COLUMBUS ? Felony burglary and theft charges have been dropped against twin sisters whose cases languished while then-prosecutor Michael Goodrich was being investigated for extortion at a strip club.

Earlier this month, Cherokee County Attorney John Bullard also dismissed a felony property damage charge against the 37-year-old women, Birdie Jo Hoaks and Becky Jo Hoaks, because nothing had been done in their cases and the two had moved away from the area.

The sisters were accused of breaking into the Galena Assembly of God church on Nov. 6, 2006, and stealing a safe containing $2,400 from an associate pastor’s office.

In 2004, they were accused of plotting to enroll Birdie Hoaks at Galena Middle School, where she posed as a 13-year-old boy. Felony theft charges in that case were dismissed in 2005.

Birdie Hoaks has 12 convictions in seven states. Her attorney, Eddie Battitori, said his client might have benefited from Goodrich’s legal problems.

Goodrich, of Baxter Springs, was sentenced Jan. 5 to a year and a day in federal prison. When he pleaded guilty in June to a single federal count of extortion, Goodrich acknowledged that he received money and other perks from the owner of Sensations Gentlemen’s Club in Galena from January 2005 to September 2007.

In return, he dismissed traffic tickets and other costs.