. They were confronted at the drive-thru, and they agreed to come inside and resolve it, but they then fled.

Police said another scheme the two worked involved one sister renting items from rental centers and the other sister selling them at pawn shops.